{"id":1685938,"date":"2026-09-16T07:45:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T11:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observer.com\/?p=1685938"},"modified":"2026-08-04T15:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T19:12:14","slug":"london-greek-restaurants-trend-dining-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2026\/09\/london-greek-restaurants-trend-dining-scene\/","title":{"rendered":"In London, a New Wave of Greek Restaurants Goes Beyond the Taverna"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A new wave of elevated, modern Greek restaurants has landed in London. Emma Pharaoh<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Souvlaki, tzatziki, saganaki\u2014these are just a few of the dishes that have landed on London\u2019s menus over the past year, evidence of an influx of modern, elevated Greek restaurants<\/a> arriving in the British capital. While London has always had a plethora of dining options, including both casual and more high-end Greek restaurants, in recent months, there has been an unexpected and unprecedented surge of new openings. It’s making a case for more than just a trend, with chefs and restaurateurs showcasing the scope of the regional cuisine in refined, sometimes experimental ways, in the hope that these restaurants will become permanent fixtures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe last real trend was cooking with fire, and before that it was Asian food,\u201d says Louis Korovilas, head chef at <\/span>Clio,<\/span><\/a> a stylish, contemporary Greek restaurant on Chiltern Street <\/span> in Marylebone, which opened in April. \u201cIt\u2019s Greece\u2019s time in the sun.\u201d Korovilas opines that in the past, people have viewed Greek food as \u201cthe ugly duckling of Mediterranean food.\u201d Now, however, he’s noticing people looking at Greek cuisine through a “different lens.”<\/span><\/p>\n

To be clear, there have been Greek restaurants in London for decades. <\/span>Elys\u00e9e<\/span><\/a> opened as a French eatery in 1936, but after it was purchased by George, Michael and Ulysses Karageorgis in 1962, it was transformed into a memorable Greek spot. It\u2019s evolved to keep up with the times, now embracing a modern, upscale vibe suited to Mayfair, but has always attracted well-to-do diners, including figures like Prince Philip and Muhammad Ali.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More casual restaurants, like <\/span>Halepi<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Andy\u2019s Taverna<\/span><\/a>, have also been around since the 1960s. The 2010s brought in a few more, including <\/span>Mazi<\/span><\/a>, in Notting Hill, in 2012. But for many years, the number of Greek restaurants paled in comparison to the plethora of Italian, Indian and Lebanese eateries around London. When Christina Mouratoglou co-founded Mazi with her husband and business partner, Adrien Carr\u00e9, she says the \u201cGreek food scene didn\u2019t exist at all.\u201d While that is not entirely true, it\u2019s fair to say that that type of elevated offering was certainly rare.<\/span><\/p>\n

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