How Athens discovered a new, confident Greek cuisine
Athens is now a food capital where you can enjoy bustling bars, traditional taverna fare or unearth a new-wave gem in its many restaurants – but it wasn’t always this waySee our recommendations for eating and drinking around AthensVisiting Athens for its food might have sounded like a joke to previous generations. Unlike many other Mediterranean countries, including Italy, Spain and Turkey, Greece had no renaissance and no aristocracy to fund chefs and develop sophisticated cuisines. Simple village dishes didn’t always translate well: in the past, tourists would suffer a summer scorching and some desiccated moussaka so they could puff up the Acropolis in August before skedaddling to an island. However, recently the Greek capital has undergone a gastronomic renaissance.Athens always offered the joys of eating outdoors – by the sea in summer, or winter sunshine on the city’s streets – but
Sofka ZinovieffGreek food and drinkAthens holidays