2014 Golden Chef’s Hat Awards: Greece’s Best Restaurants

Greece presented its emerging modern cuisine to an audience of European Tourism Ministers, foreign journalists, Greek tourism professionals, entrepreneurs and celebrities at the 2014 Golden Chef’s Hat Awards ceremony held recently in Athens.

The award ceremony took place following the Informal Ministerial Meeting for Tourism and the High Level Conference on Coastal and Maritime Tourism organized in the Greek capital by the Tourism Ministry and the European Commission.

“This year’s ceremony aims to present the Greek culinary culture to an international audience and boost tourism development,” Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said during a speech.

According to Mrs. Kefalogianni, Greece’s gastronomy, quality products and local cuisine of each of the country’s destinations are one of the main incentives for the modern traveler.

The tourism ministers from Belgium, Cyprus, Malta, Albania, the State of Palestine, Croatia and Poland attended the award ceremony while on the Greek tourism side the guest list included Tourism Ministry Secretary General Anastasios Liaskos, Greek National Tourism Organization President Christos Pallis, Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) President Andreas Andreadis, Hellenic Chamber of Hotels President Yiorgos Tsakiris, Athens-Attica & Argosaronic Hotel Association President Alexandros Vassilikos, and Athens International Airport CEO Yiannis Parashis.

Panos Livadas (General Secretary of GNTO), Christoforos Kaparounakis (Vice President of GNTO), Olga Kefalogianni (Tourism Minister of Greece) and Karmenu Vella (Tourism Minister of Malta).

Yiorgos Tsakiris (President of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels), Annie Iliopoulou (Publisher of Athinorama), Giorgos Kaminis (Mayor of Athens) and his wife Dia Anagnostou.

Andreas Andreadis (President of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises) with Dimitris Daskalopoulos (Chairman of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises-SEV).

The Golden Chef’s Hat Awards & Greek Cuisine Awards

Since 1992, the Golden Chef’s Hat Awards are given to the best restaurants in Greece and organized by Athinorama magazine/city guide and Alpha Guide, a guide of the best restaurants and hotels in Greece. The awards are held under the auspices of the Municipality of Athens.

The awards are given every year to restaurants across Greece, regardless of the type of cuisine they serve, which gather ratings of 15/20 and above by the Athinorama tasting committee. Within the framework of the Golden Chef’s Hat Awards, the Greek Cuisine Awards are also given to restaurants and taverns of the country that serve contemporary or traditional Greek cuisine that gather ratings of 14.5/20 and over.

According to Athinorama, Greece’s dynamic restaurant scene showcases the country’s culinary tourism potential.

Destination-wise, Athens saw its restaurants collect a total of 23 awards (Golden Chef’s Hat and Greek Cuisine honors). However, many of Greece’s tourism destinations recorded a high performance: Halkidiki, with seven awards; Crete with six awards; Mykonos, Santorini and Thessaloniki, each winning four awards; and Rhodes with three awards. First-time winners include Patmos (one restaurant won a Greek Cuisine award) and Pelion (one restaurant won a Greek Cuisine award).

Best restaurant in Greece

The big winner of this year’s Golden Chef’s Hat Awards was Corfiot-Italian chef Ettore Botrini who saw his restaurant Etrusco on Corfu win the award for “Best restaurant in Greece” for the second year in a row.

Golden Chef’s Hat Awards

Ettore Botrini (Etrusco – Corfu) with Olga Kefalogianni (Minister of Tourism of Greece).

