Gastrosophy Fest, a one-day celebration of Greek gastronomy, takes place in Athens on Sunday 4 October. It brings leading chefs from Greece and abroad together for a forum of talks, followed by a food and wine party and a live concert. The delicious event is held at the Faliro indoor arena, the Tae Kwon Do venue, in Palaio Faliro on the southern coast of Athens, with a forum that will run from 1.40pm to 6pm, after which the Food and Wine Party begins.
In its second year, the festival was founded by Spyros and Vangelis Liakos, chefs and owners of the Basegrill restaurant. This year’s theme is “The Value of Nourishment and Its Journey”.
The organisers say nourishment is never only what is on the plate, but the relationship between nature, production, knowledge, culture, labour, hospitality and the systems that make a meal possible. They present Greek cuisine not as a static tradition but as an evolving language that carries memory and hospitality while engaging with new ideas and international perspectives.
From the sea to the vineyard
The forum is made up of eight linked panels. The opening discussion features Vangelis Liakos, Christoforos Peskias, Nikos Karathanos and British chef Tom Aikens. It asks what the system that feeds us is made of and what happens when one link breaks.
Lefteris Lazarou, Italian chef Mauro Uliassi, Gikas Xenakis and Panagiotis Giakalis then discuss the sea as a source of food. Topics include changing marine ecosystems, seasonality, overfishing, aquaculture and lesser-known fish species.
Slovenian chef Ana Roš, of the Hiša Franko restaurant in the Soča valley, takes part in a solo conversation with Tasos Mitselis. It explores how a single ingredient can carry the landscape, biodiversity and economic life of a place.
The fourth panel asks when gastronomy becomes a genuine reason to travel. It brings together Ettore Botrini, Panos Deligiannis, Alexandros Tsiotinis and Alexandra Michot, Academy Chair for France of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Greek Master of Wine Giannis Karakasis, founder of Great Greek Wines, follows with a solo talk on the international recognition of Greek wine and its next chapter.
Responsibility, the future and the hidden systems
Joe Otway of Cinderwood Market Garden, Petros Dimas, Asterios Koustoudis and Rafael Cagali ask where a chef’s responsibility to society begins and ends. The discussion covers farming, sourcing, menus, working culture, training and scale, from a Michelin-starred vegan tasting menu to hotel kitchens and banqueting.
Later, Merlin Labron-Johnson of the restaurant Osip, Manolis Papoutsakis, Pavlos Kyriakis and Nikos Thomas imagine the table of 2046. They consider fire-based cooking, the changing meaning of luxury and the role of artificial intelligence in kitchens.
The closing panel turns to the “invisible ingredients” of nourishment: energy, finance, water and knowledge. Petros Syrigos and Alexandros Papandreou are joined by representatives of energy company Protergia, Eurobank and water brand Vikos.
Participating countries
In all, the seven international guests are from the UK, Italy, Slovenia and France. The audience is expected to include gastronomy professionals, producers, journalists, hospitality workers, students and members of the public.
For visitors, the appeal lies in the top quality range of voices on one stage. Chefs, critics, wine specialists and businesses that rarely share a platform are set to address the same question: how food can keep nourishing people and places as the systems behind it change.
The programme also offers a view of Greece as a leading European food destination but also more than a place to eat; a country where food links landscape, hospitality, culture, vision and enterprise, with a restaurant scene that is evolving quickly and impressively.
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