The co-founder of Mazi, Suzi Tros and now Maza on her mission to change the public perception of authentic Greek food
Chef Christina Mouratoglou, co-founder of Mazi, Suzi Tros and Maza
Shredded pork belly gyros, homemade pitas, all the trimmings
‘In Athens, we sit and sip tsipouro all afternoon over seafood,’ says Christina Mouratoglou, sweeping over to my table at Maza Mayfair, holding a tray of tiny glass carafes filled with ice. ‘It’s a ritual I want to bring to London.’
We’re at the launch of her third restaurant, Maza – a 1980s-inspired Athenian taverna on Bruton Place in Mayfair, which she has opened with her husband Adrien Carré. A follow-up to their locally loved hits Mazi and Suzi Tros, both in Notting Hill, Maza serves ‘Greek food as we eat it in Greece’ – accompanied by Greek wines, Greek vinyl and Greek spirits, such as tsipouro.
The space is relaxed and comfortable, dishes are to share, lunch is a multi-hour, multi-course feast, and the walls are decorated with handwritten recipes by Christina’s grandmother. It is still “Mayfair” in the sense that eating here feels like an occasion, but it also feels authentic and soulful – like the tavernas you find in Greece.
Christina herself is a powerhouse of an entrepreneur, running three restaurants and constantly brimming with ideas for how to improve London’s (and the world’s) perception of Greek cuisine. I caught up with her about her journey so far, what inspired Maza, and what’s on the horizon.
What’s your earliest memory of being around food or hospitality?
Being at my grandmother’s house with lots of people around the table. She was always hosting big lunches for the whole family, on any occasion – it was a Sunday or somebody’s name day (in Greece, we celebrate both birthdays and your name day). My mother was very strict about what we were eating, but my grandmother would make me this beautiful orzo pasta with butter, and she would give it to me in secret. That orzo is now on the menu at Mazi.
Grandmama's meatballs
You’ve built Mazi and Suzi Tros before this – what did you want to do differently with Maza?
I would say Maza is a 3.0 of Mazi. Mazi is quite rustic chic, and with Maza I wanted it to be anti-Mayfair. The main difference is the approach to Greek cuisine. When we opened Mazi 14 years ago, I felt that I had to prove a point – that Greek food can be creative, fun, unexpected. With Mazi, I feel that I proved the point. Greek food can be amazing. Now Maza is just Greek food – good-quality Greek food as we eat it in Greece.
Maza feels noticeably more relaxed than many Mayfair restaurants – why was Mayfair the right place for it?
I was looking for central London. We started from Notting Hill, which is more residential, and then we were looking at Soho, Covent Garden – and this site came up. When we saw it, we both fell in love with it straight away because of its location. It’s on a side street, it feels like a neighbourhood. It’s not on a big busy road. We’re right opposite Guinea Grill and it’s such a nice, feel-good place. It’s like a festival every day in the summer. I like that energy.
A lot of restaurants in Mayfair have become too glitzy, too soulless. I just want to go to a place where it feels good – where you walk in and you’re in a good mood straight away. At the same time, I want to be comfortable. If I want to wear trainers, I can. If I want to wear high heels, I can. Nobody’s going to look at me head to toe.
What’s your favourite dish on the menu?
The dolmades. This is something that used to be such a common dish for our grandmothers, but now nobody does it anymore because it takes a lot of effort. It could take you hours just rolling them. And the meatballs – that’s straight Grandmama’s cooking. We even call the dish “Grandmama’s meatballs”. What I love is that these are the kind of dishes that your chefs say, ‘Oh, we’re going to do meatballs? Seriously?’ Because chefs always want to be cheffy. And then they end up being everybody’s favourite.
Steak tartare with graviera cheese ice cream
What do you hope people feel when they leave Maza?
I want them to feel good. I want them to feel like they’ve been somewhere that has soul.
What do you think London still misunderstands about Greek food?
Over the past four years, there have been a lot of Greek restaurants opening. But I think there’s still this representation of Greek cuisine the way it is in Mykonos. Mykonos is not Greece at all – it’s a very specific style. I think people still don’t know exactly what real Greek food is. And that’s what I wanted to do with Maza. I’m Greek, born and raised in Greece. My family lives there. I’m back and forth all the time. This is what we eat in Greece.
What advice would you give to a woman opening her first restaurant now?
The one thing I would always say is never give up. Just keep moving forward. I cannot even begin to tell you how many setbacks I’ve had in 14 years. I could have quit 500 times. You want to quit every day. Your life is like a rollercoaster. You have one amazing day and then the next day – boom. You just have to get a very thick skin and say, ‘How much do I want this?’ As long as you don’t give up and you keep moving forward, nobody can take it away from you.
Chocolate mousse cake Africana
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Something Richard Curtis told me when we first opened Mazi. He said a restaurant is a little bit like a theatre. At 6pm when you switch on the lights and your customers come in, you put on a show. No matter how you feel, the show must go on. You’re smiling, you’re performing. It stuck with me. I started seeing things very differently. And that’s what I tell my staff – we are here to provide hospitality. People come and pay us to have a nice time. The better the show, the more applause you get.
Where do you go in London when you’re not at one of your restaurants?
There’s a place called Mandarin Kitchen – it’s been going since the late 1970s. It’s my go-to Chinese place. It specialises in seafood and it has the best lobster noodles with ginger and spring onion you will ever have. Then I love Cambio De Tercio on Old Brompton Road – family-owned, great Spanish food. If I want a treat, The Ledbury – phenomenal. And The Harwood Arms in winter, it’s so cosy.
What’s next for you?
Maza is the biggest and most challenging project we’ve had so far. We invested a lot and it’s personal. So first, I want to perfect this project. I’m not going to give it a break until we get there. Then I want to keep spreading Greek food. I can see Maza in New York, in Paris – I can see it everywhere.
I’m also starting a podcast with a friend. We’re both full-time working mothers trying to survive everything – career, children, marriage. So it’s about trying to survive it all. It’s OK if your kids eat chicken nuggets one day. The world is not going to collapse.
Maza Mayfair is open now. 21-23 Bruton Place, London W1J 6NB; mazamayfair.com
