Chef and Founder, Aspasia Restaurant Mani; Stavri, Greece

Stavriani Zervakakou is chef and founder of Aspasia Restaurant Mani, a culinary destination deeply connected to the landscape and heritage of the southernmost part of the Peloponnese, where she experienced a way of life and cooking that is now almost lost. Her cuisine is based on foraging, sustainability, and storytelling. During the winter season, she organizes foraging and culinary hiking experiences that combine gastronomy with art, architecture, psychology, and the untold stories of local women—transforming her cooking into an ongoing cultural dialogue with the land and its people. Chef Zervakakou was born in Athens and studied at the Department of Balkan Studies at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki where she obtained a master's degree in international relations from Bilgi University in Istanbul, focusing on Greco-Turkish relations.  

During her eleven years in Istanbul, she worked in various roles—from executive assistant in shipping companies to Greek language teacher, tour guide, and saleswoman at the Egyptian market—while unconsciously cultivating her deep love for food. A close friend and flatmate noticed how passionately she engaged with local markets and cooking and encouraged her to start a food blog. Motivated by this suggestion, she applied for and received a scholarship to the Culinary Institute of Istanbul. Within a year, she was offered the position of head chef at Karakoy Gumruk, a new restaurant by acclaimed Turkish chef Şemsa Denizsel. The restaurant quickly gained recognition, drawing the attention of local and international food lovers, and was featured in prominent culinary magazines and TV channels.

In 2016, due to political developments in Turkey, she decided to return to Greece, initially with plans to relocate to New York. However, her longing for her roots brought her to Kyrimai Hotel in Gerolimenas, Mani, where she took over the kitchen. Within two years, the hotel restaurant was awarded the Contemporary Greek Cuisine Award and the international Best Gourmet Award by Historic Hotels of Europe. In 2018, her career was briefly paused due to her pregnancy, during which she faced limited professional opportunities. She returned to the culinary scene in 2021 as head chef of Annie Fine Cooking in Athens, which was included in the Michelin Guide just four months after its opening. That same year, she was nominated for the Contemporary Greek Cuisine, “Xrisi Skoufi”, and FNL Awards. She chose, however, to leave the restaurant and follow her vision by opening her own restaurant in a small Maniot village surrounded by stone towers and wild nature where she continues to inspire through her work, blending taste, memory, and place with creativity and depth.