(^92) Hampshire Life: February 2019
The Athens Revival
Greece has had its struggles, but Athens is a city on the cusp
of a cultural renaissance says VICTORIA PURCELL
“
Everyone’s an entrepreneur
in Athens. You have to be,”
says Greek-born, London-
based Elena Torode, who is
charged with showing us the
contemporary side of a capital
city more famous for its ancient
history than its hip hangouts.
“Entrepreneurialism is
intrinsically part of the Greek
DNA,” she goes on to say, as we sit
on the rooftop of the new Athens
Marriott, sipping cocktails in the
afternoon sun. “Now we have a
new age of entrepreneurs born
out of the recession with amazing
new ideas, but they’re also
transforming established ideas to
keep up with the times.”
My interest is well and truly
peaked and, one cocktail down
with that heady I-got-up-at-4am-
for-my-flight feeling, I’m eager
to get out there and see it. And
we start where all good holidays
should – with a feast.
We head for the district
of Metaxourgeio, a boho
neighbourhood that has been
quietly reinventing itself as the
capital’s creative quarter. Our
destination is Aleria, a 10-minute
drive from the Athens Marriott
Hotel. And my, do these guys
know how to lay on a feast.
The five-course tasting menu
includes incredible culinary feats
like beef tartar ‘moussaka’ with
aubergine and crispy milk skin;
couscous bourdeto with scorpion
fish and squid; and pork cheeks
with cauliflower, grape syrup
and yuzu. The restaurant is set
in a renovated neoclassical villa
handed down to owner Nikiforos
Kechadiadakis by his parents.
Despite having no experience in
the industry, he decided to turn
the property into a restaurant
when he was just 23, and now
the place is listed among the best
restaurants in Europe.
After dinner, and a few too
many glasses of fine Greek
ABOVE: The
Acropolis of
Athens
wine, we pour out into the cool
autumnal air and slip through
narrow, tree-lined streets where
run-down buildings and street
art combine to create a unique
vibe. We arrive at Beauty Killed
the Beast, a very Dalston-esque
cocktail bar, where we sip
mastiqua and cocktails until
around midnight. The day’s early
alarm call has us all yearning
for sleep, but for the locals, the
evening was just getting started
- and it’s only Monday.
There’s evidence of the Athens
Revival, as us media types have
labelled it, in Piraeus – the
capital’s major port – too. Much
like London’s docklands, the
area’s links to shipping and
trade have seen it prosper, falter
and prosper again. The current
trajectory seems to be very much
upward, and we spend a morning
here sampling traditionally
made Greek coffee at Loumidis
on Tsamadou street. We’re given