Skillfully blending familiarity and creativity, gastro-tavernas have made a dynamic entry into Athens’ gastronomic scene by furthering traditional cuisine, for deeper exploration, while maintaining a relaxed vibe.
As part of this scene, gifted chefs are approaching traditional recipes with conviction, adding personal touches, while eco-friendly principles are being applied, chefs relying on fresh, seasonal ingredients for dishes expressing both their culinary opinions and those of producers supplying the ingredients.
Chefs at the Greek capital’s gastro-tavernas, ultimately making gastronomy more accessible to the people, are steering clear of fixed menus. Numerous dishes are changed daily, based on the availability of ingredients.
We present 6 gastro-tavernas in Athens that have stood out through their use of Greek cuisine as a base for highly creative and imaginative dishes.
Dopios
Launched last May in central Athens, Dopios is a gastronomic venture of the Pitsilis family, in collaboration with celebrated chef Chistoforos Peskias, as chef consultant. The spot, essentially a modern meze eatery, is spacious and features a carefully designed interior with marble tables and straw-seat chairs, a mosaic floor, colorful rugs, pale colours, as well as an elaborate mosaic image on the wall depicting the face of a local. Tables outside are set at picturesque Agion Theodoron square.
Dopios serves classic Greek taverna meze dishes enhanced with Anatolian and Japanese cuisine elements. Despite the blending, purity of taste is retained. The specially tweaked traditional dishes proposed by Mr. Peskias are executed by chef Dimitris Malis, who uses top-quality, fresh ingredients.
Examples include tyrokafteri, a classic spicy cheese dip, which, at Dopios, is served as a foam with sour cherry, as well as tzatziki avocado, fusing the classic garlic-and-yoghurt dip with avocado for an oilier texture and richer taste. The Mani potato salad with orange, avocado, olives and spring onion is another special dish combining earthy and refreshing flavours.
The Dopios menu includes a separate section featuring vegan and vegetarian selections. The rustic trahanoto, made with trahana pasta boiled in a vegetable broth with onion and caramelised cauliflower, manouri cheese and sheep’s milk yoghurt, is a standout item in this section. As for meat dishes, the wild boar – while still available – from the Peloponnese’s Taygetus mountain range is slow-baked with vegetables, red wine, and chicken broth and served with dried prunes and leek. Another menu highlight, the meat balls, made with beef mince including a light touch of mint, are prepared to crisped perfection. Don’t forget to try the tres leches cream pie, a sublime dessert made with fresh milk, a layer of dulce di leche and whipped cream.
1 Skouleniou, Athens, +30 210 3310 049
Tzoutzouka
Tzoutzouka, headed by Antonis Liolis, was launched mid-way through last year at Rouf, an up-and-coming Athenian district for good food. The spaces of an old traditional café and local store were joined and renovated to host this venture.
Tzoutzouka has deliberately maintained an old café style, with large windows and a mosaic floor generating a yesteryear feel. Its open kitchen permeates tantalising aromas, while the large marble-surface bar, metal tables with wooden chairs and charming plants all combine harmoniously to create a pleasant, instantly appealing setting. Outside, tables set along the wide footpath are surrounded by plants for a yard-space feel.
Mr. Liolis, the proprietor, who possesses a long track record in the food and drink business (Circus, Blue Bamboo), combines traditional Greek cuisine with creative elements at his latest venture. The kitchen’s heads, Giorgos Papandreou and Panagiotis Amorginos, prepare dishes that bring back pleasant memories and are enhanced with creative yet simple touches for unrivalled results.
The ingredients used are fresh and of the highest quality, while the broths, pickles and aromatic oils used for recipes are all made at the shop. A celebration of flavours fills the menu.
Selections include beef shank, grilled and then baked to a light crust with a sprinkling of crushed chili and thyme. It is served with toasted leavened bread. Also exceptional, the salatouri, based on a recipe from the island Kalymnos, is prepared with ray fish flesh, radish, chives, fresh herbs, chili, lime and a refreshing dill sauce. The mildly fried cauliflower with coriander, sumac, finely chopped chili and spicy mayonnaise is another extremely delicious dish. Extra menu selections, including roast pork, are added to the menu on weekends.
As for the salads, a cut made with baby spinach, sesame leaves, dill sauce and marinated anthotyro cheese is refreshing and rich in taste. Dessert highlights include an apple pie mille-feuille with caramel and cinnamon. The spot also offers a great selection of wines, mainly hailing from Greek wineries.
32 Vasileiou Tou Megalou, Rouf, +30 211 7156 730
FITA
Situated in the up-and-coming district of Neos Kosmos, FITA was launched in 2018 by Fotis Foteinoglou and Thodoris Kassavetis, the venture’s co-owners and chefs. Their eatery has a simple interior with urban elements, as well as an open kitchen, unleashing an array of mouth-watering grill and casserole aromas to the dining space. The enormous outdoor space with wooden tables and straw-seat chairs under trees is ideal for a relaxed meal. This eatery offers creative dishes based on Greek and Mediterranean cuisine, all prepared using fresh, top-quality ingredients.
