When the gods of Ancient Greece gathered on the slopes of Mount Olympus, they feasted on ambrosia, debated the fates of mortals, and celebrated life with characteristic extravagance. This summer, Brasserie of Light offers its guests a rather compelling modern equivalent: a limited-edition dining experience that channels the grandeur, mythology, and sun-drenched flavours of Ancient Greece beneath one of London’s most recognisable sculptures.
Dreams of Olympus runs at Brasserie of Light from Tuesday 7th July until 1st September 2026, transforming an already theatrical dining room into a full celebration of Greek mythology. A specially crafted seasonal menu, a collection of myth-inspired cocktails, a curated Greek wine selection, and the chance to win a luxury escape to Mykonos in partnership with Quintessentially Travel make this one of the capital’s most ambitious summer dining events.
Feasting Beneath The Wings Of Pegasus
There are few dining rooms in London that can claim a genuinely iconic entrance, but Brasserie of Light, located within Selfridges on Oxford Street, is one of them. Guests arrive beneath Damien Hirst‘s crystal-encrusted Pegasus, the winged stallion of Greek mythology rendered in breathtaking sculptural form, which offers an immediate and arresting visual declaration of intent. The setting, already steeped in dramatic glamour, provides exactly the right backdrop for an experience rooted in ancient legend and contemporary culinary ambition.
The choice of Ancient Greece as this summer’s seasonal inspiration feels both culturally rich and gastronomically fertile. Greek mythology is, after all, synonymous with abundance: feasts that lasted days, gods who embodied excess and beauty in equal measure, a culinary heritage that stretches back millennia. Brasserie of Light has drawn on all of this to produce a menu that feels rooted in tradition and distinctly modern in its sensibility.
A Menu Worthy Of The Gods
The Dreams of Olympus menu moves through the flavours of Greece as a composed journey, opening with small plates that pay homage to the meze tradition without feeling derivative or predictable.
The Taramosalata opens proceedings with a contemporary refinement of a beloved Greek classic. Smoked cod roe meets trout roe, dill oil, and crispy seeded flatbread in a dish that feels both familiar and confident, a reinterpretation that respects its origins while embracing a decidedly Brasserie of Light sensibility. The Loukaniko follows, pairing traditional Greek sausage with tahini yoghurt, roasted aubergine, peppers, barley, and fragrant orange zest, a combination that speaks to the depth of Greek regional cooking. The Burrata me Suka kai Rodi offers something for those drawn to contrasting flavour profiles: creamy burrata with rocket pesto, caramelised figs, and pomegranate molasses, achieving a beautifully judged tension between sweet, savoury, and peppery notes.
The main course, Arnaki me Melitzana, sits at the heart of the Olympus menu. Tender lamb rump, one of Greece’s most cherished ingredients, arrives alongside smoked aubergine, feta, fennel seed, tomato, garlic, and warming cinnamon. It carries the comforting, deeply satisfying quality one associates with the best of Mediterranean cooking, while retaining the refined presentation Brasserie of Light’s guests expect.
The finale, Pagoto Greek Yoghurt, manages to feel simultaneously light and decadent. Frozen yoghurt parfait is layered with strawberry compote, crisp kataifi pastry, pistachio, fragrant rose, and wild Greek honey, an ingredient so evocative of Greece’s warmth and landscape that its inclusion feels entirely apt.
Head Chef Thushan Fernando speaks with evident enthusiasm about the inspiration behind the menu. “Summer is all about transporting guests through exceptional food and memorable experiences, and Olympus gave us the perfect inspiration,” he explains. “Ancient Greece is synonymous with abundance, celebration and beautiful produce, so we’ve created a menu that honours those traditions while bringing a contemporary Brasserie of Light elegance to every dish. From vibrant Mediterranean flavours to desserts inspired by the sweetness of Greek honey, we wanted every course to feel indulgent, theatrical and worthy of the legendary feasts of Mount Olympus. Paired with our mythology-inspired cocktails, it’s an experience designed to immerse guests in a little summer escapism from the very first bite.”
