Page 166 - EMPIRIA 2023

Special Feature

Travel to a culinary journey with Thalassamou, the idyllic restaurant-oyster bar where diners enjoy a perfect cocktail or chilled glass of wine with sublime far reaching Aegean Sea views.

A fourth-generation cook, Marios Salmatanis, is at the Close partnerships with fishermen ensure that seafood
helm of the gourmet seafood restaurant, Thalassamou. and fish are also brought in daily ensuring fresh, authentic
As its owner and chef, he prepares an inspiring menu dishes of the day, such as the grouper filet fricassé.
that reflects the location of the seaside restaurant and What other measures do you take in terms of
his creativity for passionate dishes. Having completed sustainability?
his studies at the “Ecole Ritz Escoffier”, he went on to Sourcing the very best ingredients as locally as possible
collaborate with renowned restaurants in Europe. We and supporting local communities. I don’t believe that any
caught up with this innovative Greek chef to talk about his food should ever be wasted, so anything not used is fed to
culinary vision and his focus on sustainability. domestic animals resulting in zero food waste. In addition
How would you describe your cooking style? to that, we also recycle all glass and plastic material,
I suppose you could call it innovative whilst paying respect as well as the cooked oils which turn into soap for our
to traditional recipes. The sensibility of Thalassamou has restaurant reducing our footprint to its minimum.
always been to embrace what’s in season and channel it Which is the first dish you would recommend to someone to
with a twist. Perfect examples of that philosophy are the try when visiting Paros and your restaurant?
dishes of ajo blanco with beetroots and red mullet filets You cannot leave the island without tasting the traditional
and the blue crab with mango chutney and apple chips. “revithada” (chickpeas in a ceramic pot, slowly cooked
We’ve also added a beautiful cycladic wood oven to in a wood oven), and our signature dish, which is
enhance our offering including our signature sourdough mock calamari risotto in its ink with green apple and
bread which is daily handmade. peppermint—no rice!
How does your cuisine connect with the island of Paros;
The connection is immediate. In addition to our own Thalassamou
organic farm, we work closely with local farmers which also Pisso Aliki Beach,
contributes to the destination’s sustainability, while we also Aliki, Paros 84400, T.:+30 22840 91461,
collect wild mushrooms that take centre stage in the menu. E.: welcome@thalassamou.gr Thalassamou