The menu’s main section is based on fish and seafood supplied from the island Sifnos and Mesologgi, in western Greece. It also includes a number of special salads, dips and meze dishes prepared with vegetables, as well as certain dishes made with top-quality meat (beef, goat and rooster). When in season and available, definitely try the specially prepared cabbage, green and red. It is initially smoked, then grilled and served with pickled fennel, carrot and celery, as well as chili oil. Exquisite, both in terms of taste and appearance, this dish combines sweet, sour and spicy elements.
Seafood recipes range from exceptional raw dishes to slow-cooked angler stew, masterfully grilled squid cut into juicy pieces and served soft with couscous, as well as roe spaghetti.
As for the spot’s meat recipes, definitely try the beef cheek, simmered with various spices and red wine – if this dish happens to be served on the day you visit.
FITA will pleasantly surprise, as the two chefs behind the venture like to say.
1 Dourm, Neos Kosmos, +30 211 4148 624
Farbrika Tou Evfrosinou
Launched in 2015 by chef Giorgos Gatsos and oenologist Athina Tsoli in the fashionable Koukaki district, Farbrica Tou Efrosinou offers slow-cooked meals in the form of tweaked traditional Greek recipes that permeate its small space, featuring industrial and art deco elements. The old mosaic floor, an eye-catching sculpted metal installation on the ceiling, the retro fridge and brass chandeliers all blend beautifully to create a warm, intimate space. Many of the goods used at Farbrica Tou Efrosinou are produced exclusively for this eatery, including olive oil from Zakynthos, touloumotyri cheese from Kozani, as well as manually prepared olives from Astros in northeast Peloponnese’s Kynouria region.
Giorgos Gatsos, the chef, buys goods needed for the menu on a daily basis. The majority of recipes offered are meat-based. Special salads, homemade pies, as well as certain fish and seafood selections, including caramote prawns from Vonitsa, in the northwest, also feature.
The dish portions are hearty and ideal for sharing. The elaborate Lakonia Greek salad, whose ingredients include orange, cherry tomato, peppers, spring onion, radish, Ikaria crithmum, barley rusk and tsalafouti cheese dip is recommended. The fylo for all pies is rolled out at the shop. The crisp and incredibly tasty Smyrna-style mince pie with feta, Kalamata graviera cheese, pistachios and raisins is special. The itsli kefte, bulgur wraps with mince beef and pine nuts, fried golden and served with refreshing yoghurt containing sumac and fresh rocket, is another menu highlight. The sidirodromos, honey-marinated veal, slow-cooked with red wine, loads of vegetables, spices and herbs melts in your mouth.
The food at Farbrica Tou Efrosinou is intended for deeper satisfaction, as the chef notes.
34 Anastasiou Zinni, Koukaki, +30 210 9246 354
Smile
Smile was launched back in 2002, close to the popular pedestrianised Makrigianni street in the Acropolis area, by the father of current proprietor Nektarios Thomas, initially as a taverna catering to tourists. More recently, Thomas, helped by business partner Tasos Mourkokostas, has injected new life into the spot, transforming it into a gastro-taverna type eatery. It is simple in design, with dominant white walls and an open kitchen enabling diners to see the chefs at work. Tables set outside, on the square, are part of a relaxed, picturesque setting.
The objective at Smile is to deliver creative versions of traditional Greek recipes through high-standard techniques. Everything is made at the eatery, from the tasty leavened bread to the focaccia, pasta and broths used for most recipes.
Fresh, domestically produced high-quality ingredients, enhanced with international cuisine ingredients such as dashi, miso and shiso from Japan, serve as the basis for all dishes. The beetroot salad with miso pesto and cuttlefish ink, apple chips, dried persimmon, goat cheese mousse and chocolate is recommended. The prawn saganaki in a tomato-based sauce with seafood bisque, various roots and feta cheese mousse is creative. As for meat dishes, the kleftiko, slow-cooked lamb with pepper puree, potato terina and various herbs, is a highlight. For dessert, don’t skip the tweaked galaktoboureko, very delicious.
1 Tsokri square, Koukaki, +30 210 9218 911
Seychelles
The gastro-taverna Seychelles, run by Anna Repousi, was launched in 2014 in multi-faceted Metaxourgeio, a district that has developed into an attraction for good meze food and drinks in recent years. It is a modern, value-for-money food and wine spot with a cosy dining space that is vibrant. Tables are also set outside, around the shop and across it, on lovely Avdi square, offering a relaxed dining experience.
Seychelles uses Greek quality products and places emphasis on creative dishes that are based on traditional recipes. An extensive list of Greek cheeses, ranging from salty to buttery, figure prominently on the menu. They include aged Naxos arseniko, Ios goat’s milk kefalotyri, as well as Zakynthos gidotyri and ladotyri, plus softer cheeses, such as Metsovo chevre and cheeses that are perfect for charcoal grilling, including Chios mastelo.
In the salads category, definitely try the black-eyed pea salad, adroitly combined with smoked eel. Top meze dishes include smoked eggplant with tahini and caramelised tomato.
The Pappardelle in a tomato sauce with Komotini kavourma sausage and mild, refreshing galomyzithra cheese is a must. The meat dishes, dominating the menu, include delicious beef cheeks, slow-cooked in a clay pot with various spices, accompanied with eggplant puree.
49 Kerameikou, Metaxourgeio, +30 211 1834 789
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