Heteroclito & The Art of Raw

From Plate to Samos Terroir

During a quiet time after working with

Vins des Potes and the Greek Connection,

And just before Samos inspired the names Livia, Octave, and Hupnos, I felt especially aware

and ready for something new.

That’s when I took on a challenge: to create

a high-end food pairing menu in a place

with no kitchen,

no stove, and no fire at all.

The event, celebrating the 5th anniversary

of Heteroclito—the first wine bar in Athens

that dared to dedicate itself exclusively to Greek Natural Wines—was not merely a celebration.

It was the prelude to the philosophy I apply

to the Samos Wines I produce today.

No Fire, Just Essence: The Technique

of Subtraction

The challenge was unusual: to create a

food-and-wine pairing menu in a place without a kitchen. As a chef, fire is a key tool. Without it,

You face the raw ingredients with nothing to hide behind.

"When you strip away technical processing and embellishments, what remains is the naked truth of the raw ingredient."

Many travellers who come to Samos for its food ask, "How do you create flavor without cooking?"

My answer, then, is the same as now for visitors to my winery. When you can’t cover up flaws with cooking, the ingredients must be perfect. Here, "cooking" occurs over time and through acidity. It taught me humility. Instead of controlling everything, I had to pay attention to the ingredients . This is similar to Natural Winemaking, where the winemaker helps the Samos Terroir show itself in the wine.

A Conversation of Textures

That evening, the menu entered into a dialogue with my friends and fellow winemakers of the Greek natural wine scene: Ligas, Georgas, Thimiopoulos, Oikonomou, and, breaking the mould, Christelle Guibert, who runs the Vins Zulu in Roussillon.

The Bottarga with Mango alongside the Roditis, and the Mackerel with Sushi Rice alongside the Retsina, were lessons in balance. This approach is precisely what oenophiles seek today in a

Premium Wine Experience. It is not enough for the wine to be good; it must possess structure.

The fattiness of the food requires the acidity and volume of an Artisanal Wine to be elevated.

We used Shio Koji fermentation to transform the aubergine. The fungus worked like a natural cook, breaking down tough fibres and turning starches into sugars and proteins into umami. The result was

a confit-like texture, achieved without heat, which paired perfectly with the tannins of Xinomavro.

Potatoes can’t be eaten raw, so I used acid curing.  Sliced them thin like carpaccio and let them sit in fleur de sel and citrus. This removed the starchy texture and gave them a crisp, fresh acidity.

These potatoes were served with raw mussels, bringing the pure taste of the sea straight to the plate. It was a natural, deconstructed take on the classic Mussels & Chips.

FOOD WINES

Aubergine / Basil miso Thimiopoulos Rosé de xinomavro

Bottarga / Mango Ktima Ligas Roditis

Mackerel / Sushi Rice Domaine Georgas Retsina

Cucumber / Wakame Domaine Oikonomou Assyrtiko

Mussels / Potato Zulu Guili Guili

Parallel Fermentations: From Plate to Terroir

While my hands worked in the kitchen, I was also thinking about the wine tanks: where the

Greek Connection had finished, and Sous le Végétal was quietly maturing.

Being both a chef and a winemaker comes together naturally for me. a reflection of what was happening secretly in the winery. Waiting for wine to mature requires discipline, and creating a fireless menu was

the ultimate exercise in this discipline. Today, when travellers arrive in Samos searching for the

Best Wineries in Samos, they discover this continuity precisely. These are not two different careers, but the same obsession with purity.

Whether it’s a sashimi dish or Samos Muscat grown on the island’s rocky soils, the idea is the same: minimal intervention. I trust that if nature is left alone, it will give the best results.

Heteroclito was where we learned to be patient. At that time, I served my friends’ wines while

My own were still ageing.

Now, the wait is over. At Philia Winery, we pour Augustus and Livia, which are proof of that journey.

The invitation is always open. If you want to see this journey for yourself, join us for a Samos Wine Tour 

in our vineyards or a private tasting in the Chef’s Kitchen Lab. Come taste not just a wine, but the result of that quiet creativity. Now, the Samos Terroir speaks clearly, rewarding every moment we waited.