The MDR® Ambassadors’ Breakfast is back following a hiatus due to the Covid pandemic.

It restarts its engines in Greece, which is a gem of Mediterranean culinary traditions.

On a splendid morning in June, the MDR®, in collaboration with the Greek embassy in the United States, resumed one of its signature programs: the coveted Ambassadors’ Breakfast. This amazing edition was graciously hosted at the private residence of H.E. Alexandra Papadopoulou and was attended by representatives of thirteen different embassies, as well as by representatives from the White House and other national offices. The Ambassadors’ Breakfast is designed to introduce special topics of strategic importance for international trade and policy. Following the warm welcoming remarks of H.E. Papadopoulou, Rafi Taherian, AVP of Yale University, presented the important segment of college dining. Numbers can better help demonstrate the full scale of how menu architecture can deliver economic and cultural impacts in such environments. Yale Hospitality serves its community with more than 15 thousand meals per day to undergraduates, graduate students, professionals, faculty, and staff. The entire operation translates into an annual aggregate number of more than 3 million meals per year, delivering not just nutrients, but culture and the imprinting of eating habits to a very special audience.

Professor Stefanos Kales, of Harvard University, followed with his presentation discussing the upcoming project of the Hellenic Center for Excellence in Health and Wellness, established in Crete (Greece), where Ancel Keys was first inspired to create the blueprint for the Mediterranean Diet food matrix. Prof Kales then discussed the solid medical foundation of the Mediterranean Diet and its relationship to current important diseases.

In addition to Greece, attending dignitaries included ambassadors and officials from the countries of Cyprus, Serbia, North Macedonia, France, Libya, Italy, Algeria, Albania, Lithuania, Lebanon, Nigeria, and Slovenia. Also present were representatives from the White House Office of the President, working on the cornerstone conference about Nutrition, Health and Hunger, as well as dignitaries from the U.S. State Department, the USDA, and the World Bank.

The authentic Greek breakfast was sponsored by MDR® Title Sponsor Loumidis Foods, with Jason Loumidis attending this special occasion in person. It was prepared by the celebrated fast-casual chain Cava.