Luxury Greek hotel Elix welcomed back a Greek chef, who made his name in London, this summer. We joined ex-Kiln chef Nick Molyviatis for three days of feasting by the Ionian sea.
The hotel
Elix is a Mar-Bella Collection hotel, part of a boutique group of three five-star luxury hotels in Greece. It's located in Parga, a part of mainland Greece we weren't familiar with before. About four hours drive south of Athens, the hotel looks out over the Ionian Sea to Paxos and Corfu. Given how staggeringly beautiful this area is, the coastline is surprisingly undeveloped. It feels like discovering your own secret part of Greece.
Looking down at the pool deck from the top terrace at Elix.
Why you need to go
For the past few years, the group has run a Greek Chefs Abroad series. They've brought back chefs who've gone on to make names for themselves outside Greece to run a series of events at each of the hotels in the group. Our trip coincided with a feast from chef Nick Molyviatis – former head chef at Kiln who was going to be cooking a one-off Greek menu inspired by Thai flavours.
Nick Molyviatis tells about his plans for the Greek Chefs Abroad menu.
Look and feel
The hotel, which opened in 2021, has been built to make the most of its spectacular views. The building hugs the coastline with every room looking out to the sea. It's beautifully designed - lots of earthy tones and floor-to-ceiling glass walls to soak in that view. In addition to a huge pool deck with an infinity pool you can also head down the hillside (via funicular) to a private section of Karavostasi beach, regularly voted one of Greece's best beaches.
The huge hotel atrium has a bar off to the left, and a terrace that's perfect for sundowners.
The room
At the hotel, there are just under 150 rooms in categories that range from standard double rooms to huge suites with their own private pools. We were giddily delighted by our one-bedroom suite which not only boasted its own separate lounge, but a huge terrace and private infinity pool.
Our one-bedroom suite bedroom...
...and a closer look at that private terrace with pool...
Food and drink
There are four restaurants and three bars at Elix. Saffron is the large buffet-style restaurant where the fresh fruit section alone goes on for what seems like forever at breakfast. Indigo is their poolside restaurant with an Italian focus and Azure is down on the beach and serves up salads, club sandwiches and great cocktails. The key restaurant is Pearl - the hotel's fine dining restaurant concept designed by top Greek chef Sotiris Evaggelou.
Over three days and nights we had a chance to try out most of the food offering there.
Beef carpaccio with tonnato sauce at Indigo
Beachside club sandwich at Azure - is there any better holiday meal?
The Greek Chefs Abroad Dinner
But the real reason we were there was to attend the dinner by ex-Kiln chef Nick. That took over the Pearl restaurant terrace for a night, and featured wines from the Robola co-operative vineyard in Cefalonia (you can buy their wines here in London from Maltby & Greek).
Sitting down for a quick chat with Nick before the dinner he told us that the inspiration behind the menu was down to his previous experiences at Kiln and Speedboat Bar along with his plans to open a Greek restaurant in London. "I did Thai and I want to do Greek, so I thought why not bring them together."
The menu included both local cheeses and olive oil. "This menu is inspired both by my travels over the past few years and it's also an indication of where I want to go." So the below should give you some idea of what to expect from his upcoming London restaurant.
Here are some of the highlights from what turned out to be an extraordinary meal.
Laap Neua dip - with quite the view
Kokoretsi via Thailand - we'll be honest, the initial description of kokoretsi "lamb or goat intestines wrapped around seasoned offal" wasn't really giving us the feels. But this turned out to be an extraordinary dish, packed with texture and heat.
Green milk pudding & filo pastry - another textural masterpiece
Places to go
If you're sticking with a food and drink theme there are plenty of places to visit. The hotel can arrange private visits to the Katori Averoff winery a few hours' drive away. There's also Paragaea, a 30-minute drive from the hotel, where you can go olive oil tasting.
Or, you could do what we did, and use one of the hotel's two boats and take yourself on a jaunt around nearby Paxos and Anti-Paxos. Over half a day we toured both islands, bobbing into the sea in tiny coves and sea caves, as well as stopping for a fabulous lunch at Genesis Taverna in Paxos.
The hotel's private boat moored just a few minutes from the hotel.
A taster of the dishes we enjoyed at the seafront Genesis tavern in the capital of Paxos, Gaios.
Events coming up
There are three more Greek Chefs Abroad dinners happening at Mar-Bella hotels this summer.
26 August - Vadym Kunitskyy at Mar-Bella Nido. Kunitskyy is currently the head chef at Alati – one of the best Greek restaurants in Singapore and also works with Athinagoras Kostakos, the man behind the menus at Bacchanalia and Meraki in London.
1 September - Chris Bisiotis at MarBella Nido. Bisiotis, based in Miami, was the first and youngest Greek chef to cook at the White House. He also worked on the launch of Avra Madison and Beverly Hills and Milos - Hudson Yards.
7 September (Nido) 9 September (Elix) - Alex Xinis oversees the cooking at Fable in Melbourne. Before that, he was head chef at two-Michelin-starred restaurant Funky Gourmet in Athens and played a key role in developing and implementing the menu at the ESTI popup in Shoreditch.
How to get there:
There are two key routes to Elix. Easyjet fly into the nearby airport of Preveza (it's a pretty basic regional airport but prices start at £35 one way). Or, you can fly into Corfu just across the water and get the hotel's catamaran to take you there, which would be a much lovelier way to arrive.
Prices
Elix starts from 196 euros on Half Board basis in low season and Elix ultra-all-inclusive starts from 258 euros for 2 adults in a Standard Sea view room. If you do opt for an all-inclusive that also covers meals in a nearby beachside tavern outside the hotel complex.
More about Elix - a Mar-Bella Collection hotel
Where is it? Καραβοστάσι 461 00, Greece
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @marbellacollectiongreece
Subscribe to be the first to get the news from Hot Dinners
