Mikro and
hotels
Boutique
Greek
Insider rounds up a handful of our favourite creme de la
creme, chic mikro and boutique hotels!
San Giorgio, Mykonos
This hotel was originally a pop up collaboration between
Design Hotels and Paradise Club. Situated on a rocky hill
between Paradise and Paranga beaches, this hotel is the
perfect location to rest and relax…their warm and inviting
hammocks surrounding the pool are practically calling your
name. The minimalistic decor and all white palette are dotted
with pops of colour and texture including hints of antiques,
gorgeous
pillows
and
ethnic
rugs.
For
more
information: designhotels.com/san_giorgio
Anemi, Folegandros
Hurry and book your stay quickly before this hidden gem is
discovered. Anemi is the perfect laid back atmosphere with a
contemporary, modern twist on Cycladic architecture and
boutique hotel vibe. The modern Mediterranean menu has rave
reviews and the sprawling salt water pool is calm and
welcoming. Hit the town for a few glasses of rakomelo or walk
up the hill to the Church of Panagia for a panoramic view of
the island. For more information: anemihotels.com
Coco-Mat Eco Residences, Serifos
This beachfront hotel overlooking the sandy beach of Vagia
received a bioclimatic revamp designed for couples only. The
design aesthetic is modern meets industrial and very
minimalistic. There are 13 one and two bed suites with sea
view terraces to boot. They provide free bicycles to guests to
galavant and discover the island as well as luxurious and
comfortable day beds on the beach—Ibiza style. All natural
mattresses are provided in all of the rooms courtesy of CocoMat and incredible comfortable–like sleeping on a cloud. Sweet
dreams. For more information: serifos.coco-mat-hotels.com
Onar, Andros
This island is one of Greece’s best kept secrets, very few
tourists frequent it and it seems the locals prefer it! The
fairtyale island of Andros is dotted with neoclassical
mansions with stunning architecture and stone work. Although
the main Xora feels very modern and chic, the rest of the
island is a nod to Greece’s Byzantine past. Onar features a
small cluster of stone cottages that are tranquil and remote,
each cottage has its own private terrace for privacy. All
meals and food are sourced from their own organic garden or
from local fishermen. The beach of Ahla is a 3 minute walk
away or if you’re in the mood for adventure walk a androbit
further to the waterfalls and have a quick dip. For more
information: onar-andros.gr
Perivolas Hideaway, Thirassia
Perivolas hotel is a favourite amongst the architecture,
interior design and photography circles in Europe and it’s
easy to understand why. From their breathtaking infinity pool
overlooking Santorini’s volcanic caldera to the village of Oia
at your footsteps, the hotel still maintains its privacy and
peaceful vibe. Perivolas hideaway, the sister hotel and bestkept secret is only 3 minutes away by speedboat on the island
of Thirassia and has even more breathtaking views and is
incredibly private and remote as it is only accessibly by boat
or helicopter–making it a favourite among A-list celebrities
worldwide. This is an adult only hotel with only 5 bedrooms
and lays right on top of the sea–the waves lapping the
sprawling terraces to each room. The hotel has its own private
black sand beach as well–said to have healing properties. For
more information: perivolashideaway.com
A Bistro in the City
Infusing classic dishes with gourmet touches and unexpected
twists, City Bistro raises the bar
There is no shortage of wine bars or eateries in Syntagma’s
City Link but City Bistro is surely a worthy addition and has
quickly earned a space in our hearts. Owned by Mr. Tasos
Ioannidis, the man behind several hospitality ventures and
restaurants including the foodie haven Matsuhisa Athens, and
Nobu in Mykonos at the Belvedere in Mykonos, City Bistro has
raised the bar in Syntagma’s City Link.
Upon entering the Bistro, the
first thing you will notice is
the impeccable interior, the
stunning glossy finishes and
enchanting architecture designed
by Bobotis
+ Bobotis. The
handmade sleek wooden bar is
classic, warm and inviting—it is
the perfect location to have a
glass of wine or apero after work. Here is a bistro where you
can enjoy gastronomic classics with a few unexpected twists
that are artfully arranged–at affordable prices. The staff is
particularly attentive, knowledgeable and friendly which is a
refreshing virtue in Athens. Internationally recognized
Executive Chef Nikos Zervos of the Belvedere Restaurant in
Mykonos curates the menu, who previously worked at two star
Michelin eatery L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Paris. In the
open kitchen we see the Head Chef George Ftakla, creating
dishes inspired by the cuisine of a classic bistro with a
modern twist and gourmet edge. The gastronomic philosophy of
City Bistro is in season, fresh, local ingredients that can be
enjoyed at any time of the day. The specially designed “Set
Theatre Menus” can cover theatergoers audience wants to enjoy
dinner before or after a show at the nearby local theaters.
