Seafood legend Lefteris Lazarou won the Michelin race, gaining the country’s first star for Greek food—and rightly so, say the hordes clamoring for tables at this wood-floored, white-walled dining room (belonging to Hotel Eridanus) or a prized one on the terrace overlooking the Acropolis. Lazarou rises before dawn to source his psari (baked seafood dishes) and treats them in ways that veer into classical French territory without ever leaving Greece. Typical are cuttlefish risotto with caramelized garlic and bay leaf, and grouper with wild greens braised in egg-lemon sauce. Meat dishes are fewer, but just as amazing, such as his take on patsa, the workingman’s tripe soup, served in a martini glass.
Varoulko Restaurant
80 Piraeus Street, Hotel Eradanus
Gazi 104 35, Athens, Greece.
Tel: +30 210 522 8400