The Cocktail Collection: Stories In A Glass
If the food menu tells the story of Greece’s culinary heritage, the cocktail collection tells the stories of its legends, and does so with considerable flair. Each of the four mythology-inspired cocktails is built around a specific figure or tale from Ancient Greek mythology, with ingredients chosen to reflect the character and symbolism of that particular story. The result is a collection that functions as much as a narrative experience as it does a drinks menu.
The Gift of Athena is perhaps the most symbolically resonant of the four. Tanqueray London Dry Gin meets St-Germain, olive oil, lemon juice, and hot honey syrup in a cocktail that pays tribute to Athena’s legendary gift of the olive tree to the city of Athens. The inclusion of olive oil might raise an eyebrow, but this is precisely the kind of creative confidence that lifts the collection beyond novelty and into something genuinely interesting.
The Spartini reimagines the classic dirty martini through an unmistakably Hellenic lens. Feta-washed Lillet Blanc, olive brine, and Tanqueray London Dry Gin combine in a serve that takes its cue from the strength and precision of Sparta’s legendary warriors. Sophisticated, savoury, and uncompromising.
A Thousand Ships is the collection’s most romantically conceived offering. Named in homage to Helen of Troy, the woman whose beauty, according to legend, launched an entire fleet, this sparkling serve blends Tanqueray Seville Gin with rose liqueur, fig liqueur, citrus, and prosecco. Effervescent and elegant, it is unmistakably a cocktail for golden-hour indulgence. London’s summer season offers no shortage of reasons to raise a glass, as those who have explored the Cotton Beach Club London rooftop residency at Selfridges will already know.
The Enchantress draws its inspiration from three of mythology’s most compelling female figures: Calypso, Circe, and Medea. These sorceresses, each defined by magic, temptation, and transformation, find their modern equivalent in a drink combining Don Julio Reposado Tequila, Italicus, basil syrup, and lime. It evolves on the palate much as its mythological heroines shaped the fates of those who crossed their paths.
Guests who order one of the Dreams of Olympus cocktails and sign up to the Brasserie of Light and Quintessentially Travel newsletters will be entered into a competition to win a luxury escape to Mykonos, extending the Grecian experience well beyond the dining room.
Greek Wines And The Spirit Of The Aegean
Complementing the cocktail collection, Brasserie of Light has expanded its wine list to include a range of Greek wines, a category that continues to attract serious attention from sommeliers and wine enthusiasts who recognise the extraordinary potential of Greece’s indigenous grape varieties.
The selection spans bone-dry, mineral-led volcanic whites to sun-kissed rosés, with styles hailing from Monemvasia and Tyrnavos. These are wines that carry the terroir of their origins with an honesty and distinctiveness that internationally recognised varieties simply cannot replicate. For guests who prefer to explore the world through their glass as much as through their plate, this addition represents a genuine opportunity to discover what modern Greek viticulture has to offer.
Summer Escapism In London
The broader appeal of Dreams of Olympus lies not simply in the quality of its individual components, the food, the cocktails, the wines, but in the coherence and ambition of the experience as a whole. In a city that offers no shortage of seasonal dining concepts, Brasserie of Light has produced something genuinely transportive: an escape into a world of mythology, beauty, and indulgence that requires no flight to the Mediterranean. For those with an appetite for immersive cultural experiences this summer, the Feasts of Chambord exhibition in France offers a similarly compelling exploration of historic banqueting and spectacle.
Whether guests arrive for a long and leisurely summer lunch, a celebratory dinner, or simply to spend a golden evening with mythologically inspired cocktails beneath the wings of Pegasus, the experience is designed to stay in the memory long after the final course has been cleared.
Dreams of Olympus runs for a limited time from Tuesday 7th July until 1st September 2026. Reservations are available to book now. The gods of Olympus, after all, were not known for their patience.
Brasserie of Light is located within Selfridges, London.
