ABOUT US
VICKIE ZAMBRANO
Owner and Chief Curator
VICKIE ZAMBRANO
Owner and Chief Curator
The restaurant business is in Vickie’s Zambrano’s blood. Literally. She grew up in a close-knit Greek extended family where life –and livelihoods– centered around food. Her grandfather, Bill Skenteris, was the longtime owner of Palmetto Fine Foods. Watching her papou at work gave Vickie her first taste of the dedication it takes to run a successful restaurant and ultimately how satisfying one’s hard work can be.
Vickie is a 15+year veteran of the restaurant industry. She worked for two of Greenville’s largest locally owned restaurant groups, a large locally owned event company and also managed a private club. Building on her extensive front and back of house experience, her industry-wide connections, and her passion for fresh, Mediterranean mezze-style food, Vickie’s natural next step was to open her own restaurant.
Curean is Vickie’s labor of love and reflects her high standards and the full extent of her epicurean tastes. Vickie is, by her own account, “particular.” She’s made sure that everything about Curean – the food the drinks, the service and the ambience – is as perfect and delicious as she can make it to create for her guests a memorable one-of-a-kind dining experience.
Vickie is actively involved in the Greenville community. She’s a regular volunteer at Fall for Greenville, Euphoria, Artisphere and served on the Greenville Greek Festival’s Steering Committee and was the Chair for the Greek Pizza booth.
Vickie loves being a part of downtown Greenville’s restaurant scene, but views Curean as being part of a much bigger community. Finding ways to give back is an important Curean initiative. The restaurant is always participating in community sponsored events and has hosted or catered many fundraisers for local charities and private groups. She’d love to hear from you!
Emily Maddy
Executive Chef
Emily Maddy brings a diverse and eclectic blend of culinary excellence to her role as Executive Chef at Curean. A natural-born chef, Emily’s path to cooking greatness began at age 7, when as a young child, she started creating menus for her parents. By middle school, she was taking cooking classes and earning money preparing the family dinners. Cooking professionally for 25+years, Emily has honed her skills and her flair for Mediterranean style cuisine in kitchens across the US and beyond. From her line cook days in Portland Oregon to working as a Pastry Chef in the Cayman Islands to holding Chef De Cuisine positions in Dallas and Austin, Texas…Emily’s wide range of experience allows her to bring creative dishes to Curean’s menu and elevates our creative cooking to an enticing new level. Chef Emily’s favorite things are cooking, cats and golden girls!
