Crisis or not, Easter means one thing for sure: food. And although many tables were undoubtedly ‘leaner’ than in the past, I think most of us will admit to taking a second helping of lamb, or an extra koulouri… in any case, sitting around a table crowded with family, friends and neighbours, felt really great. A blur of faces, voices, arms, bumps and hugs. Wonderful.

Wandering around an empty Athens on Monday morning made me think about day-to-day life in a modern metropolis. And the blur of faces, voices, arms, bumps and, well, hugs. So many faces, so many voices, so many stories – everyone so different. Who really knows what the taxi driver’s life is like, or the lady at the supermarket. Surely different than yours or mine – or is it?

Sitting around the table at Easter, participating in simple traditions that date back centuries, I realized that we aren’t so different. Here is a country that, on days like Sunday, join together in some great unspoken agreement to be together, to observe the same traditions, in more or less the same way, in more or less every corner of the country. It’s powerful.

See you next week.

Jack

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…

Souvlaki Bar is a taverna featuring healthy fast-food in an attractive and inviting environment. Located on a small pedestrian street between Monastiraki and the Ancient Agora, Souvlaki Bar aims to present traditional Greek street food with a new look. The financial crisis has created a situation where people still want to go out to eat, but are more careful with how much they can spend. They want good tasting food made with quality ingredients in an attractive and inviting setting. Souvlaki Bar is the brainchild of Dimitris Zimonopoulos and Michalis Economou, two forty-something businessmen who met in 1997 when they each bought McDonald’s franchises. Zimonopoulos has a background in as an auditor and business consultant at Price Waterhouse, while Economou was an importer of high fashion from Italy. After running their individual franchises for over a decade they decided that they, and the market, needed a change.

They saw that their main competition was souvlaki and giros, but that the presentation and organization of most outlets was lacking in both quality and innovation. Their goal was to put together an entity which would provide the customer with healthy food, using quality ingredients in a modern setting.

They decided that they wanted to be in Monastiraki, an area which is associated with traditional Greek food. They also wanted to be in an area that was frequented by both Greeks and foreign tourists. The location between, Ermou and Adrianou Street, overlooks a small municipal park which is bordered by the Odeon Maria Callas and small neo-classical buildings.

After interviewing a number of design firms, they settled on the creative team of Fotini B. Daliani and Konstantinou Plaggeti, AIEN 1:1, which provided them with two contrasting proposals. One was a traditional souvlatzithiko, while the other was minimal, using materials such as wood, iron and cement. The partners opted for the second option because they felt the area itself dictated these materials. Their building had formerly been a lumber shop, while several iron makers are located just up the road.

The partners actively participated in the design process, requesting that the back wall be a series of images representing the tools and the ingredients used in their menus. Stencils of cows, pigs, butcher’s tools and utensils in black and white make a bold statement of what Souvlaki Bar is all about. They then commissioned Angelo B. Boloto to create a logo which features a meat cleaver, two souvlakia and a bar code. This logo appears on the paper used to wrap the pitas, the aprons of the cooks and waiters, as well as their business cards.

They also came up with a new way of presenting their food. Taking an inspiration from bars, they created small shots “sfinakia” of pitas which are served standing upright in a metal tray. Mustards and other sauces, which they make themselves, are served in a similar fashion.

The ingredients they use are from suppliers that use the HACCP system of quality as well as ISO standards set by the European Union. A number of their ingredients have been created for Souvlaki Bar exclusively. Their cooks are trained at Le Monde seminars and they themselves feel they are in a continuous learning process.

In keeping with their commitment to Greek traditional food, they serve Craft Athens Lager beer, while their wines are from the Evharis and Lafazanis wineries in Attica. The menu also features vegetable dishes and salads in addition to meat based dishes. Potatoes are hand cut and they use only Extra Virgin olive oil. Their reasonable prices are the same for in-house and take-out.

Souvlaki Bar 2105150550
Adrianou and Thessio 15
Monastiraki
info@souvlakibar.gr

Do you have a recommendation or recipe to share? Send it to us at ideas@xpatathens.com!

The Olympic Games in antiquity were first held in 776 B.C., in honor of God Zeus. It was a highly prestigious athletic festival, that was celebrated every four years, in Ancient Olympia. For the first 13 Olympiads, the Olympics were a one-day festival and contained only one event, the stadion. As more events were added, the number of days grew, until it reached a five-day schedule.

No competitions took place on the first day of the Olympics, but the opening ceremony included the taking of oaths by the athletes. On the second day, the stadion race took place, as well as the boxing  and the pankration wrestling for the boys. On the next day, the chariot races and horse races were held in the Hippodrome. Then came the pentathlon, a combination of five events (running, long jump, discus, javelin, and wrestling), in the stadium. The fourth day opened with the foot races for the men, which were followed by wresting, boxing, and pankration wrestling. On the final day, the victors were crowned with an olive wreath, also known as kotinos.

The archaeological site of Olympia includes the ruins of the ancient Stadium. The ruins of the famous classical Temple of Zeus dominate the Altis. The gigantic ivory and gold statue of Zeus, sculpted by Pheidias, used to stand inside the temple, which was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Close to the temple of Zeus, the ruins of the temple of Hera still stand. From antiquity till nowadays, the lighting of the Olympic flame takes place at the front of the temple, and then the journey of the torch relay begins, in order to carry the message of Olympism throughout the world.

The visitors can also visit the Archaeological Museum of Olympia and get the chance to admire the findings of the archaeological site, such as the famous Hermes of Praxiteles and the sculpted decoration of the temple of Zeus. The Museum’s collection includes ancient weapons, spearheads, spear butts, breastplates and helmets, found in the sanctuary of Altis.

Visit Ancient Olympia, the cradle of the Olympic Games, explore the ancient buildings, that still “keep alive” the history of the Olympics and the universal values of Olympism and “unravel all the secrets” of the ancient sanctuary and the Archaeological Museum of Olympia.
 

I was recently taking part in a recipe exchange thread online, and the subject of Greek Tzatziki came up. More specifically, one of the girls who knew that I live in Greece asked me for a tzatziki recipe. As I was away from my computer at the time, I saw her request, and the responses that followed it, a bit later. To my surprise, someone else had answered her with a recipe for that yummy tzatziki sauce…