Selene

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Story Forty Years in the Making

What Giorgos Hatzigiannakis and his wife Evelyn set in motion in 1985 was quietly ambitious: a restaurant that would put the true soul of Santorini on the plate. Their vision was rooted in the island's own ingredients and its long-overlooked gastronomic traditions — not the tourist-facing version, but something rawer and more honest. Four decades later, Selene is still that restaurant, only sharper.

The Setting

The restaurant now occupies the premises of an 18th-century Catholic Monastery in Fira, a building that brings its own weight to every meal. Medieval stonework, understated luxury, and the particular stillness of a former place of worship create an atmosphere that is genuinely unlike anywhere else on the island. It is a room that earns its occasion.

The Kitchen and the Cellar

In 2021, Michelin-starred chef Ettore Botrini took on the Selene legacy and moved it into a new era. His menus — offered across Half Moon, Harvest Moon, and Full Moon degustation formats — draw on the Greek culinary tradition while giving it contemporary precision. Critic Nick Lander, writing after a visit, singled out a tart of skaros (a local fish), a clever riff on spanakopita, and a petit four of pistachio-and-almond nougat paired with a 1980 Santorini Vin Santo as particular highlights — the kind of detail that speaks to a kitchen working with both intelligence and restraint.

Alongside Botrini, Yiannis Karakasis MW — one of roughly 400 Masters of Wine worldwide — oversees a wine programme built around the Santorinian vineyard. The focus on Assyrtiko and the island's volcanic whites is not decorative; it is central to what Selene is. That commitment earned the restaurant Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence in 2023, a recognition that reflects the depth and curation of a list assembled by someone who genuinely understands this terroir. As Master of Wine Mark Andrew has noted, Assyrtiko from Santorini carries "an incredible, evocative character which really takes you to the island" — salty, mineral, and fresh in a way few whites anywhere can match.

Greek Cuisine as a Sense of Place

Selene's version of Greek cuisine is inseparable from Santorini itself. The volcanic soil, the local fish, the island's own winemaking history — these are not backdrop but ingredient. Whether you are working through a full degustation or choosing from the wine pairing menus, the experience is calibrated to reflect a specific place at a specific level of ambition. That is rarer than it sounds, and it is what has kept Selene relevant across four decades and counting.