New Greek Restaurant To Open In Chapel Street

Published on: 5 Apr, 2019
Updated on: 7 Apr, 2019

By Hugh Coakley

A new Greek restaurant called Theion, meaning divine, is aiming to open in the old Centenary Hall in Chapel Street, Guildford, early in May.

It will be run by business partners Denaxos Antonius and Theodorou Ioannis, who own the fast food Greek restaurant Meat The Greek across the road.

They were really enthusiastic when they spoke to The Guildford Dragon NEWS about their new venture. Their aim is for Theion to be high-end Greek cuisine with a contemporary feel.

A complete refit for the new restaurant Theion in Chapel Street, the restaurant quarter in Guildford.

Antonius said: “We are aiming for the highest quality but that is a big responsibility. We will start slow and build the business on the quality, just as we have done with Meat The Greek. Everything will be made fresh daily.”

The pair are to involve Greek celebrity chefs, Baxevanis Ioannis and Fotiadis Nikos, who will be executive chefs for the restaurant. The famous chefs will help with designing the menu and regularly advising on the food and the restaurant.

The head chef at Theion will be is Efstathiou Manos. He has a renowned CV of his own. He will cook for the 95 to 110 covers that the new restaurant will hold.

Ioannis and Antonius outside Meat the Greek in Chapel Street. They are looking forward to their new venture, Theion, also in Chapel Street.

The Guildford Dragon NEWS had a sneak preview inside the new premises and it is a special place. Antonius and Ioannis are doing a complete refit with traditional and modern Greek themes.

The building itself has a long history. It was originally called the Congregational Chapel. It was renamed the Centenary Hall in 1902 and became a general purpose hall. It has since been a scout hall, the Bellaires School of Dance, part of the Guildford School of Acting and a Loch Fyne restaurant.

With Chapel Street making a name for itself as a food quarter and housed in a very special building, Theion will fit in very nicely.

Both thinking people, Ioannis studied as a lawyer and Antonius as a mathematician; they are not your average guys.

Antonius said: “Theion is the next step for us. It’s a huge investment but we fell in love with the building (Centenary Hall). It has its own style, it felt like home to me. I don’t think that there is any place like it in Guildford.

“We are proud of Meat The Greek, it’s real Greek food. The key for Meat The Greek and for the new restaurant is that it all comes from Greece; the meat, herbs, even the salt.”

Roll on the launch in May.

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