In Athens there’s now more then Funky
30-11-2015
There’s more than Funky Gourmet: new creative cuisine restaurants enrich the culinary scene of the Greek capital. Above all, Hytra, of chef Anastasios Mantis (in the photo)
Greece is a country offering excellent raw materials, a joyful sight in the city markets, something celebrated in the simple rustic style of the excellent inns filling the country. We will return to this aspect soon. What we want to highlight now, however, is that the Hellenic state has now taken its first steps towards a more contemporary, high quality and elegant cuisine. One capable of looking at the future without forgetting the past.
This, in our opinion, is the right way: which leads us however to neglect – among the internationally awarded restaurants – a place such as Spondi, in pure French-Mediterranean style, and include in our Identità Golose 2016 the innovation of Funky Gourmet.
Mantis’s Chef’s Garden
Since last year, the chef is Anastasios Mantis, who aims for the perfect fusion of international techniques and styles with local heritage, as one can notice in the spanakorizo, the classic Greek risotto with spinach, interpreted in the form of a crispy wafer with tasty counterpoints of dill, lemon and onion.
Another tasty and elegant dish by Mantis: Calamari with roasted potatoes, salicornia, fennel and squid ink mayonnaise (photo by Passera)
Another location doubtlessly also deserves to be mentioned, Varoulko, and not just because of its pleasant seafood cooking, with the right amount of creativity. Most of all, there’s a beautiful story behind this place: that of Lefteris Lazarou, born in 1952, promoting Greek cuisine around the world, just like he used to do at 15, following his father, a chef on cruise ships.
Squid ink soup, with a heart of beetroot and ginger aroma: a dish by Lefteris Lazarou, of Varolulko at the Piraeus (foto Passera)
After having navigated at length in the beloved Mediterranean Sea, he cooks it in the kitchen. (1 – to be continued)
An outdoor trip or a journey to the other side of the planet? One thing is for sure: the destination is delicious, by Carlo Passera
by
journalist born in 1974, for many years he has covered politics, mostly, and food in his free time. Today he does exactly the opposite and this makes him very happy. As soon as he can, he dives into travels and good food. Identità Golose's editor in chief