The Cellar Private Dinner Experience at Rizes: A Table Like No Other in Santorini
There is a moment, just before you descend the steps, when you sense that something is different. The noise of the world above softens. The air changes. And then the cellar opens up before you, carved into the volcanic rock of Santorini, its arched walls lined with bottles that have been waiting patiently for the right evening.
This is where the Cellar Private Dinner Experience at Rizes begins.
A Space That Has Always Held Stories
Cellars have always meant something particular on this island. Long before Santorini became synonymous with blue domes and caldera views, its people carved spaces into the pumice rock to shelter from the summer heat, to preserve their harvests, to store the wines that the volcanic soil gave them. These weren’t just storage rooms. They were places of gathering, of patience, of the slow rhythms of island life.
The cellar beneath Rizes carries that same spirit. Among its shelves rest rare vintages and old labels, Greek wines and international selections that have been gathered with care over the years. Each bottle holds a story: of a harvest season, of a particular hillside, of a winemaker who understood that time is the most essential ingredient.
An Evening Designed Around You
The experience begins with a five-course tasting menu curated by the Rizes kitchen team. It is not the kind of menu that tries to impress with complexity for its own sake. It is the kind of menu that knows exactly what it wants to say.
The evening opens with the chef’s amuse-bouche, then moves into “Artos,” a sourdough bread served with “Peltes” tomato paste, extra virgin olive oil, oregano and sea salt. Simple, intentional, already telling you something about the philosophy of the kitchen. From there, a ceviche of the day’s catch with citrus and herbs. Then a beet root course that brings together charcoal beetroots, summer plums, Xinotiri Ios cheese, spearmint and Aegina pistachio. Each element chosen not just for flavor but for the conversation it starts.
The main course is “Katsikaki Mastelo,” goat shoulder slow-cooked on grapevine wood with baby potatoes and carrots. A dish rooted in tradition, in the kind of cooking that takes time and asks you to slow down with it. The cheese selection that follows pairs curated Greek artisanal cheeses with aged wine. And the evening closes with a chocolate and sour cherry sphere finished with Vinsanto sauce and kaimaki ice cream, a dessert that tastes unmistakably of this island.
Every course is paired with wines chosen from the cellar itself. The sommelier’s selections are not afterthoughts. They are part of the conversation.
The Setting Itself
The long marble table at the center of the cellar, the candlelight, the quiet hum of a space that has been holding secrets for decades: these details matter. This is not a restaurant table in a private room. It is something older and more intimate than that.
For couples celebrating a milestone, for friends who want an evening that stands apart from everything else, for anyone who has arrived in Santorini and wants to understand what the island truly tastes like beneath its surface, this experience was made for you.
What You Can Add to the Evening
For those who want to build the evening further, Rizes offers a handful of carefully chosen additions. A professional photographer joins you for ninety minutes, present during dinner in the cellar and then outdoors at sunset on the caldera, turning the evening into something you can hold onto long after you’ve left. A live musician can play violin, saxophone or guitar, filling the stone space with sound in a way that only live music can. A bouquet of premium roses, in the color of your choice, can be waiting at the table. And a bottle of champagne, selected to your preference, can open the evening before the first course arrives.
The Details
The Cellar Private Dinner Experience is priced at 650 euros per couple, with an additional 200 euros per extra guest. The photographer add-on is 450 euros. Live music is 400 euros. The rose bouquet is 80 euros. Champagne is priced upon selection.
Reservations are limited by the nature of the space itself. The cellar holds one table, one evening, one story at a time.
Finding Your Way to the Cellar
Rizes is a gastro taverna in Santorini. To inquire about availability for the Cellar Private Dinner Experience in 2026, reach out directly through the restaurant. Evenings book ahead, particularly through the summer season.
Some dinners end and leave you full. Others stay with you. The cellar at Rizes tends to be the second kind.