Meet the Chef: Tina Kalder of Fresco's Pizza and Grill

Tina Kalder ofis a savvy businesswoman and lifelong chef who grew up in Greece cooking with her grandmother. Though she studied biochemistry in college, she married into a restaurant family and fell in love with the industry. She is gracious, gregarious and such a pleasure to be around. Read below to find out more about the chef behind the menu. And if you missed our review on the restaurant, read it . Need a kid-friendly review? How about this .

Name: Tina Kalder

Age: 43

Hometown: Greece, but we moved to King of Prussia when I was 8. I moved to Newtown Square in 1991.

Years in Industry: Since 1989.

Earliest Cooking Memory: Baking bread with my grandmother in an homemade brick oven outside. We kneaded the dough, made pitas and even churned our own butter. I was born in the suburbs of northern Greece.

First Kitchen Job: Waitress at 16-years-old at Michael's Deli in King of Prussia.

Advice for Home Cooks: My advice is to get as many fresh ingredients as possible. Fresh vegetables like peas, tomatoes, etc., are the best. Stay away from dried or canned products. 

Favorite Thing to Cook: Traditional Greek dishes–stuffed peppers, dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), mint meatball egg-lemon soup (youvarlakia).

Biggest Kitchen Disaster: A power outage happened once last summer and I had to close. There was an accident or something that caused it. Another time power went out for everyone else in the area but our little strip of businesses miraculously still had power. It was the busiest day we've ever had at Fresco. Everyone on West Chester Pike was closed. It was crazy. I have never seen anything like it.

Favorite Local Restaurant:

Favorite Items on the Fresco Menu: The margarita pizza (it's not the traditional type, it's white pizza with Roma tomatoes and the best quality extra virgin olive oil we can get our hands on, on top). All of our grilled salmon dishes fly out of here. We go through 300 pounds of salmon a week. The Santa Fe club panini is also a best seller. 

Healthiest Items at Fresco: Everything. There are no preservatives in anything. Nothing is canned, everything is made with the best possible ingredients. We are one of the only businesses I know of that make tomato sauce from actual fresh tomatoes. We also have gluten-free pasta and even a gluten-free pizza dough.

Favorite Restaurant in the World: Freskada in Exton and Azie in Villanova because I love sushi.

Serving Meals to Local Celebrities: Roy Halladay comes in sometimes, news people like Aditi Roy and Cecily Tynan (she lives in the area), local big wigs, Comcast people, sports people, Sylvester Stallone's brother and the Greek Olympic team.

Favorite Food Shows: No Reservations and the old 30 Minute Meals with Rachael Ray.

Guilty Pleasure (food or drink): Our Baklava that my mother makes. It's so good that other Greeks compliment her on it. It's by far the best baklava I've ever had. We don't skimp on the ingredients but we half the amount of honey (I don't like things too sweet) and it allows the other things to come through, you can taste the walnuts, the phyllo, etc.

Last Meal on Earth: A char-grilled ribeye steak beautifully cooked, garlic mashed potatoes and whatever vegetables are in season (peas and carrots, asparagus, etc.) and a glass of nice red wine.

Favorite Thing about Newtown Square: I love the fact that it's suburban but close to so many other towns/areas. Everyone here takes pride in their home and businesses. Everyone supports small businesses–there are many non-franchise businesses. Businesses here are family and community oriented. The people of Newtown Square make it the place it is. Everyone around here knows each other. It's a true neighborhood. Everyone is supportive of one another. 

Working with the community: Every year the  brings their second graders to my restaurant to learn about how to run a business from beginning to end. They get a walking tour of the kitchen, the prep area, the offices, etc. One year I made them pizza kits with dough, cheese, sauce and a set of instructions to take home and they loved it. They get to ask questions and write me feedback and send me pictures. I love doing it. They are amazing and each child always remembers a different thing I said.