Grecian Delight Kronos, Masters of the Gyros Meat Cone, Plunges Into Al Pastor (2024)

Earlier this month, the National Restaurant Association Show descended upon Chicago, with hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of attendees converging at McCormick Place for the unveiling of the latest innovations in restaurant dining. The annual Product Showcase featured food service items of all kinds, and the Food and Beverage (FABI) Awards provided an overview of what’s trending in the restaurant space from year to year. In 2024, Chicago’s own Grecian Delight Kronos earned top honors with the debut of a new product that might raise some eyebrows in Chicago’s restaurant scene: ReadyCarved Pork Al Pastor Slices, a heat-and-serve version of the seasoned taqueria specialty.

Entrepreneur Peter Parthenis founded Kronos, a global manufacturer established in Chicago in 1974 that’s historically focused on Greek food. Parthenis, according to the Kronos website, aimed to “bring the gyro sandwich and other traditional Greek foods from the restaurants of Halsted Street in Chicago to consumers across the United States.” In partnership with Chris Tomaras, Parthenis expanded Kronos’ portfolio of Mediterranean cuisine, and in 2020 Kronos merged with another name familiar to regulars at Chicago street food stands, Grecian Delight. The brand’s offerings now encompass the more general category of “inspired world cuisine,” hence the addition of al pastor.

Grecian Delight Kronos

Al pastor, available across the city at taquerias and Mexican restaurants, is a dish consisting of pork marinated in a mix of pineapple, spices, and chiles and grilled on a spit for hours. The new al pastor product from Grecian Delight Kronos (GDK), meanwhile, doesn’t require restaurants to use a spit at all.

“ReadyCarved® Pork Al Pastor is a culinary breakthrough in operator convenience and flavor authenticity,” the press release reads in part. “Marinated and vacuum-tumbled, then hand-stacked on a large industrial-sized vertical spit, flame-broiled rotisserie style, and robotically carved off the cone, this fully cooked delicacy offers operators a convenient way to serve genuine Hispanic street food using a wide range of standard kitchen equipment — no special equipment needed, simply heat and serve.” The slices are “flame-broiled to a partial cook and individually quick frozen” so that they can be prepared using a restaurant’s flattop, oven, or “even a microwave.”

Al pastor has Middle Eastern roots and was developed in Mexico in the early 20th century using Turkish doner kebab and Lebanese shawarma techniques as its inspiration, and these foods share a common root with Greek gyros. So, how does GDK’s al pastor compare to that of Chicago’s beloved taquerias? It might depend on what protein the company starts with.

“We get our pork from D’Artagnan,” says Angel Guijosa, chef de cuisine at Taqueria Chingón in Bucktown, which specializes in al pastor. “A heritage pork shoulder. You see the difference: It’s very tender and absorbs a lot of flavor.”

To build those flavors, Guijosa explained, the meat is thinly sliced and marinated in “our crazy, 20-something-ingredient marinade,” then refrigerated overnight. Slices are pulled out only as needed, allowing the remaining pork to continue marinating. Early in the morning, the spit (or trompo) is assembled, weighing 5 to 70 pounds, depending on the day of the week and the anticipated foot traffic.

“You’re going in layers as you’re building up,” Guijosa says. “Lean meat, fat, lean meat, fat. We finish with fresh pineapple and an onion, to keep that Mexican street-style tradition.” Before serving, the spit spends at least three hours on the heat, low and slow, with direct flame on the exterior, melting the fat and gaining a crispy texture while the inside remains tender. To assemble one al pastor taco, the cook slices off between 2.5 and 3 ounces of pork from the trompo — “a hefty amount of meat for a taco,” according to Guijosa — then adds fresh pineapple, onion, cilantro, and two types of salsa on the side. It’s among the most labor-intensive items on the menu at Taqueria Chingón.

“But the quality is there,” Guijosa says. “We wouldn’t really have a designated prep cook just for that if we didn’t know the result would be there. It speaks for itself, I like to say.”

Not only has GDK won a 2024 award for ReadyCarved Pork Al Pastor Slices, but it has won the coveted designation of being one of 10 FABI Favorites, which is described as “special recognition to food and beverage products that excel within an already extraordinary lineup, exemplifying creativity, ingenuity, and the ability to expand menu options industry-wide.” Though his own process is far from the heat-and-serve simplicity promised by Kronos, Guijosa remains open-minded about its arrival at Chicago restaurants.

“I don’t want to knock it down, because I haven’t tasted it,” he said. “As long as your product tastes good, and it’s consistent — I mean, I love a good Kronos pita with gyro. It tastes the same every time, so you know what you’re getting. As long as [the al pastor is] good, I don’t see a problem.”

Just one caveat: the price point.

“Just make sure that the marketing is there, and the price too. Sometimes there’s fluctuation between different purveyors, different companies. Where are they sourcing their pork from? Over the last few years, especially now, we’ve seen an increase in everything. So I think that’s the big issue: Make sure the price stays consistent, that the consumer is going to say, ‘You know what? This is good. I’m going to keep ordering this from you every week.’”