Etrusco: Dinner at the best restaurant in Greece

My first visitto Etrusco was in 2016, during a summer road trip to Greece to evaluate restaurants for the inaugural FNL Best Restaurant Awards. Eight years later, I can vividly recall every moment of that dinner. I was in awe of a restaurant I had long admired from a distance. Since then, except for one year when I was absent, I`ve closely followed its rapid development during a critical decade that tested everything in Greece. Etrusco has evolved into a significant restaurant that has led the evolution of the Greek gastronomic scene like no other. Its growth and development over the years have been a testament to its commitment to excellence and innovation.

Etrusco was already an essential restaurant that had pioneered the evolution of the Greek gastronomic scene like no other ever since Ettore Botrini took the anointing from his father, Etrusco, to continue their family business, climbing one by one up the arduous steps of an internal, meritocratic hierarchy, and not from one day to the next, i.e. "by right of inheritance". This is of great importance because Botrini did not find in Etrusco a fertile ground to release his creativity, but "conquered" this field of expression that introduced in Greece innovative and decisive trends for the evolution of gastronomy, with complex but collective work - that is what matters, even if it was the family business. But all this - and so much more that I am omitting to save space and time - would only be words if it were not actions, flavours, emotions, or gastronomic culture. Yes, a restaurant like Etrusco is also a cultural heritage.

Shall we go to today? What is a dinner at Etrusco like? By Greek standards, it is undoubtedly a unique experience that activates all those characteristics that make a restaurant global. Even the fact that it is located in Kato Korakiana, a village in Corfu that became nationally known thanks to Etrusco, says a lot. The restaurant`s aesthetics spread out in a gorgeous courtyard under rotunda mulberry trees draped in white, striped tablecloths and elegant art de la table, has the aura of a three-star grand restaurant abroad. The service mainly comprises young guys but stands up to Etrusco`s great class. It is airy, efficient, very polite, and short but concise in its descriptions. Excellent work has also been done on the wine list, where you will find infinite labels from the Greek vineyard and great estates from Europe and America. They also have the flexibility to pair and fly the wines, which work perfectly with the dishes. After all, this restaurant has more than just an excellent cellar for show. The food at Etrusco raises some profound wine awareness, and the prices are far from prohibitive.

The impressive thing about Ettore Bottrini is that as he matured culinary-wise, he cultivated the perception, intelligence and instinct to update Etrusco according to the season, occasionally reworking and redefining its stylistic direction. It was in this cuisine that several advanced techniques and experiments in molecular gastronomy were presented in Greece in a coordinated manner, and when molecular gastronomy gradually began to recede and evaporate like the foams on the plates and a refined but more honest, more democratised, more delicious and emotionally charged cuisine regained ground, Etrusco, remaining highly creative, turned its helm towards this truth. And it remains true to it. Thus, the "Mrs Kula`s Egg" paired with a liquid salad of weed textures is an actual egg and not something that looks like an egg; its cigarette with local seafood is bursting with flavours and dense with deliciousness, the cod belly bourdeto is another true "deep" cooking with spices that give it an endless aftertaste. At the same time, in the "Royale a la Grecque", the shellfish are accompanied by crayfish broth, Greek coffee and curry, giving the dish a multidimensional finesse.

The excellent raw materials and the emphasis on top quality products from producers in the Ionian Islands is another hallmark of the flavours of Hector Botrini and Nikos Billi at Etrusco: The oysters from Igoumenitsa are overflowing with beautiful sea, their blue lobster poached in fine lobster butter served with honeyed figs is flawless, while the pigeon in "Kolombina before the Wedding Night" is balanced with unlikely mastery on textures of peach, a wonderful sauce and cream of bird livers. And of course, here we have to give credit to the whole brigade of the restaurant and, of course, to Head Chef Spyros Lazos. The only dissonance this time was the "Triumph of the Sea", which was somewhat wronged by the excess salt and watery sauce. After these exquisite desserts - the best they`ve served so far - the Rolling Stones` red tongue symbol that they urge you to lick off the plate was not only underplayed but also hilarious in a series of such elegant creations.

As you read this review of Etrusco, which earned four stars in the FNL Best Restaurant Awards this year, the institution`s highest accolade, the restaurant is already winding down and preparing for next season. Although I`m off time, I take notes, and those who love fine dining make sure to make the trip next year. It was worth capturing the evolution of the best restaurant in Greece while updating its score from 8.5 to 9. However, with a dart on the side showing that Etrusco, if it continues on this momentum, I don`t rule out the possibility of it reaching the next rating step. This is the highest rating I have ever given to a restaurant in Greece and the highest-rated review published on FNL.