Five chefs work seamlessly together at Cookoovaya, a new star restaurant in Athens that uses seasonal ingredients from across Greece. Another new supplier called Radiki collects wild greens and vegetables for chefs. Nearby is the new restaurant CTC, whose young chef Alex Tsiotinis has an impressive resume and serves innovative tasting menus. While not new, Varoulko fish restaurant has moved locations and added small plates featuring seafood like sea urchin and bottarga. Seychelles is a new Greek "meze" taverna in Metaxourgeio serving snacks and cheeses from around Greece.

1. 2 G R E E C E - i s . c o m G R E E C E IS • D E MO C R A C Y 2 0 1 5 3
©VANGELISZAVOS,OLYMPIAORNERAKI,CLAIRYMOUSTAFELLOU
WHILE IN ATHENS
D
espite the difficult times, over the past year Athens has
seen a surprising number of refreshing new gastro-
nomic ventures. Although the boom has had more to do
with coffee shops, bars and street food eateries that replaced
mainly clothing and shoe stores that could not survive the cri-
sis, the city has welcomed some notable restaurant openings.
They say that too many cooks spoil the broth but thank-
fully this is not the case at Cookoovaya (which means owl
in Greek), where no less than five chefs seem to work together
seamlessly. One of the new star entries on the Athenian gas-
tronomic scene, this large, yet pleasant, restaurant uses care-
fully selected seasonal ingredients from all over the country
to serve a patchwork of creative dishes. Greece has a unique
terroir that affects not only the taste and aroma of its wine
but also of its fruits, its vegetables and its venerated olive oil,
as well as fish, game, meat and poultry. Over the past decade
there have been a growing number of farms, organic or other-
wise, supplying restaurants like Cookoovaya, as well as gour-
mands, with exceptional produce and meats.
One of these suppliers is a particularly interesting venture
called Radiki (Greek for dandelion greens), which collects
wild greens and cultivates vegetables naturally for chefs and
private buyers who know the value of fresh ingredients. Its
manifesto states that it was created to “remind people of the
pure and useful [naturally available] foods,” which “must be
consumed alive [thankfully they limit themselves to the plant
kingdom] and in the right season.” Cookoovaya is convenient-
ly located near the Hilton hotel and is also open for lunch. The
wine aficionado will not be disappointed here as it offers a fine
choice of Greek, old and new world wines, as well as its own
affordable and surprisingly good house wine.
Not far from Cookoovaya is another intriguing new
restaurant named CTC, an acronym deriving from the Greek
noun “σίτιση” which means “to feed.” It’s dashingly young
chef, Alex Tsiotinis, has built a very impressive resume after
having worked in the kitchens of such legends as Arpege, He-
lene Darroze and NOMA. He also came first this year in the S.
Pellegrino Young Chef of the Year competition for the Medi-
terranean region. Alex serves two gourmet menus: ‘Voyage”
(eight courses for €70) and “Trip” (five courses for €50) in a
minimalist setting. His wine list has room for improvement
but there is an adequate selection.
Although technically not a new opening, Varoulko, the
quintessential fish restaurant created by Lefteris Lazarou in
1987, has moved back to the quaint port of Mikrolimano near
its original location in Piraeus after a rather long sojourn in
the center of Athens. In addition to its standard fare, Varou-
lko presents a new menu of finger-food with fine ingredients
like sea urchin, avgotaracho (the exquisite Greek bottarga fish
eggs that are less salty, much softer and tastier than the Ital-
ian variety) and eel paired with a selection of about 10 differ-
ent Greek sparkling wines.
Another interesting and relatively new opening is Sey-
chelles, a Greek “meze” (the equivalent of Spanish tapas)
taverna located in Metaxourgeio, a historic neighborhood of
Athens where you probably wouldn’t take your grandmother.
Seychelles, which has taken over an old coffee shop named
Bahamas, also relies on fresh, Greek ingredients for many of
its snout-to-tail dishes, and also has a selection of fine cheeses
and cured meats from around the country. It offers good value
as you can eat for about €20 (with copious quantities of Zeos,
a superb non-pasteurized beer from Argos in a horrific plas-
tic bottle). Its service is at times idiosyncratic so you should
probably avoid Fridays and Saturdays.
Revival of the
food scene
From meze to haute cuisine, our eclectic mix of restaurants will
satisfy even the most discerning foodies.
B Y V a s s i l i s M a s s e l o s
I n f o
Cookoovaya: 2A Hatziyianni Mexi, Ilisia, tel 210-72.35.005, cookoovaya.gr
• Varoulko: 52Akti Koumoundourou, Mikrolimano, Piraeus, tel 210-52.28.400, varoulko.gr • CTC: 27 Dioharous, Kesariani, tel 210-72.28.812,
www.ctc-restaurant.com • Seychelles: 39 Kerameikou, Metaxourgeio, tel 211-18.34.789
Cookoovaya Cookoovaya
CTCCTC
Varoulko
Seychelles