Athens: meet Arnaud Bignon, the most Greek of French chefs

"In the pleasant village-like district of Pangrati, I met Arnaud Bignon in a strange little vaulted room with brick walls that serves as his informal office; even at 3pm he was already on deck for the evening, receiving the last deliveries of fresh vegetables or fish and working out the final details for dinner at a restaurant that has been awarded at least one Michelin star for over 20 years. The cooking here is French at heart yet deeply Greek and lighter now—he says he no longer wants to make beurre-blanc—leaning on Greek olive oil, pine oil, seaweed, mountain herbs, fresh almonds, morels, and local truffles, which stand up very well. He reinvents classics, like a Greek salad presented in a sphere that delivers all the dish’s characteristic tastes in a single bite; serves sea bass with rocket and bottarga from Trikalinos; plays with figs reduced to oil for a mayonnaise; and, for dessert, combines local citrus—bergamot, lemon, kumquat—so freshness is always on the menu. Surprising with unusual and surprising combinations is his trademark, and he often organises 4-hand dinners here with chef friends from France and elsewhere." - The MICHELIN Guide