Chef Nikos Pouliasis, is the chef and owner of the predominant restaurant Koukoumavlos, in Fira, Santorini. Famous for his artistry with food and his ability to reinvent himself, he invites fine dining lovers on extraordinary gastronomic journeys. He is a fun of creativity, change, spontaneity but also perfectionism and precision. His food is evolutionary and he always finds numerous ways to explore flavors and ingredients so as to create exciting, highly original, dishes.

Koukoumavlos Fine Dining Restaurant has won numerous accolades and awards, including  Toque d’Or for many consecutive years.

In business for over 29 years on the island Chef Nikos Pouliasis is renowned for his artistry with food. He is a master at using commonplace ingredients and complementing them with fresh Greek flavors that yield unique and delicious results. This is definitely a restaurant where the chef breaks the rules!

Koukoumavlos Fine Dining Restaurant was established in 1989 in Santorini, by Chef Nikos Pouliasis. Through the years it was acclaimed as one of the best gourmet restaurants in Greece and is awarded with Torque d’Or every year. The dining hall impresses with its elegant Art Deco style. It exudes a baroque essence, decorated with objects –such as furniture, buffets, candle holders, carved mirrors-, collected by the Chef during his trips all over the world.

From the terrace visitors enjoy amazing vistas of the Santorini volcano and the impressive caldera.

Yet another feature of Koukoumavlos is the distinct presence of music. “Music is a very important element of my culinary evolution. In my cooking, dishes are compositions, sometimes with bold harmonious clashes, revealing a strong relationship with music”, says Pouliasis. The music mix is always of his own choice, defined by his mood and the atmosphere being created by the guests: classic baroque music, symphonic, jazz, alternative, progressive rock, soul, pair up the exquisite dishes and excellent wines!

Guests from all over the globe, VIPs, country leaders, presidents, actors, have participated in the adventurous gourmet journeys being proposed by chef Nikos Pouliasis, at Koukoumavlos Fine Dining Restaurant. Every year his menu expresses his philosophical and personal pursuits, always inspired by Santorini: The volcanic island that enchants him with the arid landscapes and the feeling of constant transformation and rebirth.

Ingredients and memory. As soon as you taste Pouliasis’s dishes you realize one simple truth: There are no …rules in his cooking! The ingredients are combined in unpredictable ways. You will be served with small “pieces of art” where every bite is a real gastronomic adventure. Don’t analyze it, or try to rationalize: Just enjoy it! “Cooking is not supposed to be understood 100%. Otherwise it leads to dogmatism and conventions. If we do not stand in front of what is called tradition and criticize it, we cannot go any further…”, says the Chef.

His technique and skills may play the main role, but his asset is the ability to inspire true feelings, through unexpected combinations. “Cooking is a utopia. It is a temporary form of art. It only survives through the reconstructing memory. From the first bite you should be able to tell, by the spark of memory, the ingredients composing a dish. And that is what makes it interesting. Without the memory there is no pleasure in food”…

On June 2017 the chef introduced an evening menu with tapas made exclusively with Greek fresh products.