Insider
Favourites:
For
Breakfast the freshly baked inhouse french croissants and
pastries at City Bar are a must,
For Lunch or Dinner: spinach
salad featuring a deconstructed
spanakopita profile with butter,
phyllo, sesame honey vinaigrette
and drizzles of dill syrup, tuna ceviche with passion fruit
vinaigrette, quinoa blini with smoked salmon, cream cheese,
lime & a honey mustard dressing, risotto with asparagus,
culatello and white truffle oil, chicken filet burger with a
multigrain bun with spicy mango chutney and a side of couscous
with raisins, cumin and lemon flavoured yogurt mousse, and
last but not least the sea bass carpaccio featuring piment
d’espelette, poppy seeds, citrus olive oil and micro greens.
Perfect for: business lunches, after work drinks, a shopping
break, Saturday breakfast or lunch and a night out.
City Bistro, Spiro Miliou Arcade, Athens, 210.321.1315,
citylink.gr
Hours of Operation (and Kitchen Hours): Monday-Thursday
12:30pm-01:00am, Friday-Saturday 12:30pm-1:30am, Sunday
12:30pm-12 midnight
Refined Casual Dining
Long before bio and organic became
mandatory prefixes to be added onto
restaurant menus, Dimitris Christoforidis
was a pioneer in introducing the concept of
refined healthy eating to Athenians when he
launched Nice n Easy, six years ago.
With a partner who shares his passion and
philosophy for organic eating, Christoforidis and Chef
Christos Athanasiadis have gone on to replicate the success
and following they have enjoyed at their two restaurants in
Athens and Kifissa with the opening of a sprawling 300-seat
restaurant right on the beach at Kalo Li vadi in Mykonos.
Christoforidis’ tryst with the restaurant business dates back
a couple of dec- ades when A-list celebrities
would queue up to dine at his LA
restaurant,
Sanctuary.
The
legendary Frank Sinatra, after
whose 1960 Grammy-winning album,
the restaurants are named, was a
reguar. That possibly explains Christoforidis’ obsession with
Hollywood – as all three Nice and Easy restaurants have themed
settings where large black and white cut- outs of suave actors
from the 50’s with slicked back, Brylcreemed hair vie for
wall-space with Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth’s seductive
frames. Designer Nikos Kopsidas and artist Nathan Makris
recreate the cinematic décor but with a unique Mykonian touch
as jazz classics and golden oldies lend to the restaurant’s
carefree, ‘nice n easy’ character. A Cycladic menu rich in
imagination, fla- vour and aroma, most of the cheese and
vegetables are sourced from Mykonos and neighbouring islands
such as Naxos, Kalymnos and Crete and the meat products served
at the restaurant are brought in from nice n easy’s own
buffalo farm located in Kerkini Lake, Greece. “Nice n Easy has
a menu that goes far beyond
your typical Mediterranean
fare,” says Christoforidis, “We
work hard to create adventurous
dishes that tweak your senses
but are rooted in local
gastronomic traditions and
indigineous produce.” Indeed,
the menu here is anything but
typical in composition and name. With a star-studded choice of
Oscar-winning actors and directors, Insider’s recommendations include: The Sean Connery – freshly baked wild
salmon with a herb and citrus crust on a quinoa tabbouleh base
– the pale, luxurious fillet off-setting the crunchiness and
bite of the ‘it’ grain, quinoa. Ideal for those inclined to
keep it light and fishy. Insider also recommends the
resplendant Costas Gavras Special – fresh mixed greens with
goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, sunflower seeds, in a
mavrodaphne sweet wine dressing and the Mastrogianni glutenfree fusilli with rocket, pine nuts, pecorino and cherry
tomatoes. The dessert menu flirts with flavours and surprises
with an astute melange of textures. Insider’s favourites:
Fluffy lemon mousse topped with mastic yogurt sprinkles and
the uber-delicate and refreshingly sophisticated lemon grass
sorbet. Nice n Easy Bio-Beach restaurant, Kalo Livadi,
Mykonos. Tel: 22890 72315, niceneasy.gr
CHEF NOBU SHARES HIS RECIPE
FOR SUCCESS
Global restaurateur, with
restaurants
in
over
22
locations worldwide and now a
hotel-mogul with the launch of
Nobu Hotels in Las Vegas and
Riyadh, Nobu is no stranger to
hard work and international
travel. Insider caught up with
him over the summer to talk
about following your kokoro
(heart) and just how important
resilience is.
