What: A Greek-inspired fine dining restaurant on South Kensington’s Brompton Road. Named after one of Kefalonia’s prettiest beaches, Myrtos champions ingredients and recipes from across the country.
Who: Athens-born chef Asimakis Chaniotis, who was most recently head chef at Charlotte Street stalwart Pied à Terre. Prior to spending 13 years working for David Moore (at one point he also headed up Pied à Terre’s now closed sister restaurant L’Autre Pied), he cooked in a range of kitchens back home in Greece. Chaniotis – who we’re told is also an accomplished fisherman, hunter, forager and winemaker – was taught to cook by his mother, for whom ‘seasonal produce was always paramount’. Front of house at Myrtos is being led by Vasilis Kritselas, who has worked at top restaurants in both the UK and Greece.
The food: The menu at Myrtos is split into snacks and dips, raw, small plates, sharing mains, and side dishes. Despite this casual structure, the food is quite high end, with Chaniotis utilising the advanced cooking techniques he learned in Fitzrovia to create notably pretty dishes. Smaller dishes include marinated sardines adorned with olive oil, aged vinegar and lemon; bluefin tuna with samphire, tomato and capers; pink sea bream fricassee with lettuce, Greek herbs and avgolemono; and a lamb moussaka served in ‘a non-deconstructed traditional way’. Sharing plates include lamb chops with smoked olive oil and wild oregano; whole lobster giouvetsi; and whole Kefalonian organic sea bass baked in salt. Prices are roughly what one would expect given who is involved and the restaurant’s location, with dips £10 each, raw dishes ranging from £12 to £20, small plates averaging out at around £18, and sharing mains ranging from £28 to £60.

To drink: The wine list at Myrtos is nearly all Greek and strikes a good balance between famous wines from regions such as Santorini, Naoussa and the Peloponnese with the nearly completely unknown (the list includes a handy map of all of the country’s wine regions). Prices start at a reasonable £34 a bottle and top out at £215 for a 1999 Estate Foundi Xinomavro. The cocktail list has been created by Line in Athens, which is currently ranked at number six on The World’s 50 Best Bars list. Options include a Mediterranean martini made with kalamata olives, lemon and thyme; and a Bloody Mary made with sun-dried Greek tomatoes, red beetroot molasses, samphire and vodka.
The vibe: Located moments from Claude Bosi’s flagship Bibendum in a site that was formerly part of the Aubaine group, Myrtos is a handsome high-ceilinged space with lots of natural light. Design details include grey Scandi-style dining chairs, parquet flooring, artworks from Greek artists Yorgos Papadopoulos and Christos Raptis, and a real olive tree that takes pride of place in the centre of the dining room.
And another thing: Don’t miss Chaniotis’ snail flatbread, a take on the traditional Cretan stew saliggaria stiffado saganaki.
260–262 Brompton Road, South Kensington, London SW3 2AS