Alexandros Tsiotinis

Where It Started Athens is the point of reference in Alexandros Tsiotinis’ work, and the city’s food culture shapes the way the cooking reads. Born there, Tsiotinis carries forward a sensibility formed by the daily presence of Greek food and the rhythms of the Greek table. The result is not a narrow localism, but a practice that keeps returning to Greek ingredients, memory, and flavor as fixed points. That grounding gives the work clarity, even when the expression is modern.

The Work Today

At CTC in Athens, Greek haute cuisine is handled with a clear hierarchy: the ingredient leads, and technique supports it. Alexandros Tsiotinis states that plainly: “Greek cuisine should let the ingredients take the lead, which is how we operate at CTC, with technique playing a secondary role – still very important.” The logic is practical, not decorative. Product sets the direction; technique sharpens the result. What gives the cooking its structure is the way it holds precision and restraint together. Technique is present, but it is asked to stay in service of flavor rather than take over the frame. Memory is present too, though not as nostalgia. In Tsiotinis’ hands, it functions as a working method: a way to present familiar Greek flavors with a different perspective while keeping their character intact. The Michelin Star earned in 2021 confirms a language that was already in place rather than inventing one overnight. The continuity runs through Athens, through Greek ingredients, and through a modern reading of the tradition. That combination keeps the kitchen legible to peers: rooted in its source material, but shaped for the present.

In Their Words “I want to walk them through the memories of Greek cuisine, offering them the chance to experience its flavours through a modern prism and a different perspective.” “Greek cuisine should let the ingredients take the lead, which is how we operate at CTC, with technique playing a secondary role – still very important.”