COOKING
Hercules “Dino” Christ has served generations of hungry
Fort Pierce patrons. At 80, it seems a safe bet he’ll
continue to serve several more.
56
CHEF
OF THE AGES
This setting traces Hercules “Dino” Christ’s six decades as a chef, first in the Army during the Korean
War, top, then as chief chef at Crystal’s Restaurant in downtown Fort Pierce, bottom photo. The Chris’
Restaurant menu is from the days when he owned another U.S. 1 restaurant. Today, he cooks at
Dino’s, owned by his daughter and son-in-law, and greets patrons.
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BY CAMILLE S. YATES
PHOTOS BY PORFIRIO SOLORZANO
It’s 7 a.m. and Hercules “Dino”
Christ has just finished preparing
his last batch of lasagna. Hard
work early in the morning is nothing
new to Christ. For the last 61 years, he
has been rising before sun-up to cook,
whether it is to serve breakfast to hundreds
of people or prepare meals for
the dinner crowd. The 80-year old
Mediterranean immigrant is full of
enthusiasm for life and for his passion:
cooking. “I tell everyone I’m 39,”
he says.
Christ is originally from Cyprus, the
third largest island in the
Mediterranean Sea and 70 miles south
of Turkey. He began cooking in 1946
for a restaurant there making shish
kabob and other entrees with ground
beef and bread. “Most people in
Cyprus were very poor, so we did not
have much to cook with,” he says.
“That is why we mixed bread with our
meat and we boiled our food.”
Since conditions on the island were so poor, the young people were encouraged to move.
“I had a school teacher who taught us a lot of geography,” Christ says. “He told me that I
should start to look at other countries to move to. England owned the island at the time, so
we could go to Australia, Canada, England or the United States.” Christ went to the local
port one day and picked up a copy of Look Magazine. After reading the magazine and getting
a glimpse of what the United States was like, he decided to set sail and landed in New
York in 1948. “I told my mother that I was leaving and she said, ‘God be with you,’” he says.
Dino’s Family
Restaurant
2001 N. U.S. 1,
Fort Pierce
772.465.5217