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Athens is home to some excellent gourmet restaurants. In recent times, the venerable Michelin Guide seems to be grasping the breadth of what the Athens culinary scene truly has to offer; five restaurants were awarded Michelin stars in 2019 followed by two more in 2021, three in 2022 (including a 2-star and two Green Stars,) and another three in 2023. All of these outstanding restaurants are well worth the visit. The setting is often as enchanting as what’s on the plate, from fine dining by the seaside to a rooftop restaurant with Acropolis views. They’re also reasonably priced by international standards, given their excellent form and quality. And you don’t have to book months in advance. So if you’re feeling starry-eyed in Athens, go for it.
Delta, 2 Michelin Stars, 1 Green Star
Chefs: Giorgos Papazacharias and Thanos Feskos
The capital’s sole 2 Michelin star restaurant, crowning the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, certainly lives up to the heritage of this landmark cultural hub. Delta is gifted with breath-taking views of Piraeus’ Mikrolimano (especially during sunset), and the décor is a luxurious, futuristic landscape set in a vast industrial space; a forest of trees hangs from the ceiling and jostles for attention from the beautifully sculpted brass bar centrepiece that resembles the sea. Chefs Giorgos Papazacharias and Thanos Feskos have created a “12-step omnivore menu” that offers a sophisticated dining experience with a focus on sustainability. The result is a series of surprising dishes such as a sea urchin made from potatoes and stuffed with fish roe and rose petals, or a fermented “white” pepper. Fermentation is no accident in this restaurant, as the menu has a strong Nordic influence reflecting both chefs’ previous positions in Scandinavian restaurants. Delta is only one of three restaurants in Greece to also hold a Michelin Green star. All in all, this is an extraordinary (almost ritualistic) culinary safari, lasting around 2.5 to 3 hours. You can opt to pair with a wine, a fine wine or a juice. Our favourite? A magnificently steamed cuttlefish with topinambur (artichoke) on a bed of white pebbles, and a slow-cooked cod in prune jus.
Review by Despina Trivolis
Soil, 1 Michelin Star, 1 Green Star
Chef: Tassos Mantis
One of Athens’ two new Michelin-starred restaurants (2022), Soil pulls off a rather challenging accomplishment: It feels special but not pretentious, modern but not trendy, and truly Athenian. A plan well executed, if anything, set in motion by Chef Tassos Mantis and F&B Manager Alex Mouridis. Mantis should be no stranger to connoisseurs of Athens’ haute cuisine; his, after all, was the menu that gained Hytra its first Michelin star (see below). That was until he decided to take off on his own and land in Pangrati, right behind the Panathenaic Stadium.
Soil is housed in a renovated neoclassical townhouse built in 1925, with a welcoming pebble stone courtyard surrounded by lemon trees; a wonderful dining setting if weather allows, that comes with spying views to the neighbouring balconies under the serenade of the neighbourhood’s cats, a very Athenian stage set.
The Chef has adopted a farm-to-table approach relying on local producers and even their own backyard; most of the vegetables and herbs used in the menu come from Mantis’ garden in Alepochori, a seaside village about an hour’s drive from Athens. The result is a 14-dish seasonal and sustainable menu which reveals the Chef’s Nordic influences and unpretentious flair for perfection, a combination that deservedly earned Soil a Michelin Green Star in its first year of operation—only one of two establishments in Greece to have done so.
Τhe food is Greek, yet also cosmopolitan. Some of the highlight dishes include a miniscule eel burger with a strong earthy aftertaste, a surprisingly tender piece of tragos (a male goat whose meat is usually very chewy), and a playful pre-dessert granita (sorbet) of cucumber with lemon verbena, green apple and a touch of jalapeño. Soil’s peak feature, however, might be the sommelier’s pairing. Rarely have we sampled such a refining pairing such as that of a hen of the woods mushroom with fir, potato, and leek paired with a flowery Ktima Merkouri Coma Berenices. A truly memorable experience.
