Antonis Selekos creates his elevated variation of the Italian Christmas dessert in a charming bakery-workshop in Pagrati all year round

Greece’s most iconic and sought-after panettone was created in Astypalaia a little over 3 years ago! It was then, during the COVID-19 epidemic when Funky Gourmet, the 2 Michelin starred restaurant in Kerameikos had closed down in anticipation of its relocation inside the Athens Hilton Hotel and its talented pastry chef Antonis Selekos was left, after many years of hard work, back in his hometown, the beautiful island of Astypalaia with a lot of time on his hands. His friend had suggested to him then that he try to make panettone.  

“I started experimenting with sourdough while in Astypalaia (his uncle has a bakery on the island)’, the pastry chef tells us. “and in October of 2021 I made a panettone that I liked and also gave to Georgianna Chiliadiaki to try (one of the two chefs at Funky Gourmet). She approved of it and when chef Chiliadaki gives her seal of approval then you know you are doing well”. 

That was it. His life as he knew it changed after that moment: “I had just opened up my Instagram account, as before then I had no presence on social media, and started posting my new creations. All of a sudden orders started flooding in. I would prepare the panettoni  in an old workshop in Athens owned by friends that has since then closed down and we would deliver them door to door by motorbikes. The concept was that the creator himself  would hand you his creations. Because of COVID-19 those were difficult times full of isolation, so people would be very glad to see us and it felt great giving joy in such a way. Our first delivery was in November of 16 or 17, on December 17th we opened up the shop and by the 21st we had already delivered 700 panettoni. An incredible number given that people had no idea about the product”.

The “panettone revolution”

It is no coincidence, we think, that in the past three years we have noticed a considerable rise in Athenians’ love of the traditional Italian Christmas dessert. We see it in almost every pastry shop, bakery, delicatessen, supermarket and not only during the holidays. I share this observation with pastry chef Antonis Selekos and he humbly agrees: “Honestly, without wanting to sound conceited, I think I helped professionals sell more panettoni that year. There was a lot of interest from journalists and because the product was met with enthusiasm all of Greece started getting more acquainted with the panettone”. 

What is so exceptional about this particular panettone that has residents all over Athens driving to Pagrati all year round, but especially during Christmas time, in order to get their hands on one? “We have tried, and to a large extent succeeded, in shielding it from trends and ephemeral viral frenzies like the one we see with the Dubai chocolate for example. We have tried to be very professional about everything. When you look at every recipe everywhere in the world, the ingredients are more or less the same. The differences lie in technical matters, the temperatures, the sourdough, which is very different than the one we use for making bread. For one, it is more difficult. Just think, a sourdough for making bread has to rise only of with a mixture of water, flour and salt. For the panettone, the mixture has butter, a lot of fat and sugar and a lot of times you have to get very technical in the field of microbiology in order to get the results you want. This is why, when I say I have spent every day during these three years on perfecting the panettone, I literally mean it”.

Chocolate, apples, spice and everything nice

As far as we are concerned, we can leave all the technical stuff to Antonis Selekos and just enjoy the… panettone of his labor. This year especially, there are even more flavors to choose from. We of course have his two signature ones –the classic with raisins and cranberries and the most popular chocolate one with two types of chocolate, caramel and hazelnuts-, and this years new additions, baked green apples with nutmeg, cardamom and cinnamon (it competes with the chocolate panettone in popularity) and pistachio with cranberry and a touch of salt.

When we ask Antonis Selekos what he has in store for the future he tells us of his intentions to expand his brand outside Greece, to London or/and New York. “Those are the centers of the world and where all the successful concepts begin” he tells us. We can think of one that began right here in Athens!