Chefs
Lefteris Lazarou
Lefteris Lazarou - whose Varoulko restaurant is one of the main landmarks on the map of Greek haute cuisine – learned the rudiments of his art at an early age, alongside his father, who was a ship’s cook. He learned the national cuisines of many countries – Tunisia, Morocco and Italy – while working as a general assistant in local restaurants. In 1975 he found employment in the kitchens of a cruise ship. By 1987 he was ready to bestow his wealth of experience on the Varoulko restaurant in Piraeus (which in 2004 moved to Piraeus Street in Athens). Here he put to good use his extensive culinary knowledge, earning a Michelin star and an international reputation. He has represented Greek cuisine, and the country’s superb virgin olive oils, in Europe, Japan, Argentina and America, where he has taught Greek cooking at the Culinary Institute of America, one of the country’s top schools for chefs. He has worked as a chef at significant international events and since 1993 has been awarded the Golden Hat award every year. His book – Lefteris Lazarou :20 years at Varoulko – was published in 2006.
Check out their menuWhere
Water RestaurantWhen
11-13.05.2012Ticket price
80 euros
Yannis Parikos
A graduate of the Le Monde School of Tourism Studies, Ioannis Parikos trained at the three-star Hotel Bristol in Paris, alongside Eric Frechon, and at the two-star Sea Grill in Brussels under Yves Mattagne. Here in Greece he has worked at restaurants of comparable calibre, like Varoulko and Spondi. During the 2009-2010 season he was chef at Hytra, earning a Michelin star, and since 2007 he has also been executive chef at the Sani Asterias Suites. He has won the Golden Hat award several years running.
Check out their menuWhere
Water RestaurantWhen
15-16.05.2012Ticket price
60 euros
Konstantin Filippou
Konstantin Filippou is one of the most innovative Greek chefs, holder of a Michelin star and three Bonnet awards for his creative gastronomic approach and his remodelling of the overall concept of the Novelli restaurant in Vienna, where he worked as head chef from 2006 to 2011. His cuisine is based on purity of flavour, inspired by tradition but with a profound multicultural influence; his dishes demonstrate a bold imagination, transcending convention and approaching the final product with the passion of an explorer. He has worked in top-calibre restaurants in Austria, Spain and the UK
Check out their menuWhere
Water RestaurantWhen
18-20.05.2012Ticket price
80 euros
Herve Pronzato
Award-winning chef, French-Italian Herve Pronzato is one of the leading figures in European cuisine – working for several years now in Greece. He has earned a considerable reputation for his magnificent Mediterranean dishes and superb aesthetic sense. He graduated from the renowned Ferrandi school in Paris, and went on to work at top restaurants in Paris, London, Scotland, Athens and in Halkidiki – this year he is chef at the Squirrel restaurant at the Danai Beach Resort. Extensive research has made him an expert in the new molecular cuisine, while an eight-year apprenticeship with the world-renowned master Philippe Park has equipped him with considerable expertise in the art of patisserie. Last year he was one of the judges on Greek TV’s Top Chef programme.
Check out their menuWhere
Sea You UpWhen
11-13.05.2012Ticket price
80 euros
Yiorgos Hatziyannakis - Nikos Boukis
Yiorgos Hatziyiannakis has two great passions – food, and the island of Santorini. And he had the great good fortune to combine his two loves when he opened his Selini restaurant on the island in 1986, specializing in local cuisine. Within a very short time the restaurant had earned him an international reputation. He was also one of the founders of the Archestratus and Slow Food gastronomic societies, of the Association of Greek Sommeliers and the Santorini Restaurateurs Association. He works tirelessly to showcase the island’s produce, believing that tourism is one of the best vehicles for promoting local goods and cuisine, and organizes lessons in cooking, exhibitions, receptions and other gastronomic events. In 2010 he moved the Selini restaurant from Fera to Pyrgos, adding a wine bar, delicatessen and café-patisserie. This year he will be launching a collaboration with chef Nikos Boukis, who has many years of experience in restaurants in Greece and abroad, working alongside eminent chefs, and is expected to raise the creative cuisine of Selini to even more impressive levels.
Check out their menuWhere
Sea You UpWhen
14-16.05.2012Ticket price
80 euros
Polychronis Damalas
A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and the Nobu restaurant in New York, Damalas is one of the leading lights of his generation. He works as chef at the award-winning Sea U Up restaurant at the Sani Resort, where he brought a surreal imagination to menus bridging traditional flavours and contemporary trends. He was currently chef at Gaspar, still specializing in Asian fusion dishes and winning rave reviews from the critics. His willingness to experiment makes him one of the most promising young chefs in New Greek Cuisine - which has already yielded gastronomic achievements of superb quality.
Check out their menuWhere
Sea You UpWhen
18-20.05.2012Ticket price
60 euros
Sotiris Evangelou
Born in Tyrnavos in 1967, Sotiris Evangelou now lives in Athens. He was introduced to his love of fine food in his parents’ home, taking an interest in cooking from an early age, and went on to study at the School of Tourism. He served apprenticeships at the Xenia Palace in Nafplio (1984) and the Metropolitan Kapsis in Rhodes (1985). His career began to take off in 1988, at the Danai Beach in Halkidiki, and later at other major hotels in Greece and the Frankfurter Hof Hotel in Germany. This year he was appointed executive chef at the Hotel Grande Bretagne. He did part of his training at the ADF – Formation of Alain Ducasse in Paris (2003), and has also worked in a number of major hotels abroad.
