Chef Is Advocate For Colleagues, Charities

Since 1996, Assembly Steak House and Seafood Grill in Englewood Cliffs has been a staple of fine dining in Bergen County.

But chef and owner Jack Koumbis is not just whipping up the next delicacies. He is active charitably, having done events for the March of Dimes, Cancer Care, and many other organizations.

In August he sponsored the Ironman U.S. Championship triathlon by providing a pasta dinner for a pre-race rally and a food stand for spectators and volunteers on the Fort Lee portion of the course during the race.

On Oct 11, he will be participating in the Iron Skillet Cook-off fundraiser to benefit the families of 9/11 victims, now in its 11th year.      

“It’s five firemen competing against five chefs,” said Koumbis. “It’s a great thing. I’m very community oriented.”   

When the Drumthwacket Foundation was putting together their 2012 Summer Solstice Gala at the governor's mansion in Princeton, they asked Koumbis to bring together 15 of the finest New Jersey restaurants to provide dishes for the fundraising event, which raises money to support field trips for school children to the grounds.

Koumbis is also chairmen of the New Jersey Restaurant Association, a state-wide association that represents approximately 17,000 restaurants, 8 percent of the state’s economy or $19 billion, according to Koumbis.

When micro breweries and wineries began lobbying for liquor licenses, Koumbis and other restaurateurs traveled to Trenton to oppose legislation that would allow the breweries to open bars.  

Koumbis’s passion for the food industry started when he was a young boy working in his father’s Greek diner - Jack’s Famous Diner in the Bronx in the late 1960’s.

“There were no play-dates. My father got up early one Saturday morning and said, ‘C’mon, we’re going to work,’” Koumbis said. “I was eight-years-old. I went to school Monday through Friday, and Saturdays I was at the restaurant. I’ve been in the business ever since.”

When he turned 13, Koumbis’s father opened a restaurant in Rockaway, Queens and he worked in the kitchen peeling cases of garlic and potatoes. At the age of 19 he attended the Culinary Institute of America and apprenticed with Mathew Ryan of New York’s Yale Club.

He was so much more advanced than the other students, he became a teacher aide. After graduating first in his class, he worked at the Yale Club and then attended Florida International University’s School of Hospitality Management.

While attending school, he worked at the Country Club of Coral Gables, became the Executive Sous Chef of the Grand Bay Hotel in Coconut Grove, and was later promoted to Executive Chef of the Royal Biscayne.

In 1987, he returned to the northeast and became a partner of The Bicycle Club restaurant. In 1990, he returned to New York City with sister Marie Koumbis and transformed Rockefeller Center’s mainstay Assembly Steak House into a more eclectic restaurant and lounge.

After lease negotiations failed, Koumbis purchased Leo’s, a 72-year-old Englewood Cliffs restaurant, an institution known for hosting power lunches and dinners for some of the biggest movers and shakers in the area, according to Koumbis.

In 1996, he replaced it with Assembly Steak House and Seafood Grill, having the entire restaurant built brand new from the ground-up and eventually sold The Bicycle Club. 

He created a club-like environment with a cherry-wood bar, cathedral ceilings, and an elegant dining room. He also had an authentic sushi bar built. With the outside patio, the Assembly is the largest restaurant in Englewood Cliffs with occupancy of over 300 seats.

And Karaoke on Tuesday and Thursdays is popular among local crooners.  

The kitchen produces daily specials including Lobster Fra Diablo, Prime Boneless Rib Eye and Chicken Milanese. Koumbis also makes his own ice cream and “Deconstructed Apple Strudel”.   

Although Koumbis’s father did not live to see the Assembly, he knows his father would be proud to see what he has built over a lifetime.

“He would be tickled pink,” Koumbis said. “I know he’s looking down right now and smiling.”

To learn more about Assembly Steak House and Seafood Grill, click here.

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