Stavriani Zervakakou
PHONE: +30 6981477561
EMAIL: aspasiarestaurantmani@gmail.com
Chef Stavriani Zervakakou: Award-winning Greek chef & founder of Aspasia Restaurant
Chef Stavriani Zervakakou is an award-winning Greek chef, born and raised in Athens with family roots in the Mani Peninsula of the Peloponnese. She grew up between city life and summers in Mani’s wild landscape, among olive groves, the sea and stone-built villages that shaped her connection to flavour and terroir.
Today she is the creative force behind Aspasia Restaurant in Stavri, Mani, where she crafts dishes guided by the day’s harvest, the rhythm of the seasons and a zero-waste philosophy.
Her food transforms heritage, memory and craftsmanship into seasonal, expressive and deeply personal cuisine. In 2025, Aspasia Restaurant Mani was honoured at the Greek Cuisine Awards, recognising its excellence in Contemporary Greek Cuisine.
Stavriani studied Balkan Studies at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and earned a Master’s in International Relations from Istanbul Bilgi University, specialising in Greco-Turkish relations. She spent eleven years in Istanbul, working in shipping, teaching Greek, guiding tours and trading in markets. These experiences enriched her outlook and deepened her respect for local, flavour-driven cooking.
Her professional culinary journey began with a scholarship to the Istanbul Culinary Institute, followed by a position as Head Chef at Karaköy Gümrük under chef Şemsa Denizsel, where she developed her produce-led philosophy and the art of letting ingredients speak.
In 2016 she returned to Greece to lead the kitchen at the historic Kyrimai Hotel in Gerolimenas, Mani. Under her direction the restaurant earned the Modern/Contemporary Greek Cuisine Award and the Best Gourmet Award by Historic Hotels of Europe, cementing her reputation in Greek gastronomy. By 2021 she took the helm at Annie Fine Cooking in Athens, which gained Michelin Guide recognition just four months after opening.
Since 2023 Stavriani has been creating daily-changing menus based on wild-foraged herbs & greens, small-scale local produce, local farmers and the fishermen’s daily catch at her gastronomic sanctuary in Mani.
At Aspasia, Chef Stavriani has created a restaurant where guests experience a refined and idiosyncratic yet grounded expression of gastronomy of Mani and Greece. Every detail, from the menu to the atmosphere, reflects her belief in sustainability, seasonality and creativity, a philosophy that connects tradition with contemporary Greek cuisine.
What Our Guests Say
58 Ralph Ave
New York, New York 1111
+1 800 000 111
contact@example.com
Monday-Sunday:
Lunch: 12PM – 2PM
Dinner: 6PM – 10PM