Check out their menuWhere
Byblos LoungeWhen
12-14.05.2012Ticket price
80 euros
Nikos Katsanis
Born in Australia, Nikos Katsanis is passionate about both cooking and travel. Egypt, Lebanon, South America – just a few of the places he has visited in a life of travel which began at an early stage. He studied economics at the American University in Cairo, and then moved on to the Cairo School of Advanced Tourism Studies. He returned to Greece 23 years ago and established a reputation at the Sousourada restaurant, where his menus were built around the rural Greek cuisine he loves so much and has explored in such depth. He has written articles on the subject for Greek and foreign magazines, and currently has three books awaiting publication. He has made his home in Afytos.
Check out their menuWhere
Byblos LoungeWhen
15-16.05.2012Ticket price
60 euros
Dimitris Mavrikos
Owner of the restaurant of the same name in Rhodes, Dimitris Mavrikos is continuing with great success a tradition started by his grandfather back in 1912. He studied tourism management in Stresa, Italy, and has made good use of his broad practical experience of Mediterranean cuisine, especially the flavours of Greek home cooking: one of the favourite dishes with customers at his restaurant is the soupiorizo (squid rice), made from rice cooked in squid ink, while his own favourite island ingredients are samphire and capers. Discerning gourmets travel from all over the world to visit his restaurant, which has been featured in publications including the German Stern and the New York Times. In 2007 Status magazine named him Chef of the Year.
Check out their menuWhere
Byblos LoungeWhen
17-19.05.2012Ticket price
60 euros
Chrysanthos Karamolegos
Chrysanthos Karamolengos is famous for dishes which combine past and future, the histories and cultures of many different countries, old memories and new sensations. Combining intelligence and passion, he is a leading figure in the movement to redefine Greek culinary traditions, and the inspiration behind ‘green cuisine’, in which the purity and authenticity of the ingredients is the essential condition for the success of a recipe. At his restaurants, Apla in Athens and Domata at the Sani Resort, he creates a superb mosaic of flavours, with dishes inspired sometimes by people and places, sometimes by moods and emotions – but always defined by his own desire to stamp the menu with his personal knowledge and temperament. He is regarded as the main exponent of creative Greek cuisine of the present day.
Check out their menuWhere
Tomata RestaurantWhen
11-14.05.2012Ticket price
70 euros
Mihalis Lytrivis
Proprietor and chef of the Edodi restaurant – a regular winner for years now of Golden Hat and Eleftherotypia newspaper Gourmet awards – Mihalis Lytrivis has developed his culinary talents in a variety of directions. He worked for several years on cruise ships, and then at the Intercontinental Hotel and the Bajazzo restaurant (sous chef), which has won a Golden Hat award and a Michelin Star.
Check out their menuWhere
Tomata RestaurantWhen
15-17.05.2012Ticket price
60 euros
Aris Tsanaklidis
Aris Tsanaklidis was originally a student of political science, but his love of cooking led him to enrol in the Culinary Institute of America, after which he worked in famous restaurants in New York, Washington and Los Angeles, and then farther afield in Mexico, the Virgin Islands, Japan and Hong Kong. In 1992 he decided to return to Greece, full of new ideas for fusion cuisine. He worked at the Melrose and Spondi restaurants, going on to become executive chef at La Pasteria. His most recent position has been at Kuzina, where he offers exciting fusion dishes inspired by Greek and foreign cuisine but always based on pure Greek ingredients. He also plans the menus for Pasaji and works as consultant chef to a number of other restaurants.
Check out their menuWhere
Tomata RestaurantWhen
18-20.05.2012Ticket price
80 euros
Nikos Michail
Nikos studied at the Anavyssos Tourism School and then worked at the Golf restaurant in Glyfada, the Platis Gastronomy, the Park Hotel in Athens and the Aria Yevseon restaurant. Two years ago he opened his own restaurant, Argoura, offering a fascinating new reading of Greek cuisine: familiar seafood dishes with a hint of haute cuisine, imaginatively served in a setting of Aegean simplicity and authenticity.
Check out their menuWhere
OuzerieWhen
11-13.05.2012Ticket price
60 euros
Xenakis Gikas
After studying in Greece and abroad, Gikas Xenakis began his professional career at the 5-star St. Nicolas Bay Hotel in Crete. He then moved on to the Orizontes restaurant in Lycabettos, the Boschetto and then the award-winning Spondi, where he worked alongside Arnaud Bignon. In 2010 he took over as chef at the Breeze restaurant, receiving a Gourmet award from the newspaper Kyriakatiki Eleftherotypia. The FNL-guide website also singled the restaurant out for its outstanding value for money.
Check out their menuWhere
OuzerieWhen
15-17.05.2012Ticket price
60 euros
Nikos Katsanis
Born in Australia, Nikos Katsanis is passionate about both cooking and travel. Egypt, Lebanon, South America – just a few of the places he has visited in a life of travel which began at an early stage. He studied economics at the American University in Cairo, and then moved on to the Cairo School of Advanced Tourism Studies. He returned to Greece 23 years ago and established a reputation at the Sousourada restaurant, where his menus were built around the rural Greek cuisine he loves so much and has explored in such depth. He has written articles on the subject for Greek and foreign magazines, and currently has three books awaiting publication. He has made his home in Afytos.
Check out their menu