Reviewed by Despina Trivolis
The Ζillers, 1 Michelin Star
Chef: Pavlos Kyriakis
One of the first boutique hotels in Athens, Zillers was founded in 2016. In its early days, it was the hotel’s eponymous bar/restaurant that was mostly mentioned in lists of the best rooftop spots in Athens. In recent years, however, the Zillers restaurant has set off towards the (Michelin) stars, managing to tap one in 2022. The credit for this honour goes to the talented Chef Pavlos Kyriakis.
Located opposite the Athens Cathedral, the building is named after the famous German architect who is responsible for some of Greece’s most emblematic turn-of-the-century- buildings, including the Presidential Mansion and the National Theatre of Greece. Amongst its peers, Zillers is a bit of a unicorn, being the only Michelin-starred restaurant to be found in the very centre of Athens that also comes with breathtaking views of the Acropolis.
There are two set menus; All Astir (seven courses for €95,) and Going Abroad (ten courses for €125). What sets Zillers apart from other Michelin-starred restaurants in Athens is its emphasis on “Greekness”. The star dish is a rack of lamb smoked in sage, along with other parts of the lamb such as the brain and slow-cooked shoulder, served with peas, chanterelles and xinohondros (a Cretan version on the pebble-shaped grain pasta trahanas) fermented in sheep’s buttermilk and topped with a xinomavro wine sauce. A great Greek dish that felt very homely yet deeply refined. We also liked the Green Globe artichoke dish, served with celery root puree, egg and lemon sauce and Arabica coffee. Last but not least, there was the aftozymo: a twist on the traditional Cretan recipe with chickpea and aniseed, this aftozymo had the look and texture of a brioche but left a lingering aftertaste of cumin and milk. Served with an excellent, rich goat's butter, it was a real treat.
The star dish at The Zillers.
Photo: The Zillers
But the highlight of the evening was the olive bar, which comes at the very beginning. Guests are given a small printed map of Greece on which five locations are marked; Alexandroupoli, Crete, Corfu, Corinth and Mytilene. A short description under each location provides information on each of the five olive oils you can sample, each paired with three different types of homemade bread. We tasted the fruity and barely bitter "Doctor Kavvadia" organic extra-virgin olive oil from Corfu, and the "Konos" from Alexandroupoli, complex with a sweet aftertaste. We wish more restaurateurs would follow Zillers' example and use the country's excellent produce and ingredients to create truly international menus.
Reviewed by Despina Trivolis
Pelagos, 1 Michelin Star
Chef: Luca Piscazzi
The Pelagos fine dining restaurant in the Four Seasons Astir Palace of Vouliagmeni was awarded its first Michelin star only months after Luca Piscazzi (formerly of the two-star La Dame de Pic in London) took over as head chef. You can see him work quietly with his brigade in an open kitchen that runs along most of the impressive dining room. The decor exudes the luxury and confidence of a bygone era. It almost feels as if an Onassis’ yacht was "moored" inside an art deco New York palace. Everywhere around you, you see and feel polished but unpretentious class. It’s a philosophy that the cuisine seems to abide by too. Starters include the best seller cold spaghetti with caviar and an almond - fennel emulsion and the truly Michelin-worthy yellowtail with broccolini in a silky carbonara sauce.
Indoor luxury or outdoor view?
Courtesy: Pelagos
The signature main dish is the dry aged sea bass which is cured for four days in a mastic crust before been dramatically presented at your table, raw, on a bed of pine needles. The waiter then proceeds to crack the mastic encasing and sends the fillet back to the kitchen for cooking. The fish is juicy and flaky, with a faint aroma of mastic: a must-try. Desserts include an excellent portokalopita (greek phyllo orange pie) with vanilla foam, honey comb and timur pepper. Or why not try the Mediterranean cheese selection instead, which comes with homemade walnut bread, fig chutney and honey. A dinner at Pelagos is a cosmopolitan fine dining experience, orchestrated by Cedric Vinckier, the restaurant manager who is quite a character. Beware, he might tempt you with one of his signature martinis, dotted with a selection of essential oils you can choose from!
