GAITHERSBURG, MD — Vasili's Kitchen Fresh Mediterranean is officially opening at 705 Centerpoint Way in the Kentlands community of Gaithersburg on Dec. 6.

The 4,000 square-foot-space will accommodate 200 customers for dinner, six days a week. The restaurant will be open from 5 to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, and be closed on Mondays. Restaurant manager Theo Hristopoulos tells Montgomery Community Media the restaurant has hired 52 full and part-time employees.

For over 15 years, the family operated Vasili's Mediterranean Grill at 353 Main St. in the area. According to Hristopoulos, the former restaurant closed three weeks ago and will be used for now as a training ground for staff development. In the future, the family may open a new venture at that spot. The Hristopoulos family is also partnering with celebrity chef Yiannis Lucacos, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, who appears as a judge on the European version of TV's "MasterChef." The new venue has an all-new menu.

