Yotam Ottolenghi Can't Make a Greek Salad Like This
Forget the cookbook empires. The best idea in Mediterranean cooking may be hiding on Serifos.
There is a point at which chef becomes so ubiquitous, so endlessly profiled, and so thoroughly enshrined in the culinary media machine that they forget what actual, grounded originality tastes like. Enter Yotam Ottolenghi. The Israel-born chef has long been a darling of The New York Times, an institution seemingly hellbent on attributing the entire evolution of modern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dining to a single man—conveniently ignoring the fact that pretty much every restaurant and casual spot in Tel Aviv has been serving that exact style of vibrant, New Israeli cuisine for decades.
While the global food press continues to worship at the altar of over-exposed cookbook empires, true culinary brilliance is quietly happening far from the glare of press releases. Specifically, on the sun-drenched Greek island of Serifos, at Seriani Restobar.
It is here, framed by the Aegean breeze, that you will encounter a dish so effortlessly inventive it makes multi-step, fifteen-ingredient cookbook recipes look exhausted by comparison: a brilliant spin on traditional spanakopita, reimagined entirely as a salad.
Instead of letting heavy, oil-soaked layers of baked pastry bury the delicate greens, this dish distills everything iconic about spanakopita into something crisp, bright, and wildly alive. It takes the soulful core of the classic pie—shattered shards of delicate, golden phyllo, snappy fresh greens, pungent herbs, and rich, briny feta—and tosses them together in perfect balance. Every bite delivers a thrilling contrast of warm, salty crunch against a sharp, citrus-laced kick that cuts cleanly through the creaminess.
It is green, crispy-tangy, and thoroughly delicious. We won’t say more—some dishes demand to be eaten under the Greek sun rather than dissected on a page. But one thing is certain: you won’t find this level of effortless, unpretentious genius inside a deskbound Manhattan food column.
You’ll find it, however, in Serifos.
