Tucked into the forested slopes of the Troodos Mountains, Amiandos Gardens Restaurant is the kind of place you stumble upon and immediately feel you’ve belonged to for years. The scent of charcoal-grilled souvla drifts through the air, mingling with the aroma of pine and the earthy fragrance of homegrown vegetables. Since 1994, the Konnaris family has been welcoming guests to their village of Amiandos, not with fanfare, but with heaping plates of slow-simmered stifado, hand-shaped soutzoukakia, and desserts so cherished that, in the early days, people would arrive unannounced just for a taste.
What began as a leap of faith to open a buffet-style restaurant in a mountain village with no hotels or tourist infrastructure has endured for over three decades. The family business has flourished not through advertising, but through unwavering commitment to one principle: food made with love, using what the land provides. The tomatoes are grown in a family plot just steps from the kitchen; the lamb turns slowly on a charcoal grill tended by Nicos’s father, as it has for thirty years; and the recipes, refined through decades of Sunday lunches and wedding feasts, carry the sprinkle of a family that lived abroad but never forgot the taste of home.
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In a time when restaurants chase trends and algorithms, Amiandos Gardens stands as a testament to a different kind of success. This one is built on relationships, resilience, and the belief that the best way to nourish a community is to feed it like family.
In this interview with The Future Media, Nicos Konnaris reflects on how a simple idea to share his mother’s cooking grew into a beloved community with a shared love for good food, and why, even after fires, pandemics, and economic shocks, the table at Amiandos remains open.
Your family lived in Canada before coming back to Cyprus. What made you decide to open a restaurant in Amiandos in 1994?
My mother, even from a young age, was always cooking and discovering recipes from Cyprus or other cuisines from around the world. My parents met in Toronto, Canada, in 1970 and lived there for 10 years. During their time, they made friends from different corners of the world. They were introduced to their friends’ national dishes, and this cultivated their knowledge of international cuisines.
They then decided to return and settle in Limassol. We lived in the city for fifteen years. Our house was always full of people as if it were a restaurant. Relatives, friends, and friends of friends would stop by, and sometimes people invited themselves through others, just to indulge in my mother’s great meals and, especially, her desserts. People would constantly ask for her recipes. So, the interest in opening a restaurant or making a business out of my mother’s ability to make delicious and balanced food was there. Then, in 1994, we finally leapt and opened our restaurant.
Why Amiandos specifically — what drew you to this village as the place to build the restaurant?
Amiandos village is where my mother’s family comes from. It is where she was born and lived until she was twenty. My father was born in Pelendri, a village very close to Amiandos. The people of these two villages were all familiar with each other, as they all worked in an Asbestos mine close to Troodos. The name “Amiandos” actually translates to “asbestos” in Greek, thus the name of the village. The land the restaurant was built on actually belonged to my grandfather, who gave it to my mother.
From the very beginning, you opened Amiandos Gardens as a family-run business. What does that mean to you, and how do you keep that spirit alive today?
It was a huge risk to open a buffet restaurant in a village where there are no hotels around or other places of interest. From the beginning, it meant RISK.
We were constantly plagued with thoughts about how long we would last. Those beginning years were stressful. But people came. Year after year, our clients returned because they appreciated our homemade food prepared with love. We used to host a lot of weddings, baptisms, and other events. After thirty-one years, we feel very happy and satisfied with the whole journey. Nowadays, we take it slowly, without the pressure and stress we had in the beginning.
Each of you has a clear role — from the kitchen to the grill to welcoming guests. How has this way of working together shaped the atmosphere of the restaurant?
The structure of the restaurant regarding each person’s role was shaped from day one. My father cooked the meat, and my mother was in the kitchen with my brother and me.
My second brother was on the phone, cash, and customer service. We knew what we were each good at and applied those strengths in our roles. Even our customers know our roles. Many customers visit my father’s, where the open souvla barbecue is prepared. This adds a special touch to the whole experience, especially when tourists come to eat. I personally escort them to the barbecue area, and they get very excited since most of them have never seen this way of cooking.
How do you bring local ingredients and traditions into the way you run the restaurant?
We buy a lot of ingredients from local companies or from companies that deliver to the mountains, usually because they are stationed close by. Not all companies are willing to deliver here. We also rent a plot of land close to our restaurant where we grow tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, potatoes, and other vegetables. In this way, we can serve our customers fresh food with not only good taste but also no artificial flavors.
We love our job and respect our customers, and want them to enjoy the best quality possible.
The pandemic was a difficult time for restaurants everywhere. What were the toughest challenges you faced, and how did you manage to keep Amiandos Gardens going through that period?
The pandemic came as a shock. We were opening and closing on and off for the whole year. We could not work as a delivery service in the mountains since there were no people around for such an operation. Since the building belongs to our family, we managed to survive because we did not have rent to pay. When the Government allowed outside sitting during the pandemic, our business increased because we have a huge veranda. We were fortunate that somehow we managed to stay alive. Many businesses were forced to close due to a lack of work and the build-up of rent payments.
Amiandos Gardens has always kept a low profile — more of an “if you know, you know” place than one that advertises widely. Why did you choose this way of working, and what kind of community has grown around the restaurant as a result?
Cyprus is a very small island, and the food we serve is traditional, with 95% of customers being Cypriots who live permanently on the island. The Troodos mountains are the most famous mountain area in Cyprus, and people have been visiting this area for many years, long before we opened. They visit churches and monasteries, the snow in the winter or go to different festivals in the area. For all these reasons, there is a lot of traffic on weekends and especially on Sundays in our area. This is the reason we did not need any advertisement for our business.
Word of mouth is the best advertisement in such close-knit communities on the island.
Now people find us also through the internet on different platforms. Since we lived in Canada and speak fluent English, we have also created a good connection with Cypriots who used to live in the UK, USA, Canada, and Australia. But we have formed a close community of returning customers, so we are fortunate that we don’t need to push advertising too much.
Over the past three decades, how has your business model evolved?
Our business model started as a Sunday Lunch Buffet “all-you-can-eat” restaurant. After a few months, we started opening for lunch and dinner in the summer with an a la carte menu, which we still have today. Over the years, we hosted events such as weddings, christenings, private parties, etc. After the pandemic, people reduced the number of guests at weddings and baptisms. We adapted to these changes accordingly.
Over the years, many customers became vegetarians, vegans, and pescatarians. In such cases, during our Sunday buffet, we prepare some special dishes for them upon request. Also, since we have a large veranda, customers can bring their dogs.
Running a restaurant in a small Cypriot village comes with its own challenges. What are the biggest difficulties you face today?
The biggest difficulty we have been facing from day one is the fires in the mountains, since we are surrounded by forests. There was a big fire in 2007 in our area that came close to us. Also, the recent fires this year close to Omodos village brought panic all around. When such fires happen, the people from the cities are hesitant to visit the mountains, and our business is largely affected. In the winter, we are hit with cold weather and snow in our area. There have been many days with fewer customers.
Another challenge is the continued increase in prices for everything. After the pandemic, we started slowly to find our path back to regaining our business from before the pandemic, but when the war in Ukraine began, prices increased 30-40% on all products, especially meats. We cannot increase our prices too much because, one, we are in the mountains, and we also want to invite people of all financial standards to try our food.
After thirty years in business, what does this restaurant mean to your family personally?
Our restaurant has been a part of our lives for so long. We spent so many years in this building serving thousands of people again and again. We met very interesting people from all aspects of life. We met famous people that we never thought we would ever meet, we met politicians and presidents.
We love what we do and wish to share that love with all those who walk through our doors.
