![]() ![]() ![]() Every single dish on their relatively small menu is absolutely delicious and based on the products they sell. But I make sure to do my shopping around lunch or dinnertime, so that I can also sit down for a meal. It’s a great spot to pick up top-notch food products, like artisanal cheeses and cold cuts from all over Greece, and other delightful delicacies including olive oil, wine and honey. This little deli located near the Athens Central Food Market is one of my favorite places to eat in Athens. It’s the perfect spot for a celebratory meal. Pair you meal with a wine from their excellent wine list and end it with the kantaifi, a vermicelli-like pastry stuffed with chopped nuts, served with sheep’s milk yogurt mousse and caramelized walnuts. Alternatively, if I feel like splashing out, I order one of their incredible cuts of meat at the butcher’s counter – this definitely comes with a higher price tag, though, depending on the cut. I always make sure to leave some space for a main, like the magnificent black pig served with fava (creamed yellow split peas) on the side, atop a green apple gel and paired with a smoked eel sauce. Originally from Epirus, another craggy region of Greece, Yiannis uses meat and other goodies produced at the farm to prepare his self-described “mountain cuisine.” All the dishes I’ve tasted from their daily menu are wonderful and very reasonably priced for what you get, like the meat pie with ground mutton and caramelized onions wrapped in their crispy handmade phyllo. The restaurant first opened about two years ago and is now run by the young and talented head chef Yiannis Liokas. The restaurant sources all its meat from the magnificent 350-acre organic farm of the same name in Fthiotida, a beautiful mountainous region in central Greece about 230 km north of Athens. Yes, I am a meat lover, but only when the meat is of excellent quality, like at Farma Bralou in Kolonaki. So many options – most of them very reasonably priced for international standards – in a city that loves eating, drinking and all the small (and big) pleasures in life. And then there are the ethnic and fusion restaurants that have been sprouting up nonstop and thriving. Food trends are also making an inroad, hence the growing number of street food and vegan options – some of which are so good that they really deserve an award. There is a deeper interest in high-quality ingredients, which is why we’re seeing more and more farm-to-table and organic restaurants. The increasing number of tourists, the growing optimism of investors who see a financial opportunity in the food industry, as well as an ever-growing pool of talented new chefs, cooks, baristas and bartenders have all contributed to this creative regeneration – not just of the food scene but of the city itself. The Athens food scene has been booming over the past few years. Update: Farma Bralou and Mirch are sadly no longer open. ![]()
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