What exactly influences your dishes?
I am Japanese but I lived in Peru, Argentina, Alaska and LA.
So I have a basic Japanese technique, taste and presentations
intermixed with many different countries I have lived in or
travelled to. I started the Nobu concept as a Japanese one
with Peruvian influence.
Would you say that based on each location, what available
locally influences your dishes?
Well here in Greece, I make the ceviche with Feta cheese, so I
include hints of local and seasonal produce. We also use Greek
olive oil in our dishes in Athens in Mykonos.
What is your favourite restaurant in Greece, outside of your
own? And your favourite dish there?
Kiki’s taverna in Agios Sostis in Mykonos. The pork chop.
Have you been to any other islands other than Mykonos?
I have been to Santorini and Rhodes on a cruise but my
favourite is Mykonos.
You discuss the importance of Kokoro (heart) in your cooking,
why is that so important to you?
Well growing up, it begins with your mother cooking your food
for you. You always remember and think about her cooking. She
is your food mentor. She cooks and provides for you—from her
heart. I moved out of the house and missed my Mother’s food.
When a mother cooks she is cooking for you to provide for your
health, to grow strong. My mother’s cooking was an education
for me.
So your mother must have been quite the chef!
She was the one who inspired me to cook.
Other than Japanese food, what is your 2nd favourite cuisine?
Italian and Chinese. I like all Asian food in general. I also
love Greek food…its simple with local high quality
ingredients. It’s hard to pick a 2nd favourite.
What is your largest remaining goal in life?
To be happy and make everyone around me happy as well. That is
the biggest reward.
Read the full length interview in the next issue of Athens
Insider Magazine September/October 2014 edition!
Dishing out new surprises
By Sudha Nair-Iliades
Michelin-star Chef Lefteris Lazarou’s avuncular face beams as
he greets regulars at Varoulko Seaside,
now in its new home by the water, on Akti
Koumoundourou in Mikrolimano. Long
considered a pioneer in awakening
dormant culinary aspirations in Greece,
Lazarou has trained and employed some of
the more promising young Greek chefs and
his lasting presence in the gastronomic
scene has had an enormous impact on
Greece’s culinary renaissance. Expect to
see more of his genius at work at the most
hedonistic of all islands – Mykonos – with
the launch of White Star.
Excerpts from the interview Q: Your new venture, White Star
in Mykonos, is a departure from your 100% seafood fare and
includes meat dishes. What else can we expect that will
surprise us?
A: White Star, is a beautiful minimalist restaurant, done up
in the white-washed cubic elegance of the Cyclades and we hope
it will set the bar really high. It’s true that people tend to
associate me with seafood so they find it surprising when
there is meat on the menu! My aim at White Star is to get
foreign tourists and international residents in Mykonos who do
not know me as well as the Greeks do, to savour my cuisine and
offer them a seafood version of a traditional meat dish! For
now, the formula seems to be working rather well. We’ve been
packed since we opened and my daughter, Electra, has moved to
Mykonos for the summer to run the restaurant.
Q: What prompted you to move Varoulko Seaside from Pireos
Street and move to Mikrolimano – a beautiful setting – but one
that is associated with pricey tourist-trap fish tavernas?
A: The setting is simply magical and harks back to my roots in
Piraeus. Varoulko Seaside deserves to be on the waterfront and
what better way to enjoy a gourmet seafood meal than to have
sea-spray and salty mist to lend to the atmosphere.
Mikrolimano did acquire a reputation for serving mediocre
seafood at outrageous prices – our presence here will
definitely remedy that when guests know that they can get an
all-day, value-for-money gastronomic experience, backed by the
experience of a chef who has been consistently awarded for the
past twenty years. Q: How would
you rate the Greek gastronomic
scene today compared to when you
started off thirty years ago?
A; What is heartening to note is
that despite the crisis, Greece
is home to 5 Michelin-star
restaurants. An indication that
Greece, and Athens especially, is doing really well with its
gastronomic experimentation. I was the first Greek chef to be
awarded a Michelin star since 2002, (and every year since
then!), so I take a great deal of pride in watching my young
compatriots winning at an international level.
Varoulko, Akti Koumoundourou 52, Mikrolimano. Tel: 210
5228400. varoulko.gr
White Star, Lakka, Mykonos. Tel: 2289077347. whitestar.gr