Sebastian, the most New York take on the Mediterranean
In the former historic Fenix Hotel of Glyfada, Ace Hotel is revived with the very latest in design, bringing old Greece back to life and serving us family-style food in its most posh version. Eleni Psyhoulis heads down to the Athens Riviera for NouPou and writes about Sebastian.
- 29/12/2025 13:28
Wherever you look around you in recent years, the Attica basin is rapidly transforming into a temple of hospitality, into a vast tourist paradise that often fails to keep its promises. Most of the new hotels look desperately alike, repeating a global dialect that kills local character and sense of place, creating a uniform landscape identical from Tokyo to Sweden. Something that has nothing to do with locals, with residents who have watched the city grow and transform alongside them.
That is perhaps why a visit to Ace feels doubly moving. From the beaded wall hanging reading “Welcome” in the lobby, you are plunged into old, forgotten memories: a kind of austerity reminiscent of a David Hockney painting, where behind every new object you can clearly recognize Greece of the ’60s and ’70s, the golden Onassis era of the Athens Riviera, the aura of Aris Konstantinidis and the décor of the late Xenias, in the old polished mosaics, the loom-woven rug, the lighting fixtures, the armchairs, the “embroidered” typeface indicating room numbers and hotel spaces, the straw stools.
The gigantic mural with birds by Panos Profitis on the exterior wall and the paintings bring you back to the aesthetic of Moralis; somewhere something will remind you of Fassianos, and the huge wall collage opposite the elevator will nostalgically steal a lot of your time, with advertisements and newspaper clippings that narrate the entire recent history of the ’60s and ’70s. Here, the pool—with an aesthetic that simply echoes the films of Dalianidis—is the heart of life and movement. A backdrop to every space in the hotel, even in winter, it evokes sunset cocktail parties with fluorescent drinks; the strong summer imprint is not overshadowed by grey skies, and Sebastian, right in front of it, is at any hour of the day a serious reason to come and steal a little summer in the middle of winter.
With hotels in New York, Kyoto, Sydney, Toronto, and Palm Springs, Ace knows how to passionately respect diversity, translating the scent of each place through new codes. Grounded luxury for an upgraded everyday life that knows how to have fun effortlessly, with different DJs and various performances.
Sebastian wins you over first and foremost with its pared-down aesthetic, the different sofas that offer a fresh take on the classic bistro—though here, nothing is classic except for the deliciousness that knows how to awaken memories within you: family tables, your mother’s cooking, the deep flavor that sleeps in the soul of every Greek. Executive chef Elvi Dimitris Zyba (Esthion, The Artist), who has been recognized by the Michelin Guide, oversees the kitchen, while at the helm is a sweet, low-key young talent, Vasilis Fottos. He may be young, but he has worked alongside some of Greece’s greatest chefs (Botrini, Ntounetas, Kosmadakis) and spent six years at Malconi’s, Dionysos, and 7 Food Sins.
At first glance, the menu—with an aesthetic reminiscent of a New York or Paris bistro—takes you straight to the Mediterranean. Greece, Italy, France: everything is there, mixed together in a single embrace, in the same pot you have no desire to separate into individual ingredients.
It is enough that this unique bouillabaisse exists in the world: a velvety, sea-scented cloud with deep flavor, ultra-fresh fish, shrimp, and vongole, executed in a way you would struggle to find even on the French Riviera. The perfect match for the aristocratic ring of focaccia—the best I have ever tasted in Athens—and the house bread that stands out from the uniformity so loved by new restaurants these days. Bread that recalls a French baguette: ultra-fresh, ethereal, wonderfully crisp.
The salads offer a different kind of freshness, balanced dressings, and clearly defined ingredients. The niçoise is made with fresh tuna fillet; the clean & lean features glasswort, asparagus, broccolini, avocado, and a crunchy crumble of seeds and spices. The fritto misto, with shrimp and soft-shell crab, takes you straight to the crisp, light frying pan of Italy and steals your heart with its slightly spicy sauce of fresh tomato, garlic, and parsley on the side. Each dish, with its colorful ingredients—almost as if designed to place sunshine on your table—has its own palette, most notably the perfectly grilled grouper with its special garnish of beans with cherry tomatoes, green beans, wild greens, and dill.
There is, however, one dish you will fall madly in love with, the one that will absolutely bring you back here again: the bone-in cutlet with its perfectly crisp crust. Tender, juicy milk-fed veal, exquisitely flavorful breading, superb frying in clarified butter, with a French, intoxicating aroma that hits your nose. Personally, I will return because I still have unfinished business with the grand succès dish: the half chicken with potatoes, roasted to order and causing quite a sensation. Call ahead before you set off to save time. And I absolutely will not let you leave without trying the lemon tart: never has a lemon pie had such fresh, buttery, delicate pastry, more delicious Italian meringue, and a garden of fresh, exotic fruits crowning it.
A delicious, relaxed, distinctive evening. Much of this is also thanks to Spiros’s service, which aligns perfectly with the spirit of the menu: nothing staged, nothing excessive—just human care in exactly the right doses.