1. Etrusco (Corfu) – 16.5/20 & two Golden Chef’s Hats
2. Varoulco (Athens) – 16/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
3. Botrini’s (Athens) – 16/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
4. Funky Gourmet (Athens) – 16/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
5. Hytra (Athens) – 16/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
6. Spondi (Athens) – 16/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
7. Squirrel (Halkidiki) – 16/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
8. Galazia Hytra (Westin Athens-Astir Palace hotel, Athens) – 15,5/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
9. Dionysos (Elounda Beach hotel, Crete) – 15,5/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
10. Matsuhisa Athens (Astir Palace hotel, Athens) – 15,5/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
11. Matsuhisa Mykonos (Belvedere hotel, Mykonos) – 15,5/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
12. Abovo (Athens) – 15/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
13. Alfredo’s (Regency Casino hotel, Thessaloniki) – 15/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
14. Anassa (Thessaloniki) – 15/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
15. Bill & Coo (Bill & Coo Suites and Lounge hotel, Mykonos) – 15/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
16. Botrini’s Rodi (Belle Vue hotel, Rhodes) – 15/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
17. Calypso (Elounda Peninsula hotel, Crete) – 15/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
18. Koukoumavlos (Santorini) – 15/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
19. Domata (Sani Resort hotel, Halkidiki) – 15/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
20. Old Mill (Elounda Mare Hotel, Crete) – 15/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
21. Selini (Santorini) – 15/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
22. Tudor Hall (King George hotel, Athens) – 15/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat
23. Water Restaurant (Sani Resort hotel, Halkidiki) – 15/20 & 1 Golden Chef’s Hat

Lefteris Lazarou (Varoulco - Athens) with Annie Iliopoulou (Publisher of Athinorama)

Ioulia Rifenstal (Squirrel - Halkidiki) with European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Maria Damanaki.

Kevin Kainz, Yiannis Parikos (Water Restaurant - Sani Resort hotel, Halkidiki) with Palestinian Tourism Minister Rula Ma'aya.

Stefanos Kolimadis (Dionysοs - Elounda Beach hotel, Crete) and Tasos Ioannidis (Matsuhisa Mykonos - Belvedere hotel, Mykonos) w ith Christoforos Kaparounakis (GNTO).

Greek Cuisine Awards

Ilias Kokkotos (Old Mill – Elounda Mare Hotel, Crete) with Karmenu Vella (Tourism MInister of Malta).

1. Etrusco (Corfu) – 16.5/20
2. Varoulco (Athens) – 16/20
3. Botrini’s (Athens) – 16/20
4. Funky Gourmet (Athens) – 16/20
5. Hytra (Athens) – 16/20
6. Galazia Hytra (Westin Athens-Astir Palace hotel, Athens) – 15.5 / 20
7. Bill & Coo (Bill & Coo Suites and Lounge hotel, Mykonos) – 15/20
8. Botrini’s Rodi (Belle Vue hotel, Rhodes) – 15/20
9. Domata (Sani Resort hotel, Halkidiki) – 15/20
10. Old Mill (Elounda Mare Hotel, Crete) – 15/20
11. Selini (Santorini) – 15/20
12. Tudor Hall (King George hotel, Athens) – 15/20
13. Aleria (Athens) – 14.5/20
14. Vasilaina (Piraeus) – 14.5/20
15. Kontosoros (Xino Nero, Florina) – 14.5/20
16. Kool Life (Life Gallery hotel, Athens) – 14.5/20
17. Lady Finger (Andronicus hotel, Mykonos) – 14.5/20
18. Milos Estiatorio (Athens Hilton hotel, Athens) 14.5/20
19. Papaioannou (Piraeus) – 14.5/20
20. Telemachos BBQ Club (Athens) – 14.5/20
21. Athyri (Athens) – 14/20
22. Alatsi (Athens) – 14/20
23. Alekos (Armeni, Rethymno) – 14/20
24. Alexis (Sani Resort hotel, Halkidiki) – 14/20
25. Apocalypsis (Patmos Aktis, Patmos) – 14/20
26. Gastrodromio en Olympo (Litochoro) – 14/20
27. Clochard (Thessaloniki) – 14/20
28. Exi Klidia (Pelion) – 14/20
29. O Thomas (Sklithro, Florina) – 14/20
30. Marina (Potidaia, Halkidiki) – 14/20
31. Mavrikios (Lindos, Rhodes) – 14/20
32. I Platia tis Anthoulas (Kassandra, Halkidiki) – 14/20
33. Tasos (Thessaloniki) – 14/20
34. Telemahos Art Grill (Athens) – 14/20
35. Chrysostomos (Chania) – 14/20
36. Psaraki (Santorini) – 14/20