Paris, France. Cypriot chef Andreas Mavrommatis, co-owner of Maison Mavrommatis, died on Saturday night at the age of 69. He was a Michelin-starred chef and led a France-based chain of restaurants and delicatessen shops.
Career and recognition
The Michelin Guide lists Mavrommatis in Paris as a one-star restaurant, while the company says Maison Mavrommatis has operated in France since 1981. In 2018, Mavrommatis won his first Michelin star for his creative Cypriot and Greek cuisine.
Early life and move to France
Born in the village of Agios Ioannis Pitsilias, Mavrommatis was the eldest of three children in a farming family. He moved to Paris in 1977 to study sociology and psychology, but a restaurant job he took to earn a living proved decisive for his career.
Culinary training and family business growth
He later studied at the French school Le Monde, where he learned culinary techniques and met leading French chefs. His brothers Evagoras and Dionysis joined him in France and, in 1981, the family opened a small grocery in Paris’s 5th arrondissement.
That shop, Mavrommatis deli, sold products from Cyprus and Greece and was later turned into a restaurant. A new boutique with Greek products followed, and Greek recipes began attracting growing demand from French customers.
Expansion in France and beyond
The family later opened the taverna Les Délices d’Aphrodite and, in 1993, opened Mavrommatis along with two Bistrot Mavrommatis restaurants, one in Madeleine and one in Passy.
The Mavrommatis chain now includes four restaurants in Paris and nine shops serving Paris, Nice, Marseille and Cyprus. The restaurants in Paris serve creative Cypriot and Greek cuisine updated through French techniques.
Notable visitors and product lines
Well-known figures, including actor Catherine Deneuve and French political figures François Hollande, Emmanuel Macron and Nicolas Sarkozy, dined at the restaurants.
The company also markets packaged Greek products in France under the Thessalia brand, while a factory in the suburbs of Paris packages Greek products.
What do you remember most about Maison Mavrommatis and its cuisine?