Fenix, a new restaurant in Mayfair, London W1, hosted a dinner for Condé Nast Traveller readers on Thursday 26 March, celebrating the start of the summer season at Costa Navarino. The evening came just days after the restaurant opened to London diners, CN Traveller reports.
The guests and the hosts
Costa Navarino is in the Messinia region of the southwest Peloponnese in Greece. CN Traveller describes it as one of the Mediterranean's leading luxury sustainable destinations. Managing director Evgenios Dendrinos flew in to greet guests. W Costa Navarino's executive chef Nikos Billis was in the kitchen, preparing a multi-course menu.
CN Traveller says the crowd was mixed: company directors, travel influencers and food industry figures, all readers of the magazine and keen on Greece.
The room
CN Traveller compares the interior to a sleek beach club. Tasselled lampshades, others made from wheat, cast soft shadows on rope-wrapped pillars and tiled floors. Arched entrances look through to an open kitchen.
The menu
Welcome drinks included an olive oil martini and a moonlight mule. Canapés followed, with Messinian flavours including:
- Athenian tartare
- Octopus with fava puree
- Compressed watermelon
At the table, dishes were served on earthy stoneware. CN Traveller singles out heirloom tomatoes with feta from Kopanaki and Kalamata olives, and Alonissos tuna paired with wild artichokes from Mikromani. Fenix signature dishes completed the menu, including a short rib with graviera cheese and caramelised aubergine.
Navarino Vineyards wines from the destination's organic vineyards were poured throughout. Dessert combined fir honey with black Corinthian currants.
To take home
Guests received goodie bags from Navarino Icons, including a bottle of extra virgin olive oil and jars of olives. As the meal wound down, the music picked up and the Costa Navarino team mingled with diners to talk through the dishes.
Photo: Eluveitie, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
