This coming summer is the first in years that we hope to be carefree and live it with 100% of our senses. The Greek summer is intertwined with sun, sea and pleasant company. It is inextricably linked to delicious culinary delights made with seasonal ingredients from the Greek land. For a first, totally “full” Greek summer experience – even though it hasn’t started yet – we found ourselves at the Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki.
The reasons are many and clear: the rooms ensure guests a restful sleep, the Harmonia Spa offers moments of relaxation, the large gardens and the hotel’s outdoor pool further enhance the stay. We could mention many more. But, here, we will focus on the “common secret” that all Thessaloniki residents and guests of Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki have learned. Ambrosia restaurant, which is an excellent fine dining option in the city, combines the highest quality flavours of traditional Greek cuisine with the unique personal style of Chef Apostolos Altanis.
For a few days now, Ambrosia has been offering its summer season menu. As mentioned above, summer is associated with delicious culinary delights and a key part of the chef’s philosophy is to focus on seasonal ingredients. “When we plan the menu, we keep in mind what the seasonal ingredients are and we incorporate these mainly to have a great dish. Our goal is to offer our customers high quality dishes, always based on traditional Greek cuisine. Familiar and cherished flavours are presented a little differently, with a more thoughtful presentation. After all, we all know that food is a ritual and in order to offer a complete experience all senses should be satisfied. This, therefore, is our goal every time we plan a new menu”, Chef Apostolos Altanis tells Travel.gr.
This summer at Ambrosia, you will enjoy a wide variety of appetizers, main courses and salads, whether it is seafood and fish, meat sourced from local farms or pasta. Of course, this special culinary experience can be enjoyed as well by vegan guests.
“To achieve the best result we must use ingredients of the highest quality, this is our primary concern. To find the best products to enhance each dish. Clearly we prefer to work with local producers. As it makes sense, they pay more attention to their produce and their quality is superior. Also – and this is equally important – in this way we support the local economy”, notes Mr. Altanis, a chef who has gained loyal friends who may visit Thessaloniki just to dine at Ambrosia. When you have people who have trusted you for years, you learn their preferences well.
“When we create a menu, we take into account everything our customers ask for and prefer. We have regular customers who have been trusting us for years and we have now “built” a friendly relationship. So we listen to and take into account their opinion and any suggestions they may have,” he adds.
The menu is updated even during the season, as Ambrosia’s discerning guests might ask for an alternative, and, of course, sticking to the best available ingredients of each season can cause creative changes on the menu. The wide variety of the summer menu is complemented by a large wine list with international labels and the best wines of the region’s renowned production. Dinner is rounded off with one of the menu’s mouth-watering desserts.
We asked the chef if there was any dish that stood out from the summer menu: “I can’t pick out a dish. First of all, because I wouldn’t put something on the menu that I don’t like or something that I wouldn’t choose myself. I make sure to make each dish unique so that each course fully satisfies the customers who choose it”. Initially, we thought the answer was “diplomatic”. We had to try a large part of the menu to agree with him: even we couldn’t pick out any of the excellent tasting options.
For starters we had red mullet with aromatic gremolata and sweet pea cream, but also Smyrna seafood patties with lobster and xinomyzithra cheese. They were both delicious, but we were especially impressed by the originality of the idea in the seafood patties. The salad, namely roasted zucchini with shrimp, marinated fennel and yogurt dressing, highlighted the importance of the chef’s insistence on seasonal ingredients. The same was true for the sautéed mushrooms with garlic, thyme and extra virgin olive oil.
As for the main courses, in a group of three, one of us went for the seafood pilaf with prawns, blue crab and asparagus, the other for shi drum with colourful cherry tomatoes, asparagus, Halkidiki olives and ginger beer and the third one “renounced” seafood in favour of the braised chicken a la polita with Jerusalem artichoke puree, peas, egg lemon cream and lemon oil. Who chose what didn’t really matter, as we ended up sharing all three dishes. However, in the end, for the sake of their own “ego”, everyone insisted that their choice was sightly better than the others’.
Vergina Theatro entertainment
The Ambrosia dining experience is one of the main reasons you should stay at Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki. But it is not the only one, as right next door is Vergina Theatro. A musical satire titled “We laugh here.gr” continues following a sold-out premiere. Hilarious sketches conveying stories of everyday madness, as well as songs and dance, are performed by a host of Greek entertainers.
The cast includes Giannis Zouganelis, Eleni Kastani, Spyros Bibilas, Tania Trypi, Panagioitis Petrakis, Vicky Kavoura and Thodoris Panas. Every Friday and Saturday, from 22:00, the Vergina Theatro is one of Thessaloniki’s most entertaining spots.
Fun and good food combined – A versatile experience at Regency Casino Thessaloniki
If you want to have a relaxed and really fun evening as well as enjoy an excellent gastronomic experience, you are once again in the right place. Regency Casino Thessaloniki really changes the game when it comes to the whole casino experience. There are extra draws and surprise prizes, signature cocktails at Ian’s Lounge Bar and a great atmosphere, while Alfredo’s Grand Dining has already become the talk of the town. It makes sense, as here too the menu is curated by Chef Apostolos Altanis.
