In a Fira monastery courtyard
Selene is the restaurant that put Santorini's own produce, fava, white aubergine, cherry tomato, on a serious table long before the island filled with sunset bars. It sits in the courtyard of an 18th-century monastery in the old Venetian quarter of Fira, since converted into the Katikies Garden hotel.
In the Michelin Guide Greece 2026, the first edition to cover Santorini, it was awarded one star. A pioneer that still means it, on an island increasingly sold as a backdrop rather than a place.
Volcanic ground
The cooking draws on volcanic-soil produce and the island's small growers, Cycladic ingredients handled with intent rather than turned into a show. Fava, capers, the famous tomato, treated as the point rather than the garnish.
A quiet counter-argument to everything Santorini has become, made from the ground the island stands on.
A table about the place, not the backdrop.
The rare Santorini restaurant that is about the island itself, now with a Michelin star to match. Go in the shoulder season, for the calm.
VANE selection. Chosen with a critic's eye and judged independently. It's here because we judged it, not because it paid. This is a researched profile, not yet a first-hand VANE verdict; where we have eaten there, the review says so.
Image: Photo: Selene / Katikies (official site)
