Botrini’s

The story

Botrini's in Athens: Modern Greek Cooking and Ten Years of Michelin Stars

Ettore Botrini and the kitchen

Botrini's in Athens reinvents Greek culinary traditions through an anthology of creations that blend rural simplicity with scholarly technique. Chef Ettore Botrini draws from his upbringing in Corfu and his years in Tuscany to construct menus where nostalgia meets innovation. His approach honors the Greek terroir by sourcing seasonal ingredients from small local producers while maintaining a rigorous zero-waste ethos. Peaches from the plains of Imathia become a pre-dessert compote sweetened with elderflower syrup, while their skins and seeds transform into house-made vinegar. Executive Research and Development Chef Ilias Ntoukas brings a minimalist aesthetic influenced by his tenure at Hiša Franko, reinforcing the focus on locality and sustainable practices within the brigade.

Stories on the plate

Behind each course lies a narrative card that Ettore shares with guests, tracing the origins of the dish to family history or cultural observations. The tasting menus, named Varkada and Peripatos, guide diners through sensory landscapes shaped by literature and visual arts. One preparation reinterprets a humble practice from Corfu, where workers once preserved herring in newspapers alongside cornbread and wild greens; the dish elevates this folk memory using refined methods. Another course recalls Tuscan fishermen who marinated fresh swordfish in seawater to keep it fresh, showing how professional craft borrows from daily life. These plates demonstrate how modern Greek cooking anchors itself in specific moments while pushing technical boundaries.

The former school in Chalandri

The dining room occupies a former school building in the Chalandri district, offering a calm setting distinct from the city's main tourist routes. Walls display the Pegasus emblem, a motif signaling the transition from darkness to spiritual freedom, beneath symbols of abundance like wheat and olive oil. The restaurant's dedication to sustainability earned two radishes from the We're Smart Green Guide, complementing a streak of Michelin stars that now spans ten years. The team treats the guest journey as an extension of the kitchen's ethics, connecting the act of eating to nature and memory.