Nōema is a contemporary Greek restaurant and bar in Chora, the harbour town of Mykonos. Nōema is the Greek word for meaning, or substance. The house sits inside the settlement, at the end of a narrow passageway behind a red-domed church, past the lanes of designer boutiques, on the site of an old open-air cinema in Chora. It opened in spring 2021.

The plan turns inward. Everything radiates from the avli, the enclosed courtyard that is the centre of a Cycladic house, and the open kitchen, the outdoor bar and the indoor salon are arranged around it. The areas for eating, drinking and dancing are loosely drawn, so an evening can move between them without changing address. A patio opens off the courtyard. The whole project covers 750 sq m.

The architecture is by K-Studio, Athens, and the creative direction, branding and interiors are by Lambs and Lions. The rooms are built from hard, plain materials: concrete left bare, cement polished flat, tile with a grain to it, timber stained dark. Its palette is charcoal, seal and sand, taken from the granite boulders, drystone walls and golden beaches of Mykonos. It leaves the Cycladic white and blue to the lanes outside. Clay pots and large-leaved plants stand against all that stone.

The kitchen

Culinary director Athinagoras Kostakos works the old Cycladic preservation methods: wind, sun, smoke and fire, to pickle, ferment, cure and char-grill whatever the season gives. “We are going back to our culinary roots,” he says. “Fish is fermented in brine or cured in sea salt, meat is cooked over an open fire or baked in a clay pot with lemon and bay leaves. This intensifies the flavours and allows you to taste the origins of the ingredients.” The approach is nose to tail.

Provenance is tracked island by island across the Cyclades: cheese and lamb from Naxos, organic vegetables from Tinos, seafood from fishermen on Paros, and on Mykonos itself aged feta, caper leaves and rock samphire. Kostakos works with head chef Panos Tsikas, and the two take the familiar flavours of the tradition, reinterpret where it is needed and recompose them. Smoked taramas and slow-cooked lamb have become the house’s signature dishes.

The bar

The drinks are built the same way, out of what the Aegean makes. The mixology team works with prickly pear liqueur, house-made honey mead, hand-picked herbs for elixirs and small-batch distillates from across the islands. Seasonality and sustainability are the house’s stated drinking philosophy.

The store

A concept store occupies a whitewashed pavilion beside the restaurant, and it carries fashion and lifestyle pieces: Greek craftsmanship alongside sandals, jewellery, cosmetics, objects, books and magazines from small international labels. The house’s own line, Prao, is designed by Marios Schwab. The collections change with the seasons.

An evening

Nōema is one of the Caprice Holdings restaurants, a collection that also holds Scott’s, J. Sheekey and Sexy Fish. An evening there moves without a programme, from Aegean aperitifs and sharing plates to unplugged live sessions and DJ sets after hours. Music runs through the house, and the courtyard takes the dancing. The published hours run Monday to Sunday, 8pm to 1am, through a summer season. Guests who want to stay on the island are pointed to Kalesma: Kalesma by day, Nōema by night.

Who is this for

Anyone who would rather eat inside the old town than out on a beach, and who wants dinner to run long. The entrance stands between oversized amphorae painted black, and a second door, tucked behind an old well, lets you arrive unnoticed. Tables sit under strung lights and big-leaved plants, with the lime-washed walls of Chora rising behind them. The register is one extended parea, the Greek word for the company of friends and strangers who share a table.