CTC, 1 Michelin Star
Chef: Alexandros Tsiotinis
CTC (an acronym which, when pronounced in Greek: “sitisi”, literally means “feeding”) was first listed in the much-watched guide 5 years ago. It wasn’t decorated with a star, but earned its place as a cool discovery for creative dining, worth checking out, in an inconspicuous corner of the lower Ilissia neighbourhood, near the Athens Hilton. Last year, the restaurant moved to grungy Keramikos, to a more spacious building with a lovely verdant courtyard for alfresco dining in the summer. Here, the chef and owner Alexandros Tsiotinis proposes an 11 course menu (good value at 95 euros), inspired by Greek gastronomic tradition (yes, there has been a modern rendition of moussaka as well, in the past). The menu changes seasonally—sometimes more often—depending on the inspiration but also on the sustainability ethos of the chef-owner. Basking in the glow of his first Michelin star, Alex currently proposes innovative yet comforting dishes such as beef cheeks braised in a “bianco” sauce from Corfu and laced with a cream of fresh cheese from Tinos, served with smoked gnocchi. Another coup de coeur is the confit of fresh Greek cod with a mousse of leek and burnt butter, topped with Greek farmed oscietra caviar. Playful yet sophisticated desserts include a cauliflower cremeux with white chocolate ganache and coconut sorbet—a surprisingly elegant symphony in white.
Spondi, 1 Michelin star
Chef: Angelos Lantos
The first restaurant in Athens to receive a Michelin star in 2002, Spondi has remained at the top of its game due to the perfectionism of its owner, Apostolos Trastelis. The restaurant sits in the friendly neighbourhood of Pangrati, in a pretty neoclassical building. The summer terrace is charming and the vaulted main room inside feels special in the wintertime. The food has always leaned on the creative French side as for years famous French chefs have been coming back and forward, creating memorable menus and training top notch brigades. Angelos Landos is the first non-French chef in years to be put in charge.
Spondi offers a truly knowledgeable, sophisticated cuisine presented with confidence, noblesse and—dare we say—humility. Meat dishes include Challans duck, milk fed lamb, veal sweetbreads and venison, beautifully paired with earthy vegetables (beetroot, carrot, red onion) and sweet and bitter notes (ginger, currants, endives).
The art of plating at Spondi.
Courtesy: Spondi
From the fish selection, we recommend the turbot with corn, sesame, shimeji mushrooms and yuzu citrus, a tour de force of stealthy elegance. And being French at heart, Spondi has always offered the best foie gras in town—whether it’s the preserved version with spices, chocolate and orange, or pan fried fresh with chervil root, Jerusalem artichoke, chestnut and coffee consommé. The desserts here are consistently among the best in Athens—if not the best. We suggest you try more than one in mini portions.
The service at Spondi is up to Parisian standards, even though the cult maitre d’ Nikos Retelas, who had the gravitas of a vintage Christopher Lee, sadly retired recently. Ask for the alluring sommelier Miss Giovanna Lykou and don’t be afraid to taste some excellent Greek wine with your world class dishes.
"Spondi offers a truly knowledgeable, sophisticated cuisine presented with confidence, noblesse and—dare we say—humility."
Botrini’s, 1 Michelin Star
Chef: Hector Botrini
Greece’s answer to Gordon Ramsay (he hosted the Greek version of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares with comparable mordancy), Ettore Botrini is quite the entrepreneur. Sporting his trademark jockey’s cap, the Greco-Italian chef has lent his larger-than-life persona to a collection of ventures from casual pizzerias to potato crisps.
Botrini’s flagship restaurant in the unassuming but lively suburb of Halandri is a luminous space with white furniture and walls that show off the equally bright dishes. The menu balances the latest food trends with well calibrated nostalgia. Botrini’s culinary memories from the island of Corfu, where he grew up, are refined and updated using cutting edge techniques. The swordfish carpaccio flavoured with bitter orange is a good example. For his signature marine carbonara, the tagliatelle are made with calamari and the egg yolk emulsion is replaced with sea urchin roe. And what is this audacious addition at the bottom of the menu: Tzatziki for dessert? But no more spoilers!
