Cilentio

I had set out to go to one of the new restaurants in Kolonaki when, totally by chance, we passed Cilentio and I remembered that a friend had recently recommended the place. So, cell phone in hand, we cancelled our plans and walked into the oh-so-civilized, gleefully quiet, homey, charming little restaurant on Mantzarou street . At least ten years had gone by since I was last here.
Cilentio is situated in what must have been a grand old urban home, three floors, fireplaces, carved ceilings and all. A feeling of warmth permeates everything, thanks mainly to the deep salmon-colored walls, the leather chairs, and the friendliness of the waitstaff. Unlike other restaurants, here you’re not introduced to the menu via a basket of bread and a few olives but via a warm bowl of homemade soup. The night we were there it was a cauliflower soup, light, delicate and subtle.
The menu is mainly Mediterranean , with a few more narrowly focused Greek dishes such as lentils with singlino (cured pork from the southern Peloponnese), pasturmadopites (pies with pastourma) in the form of phyllo rolls, eggplants rolled up with Mastello Chiou (a cheese from Chios), and tsipoures (sea bream) with artichokes a la polita. A few errant offerings are dressed with soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, shitake mushrooms and other Asian touches. The presentation on every plate was impressively attractive, nothing over the top but everything set out with thoughtful aesthetics and elegance.
One such plate was a simple salad of arugula, beets and Chevre. The greens were pressed lightly in a ring mold and all around sat the beets, very thinly sliced, with a pine nut-balsamic dressing. The goat’s cheese was warm cap right on top. It was really good. The tart with caramelized onions, thyme and goat’s cheese was another surprise, mainly because so many restaurants kill tarts by over microwaving them and by using them as an excuse to hide bad cooking. This was thin, with a crepe-like pastry crust. The cheese was subtle and so were the onions. We loved it. We also love the hat-shaped stuffed pasta (capellini) with a sweet sauce of mushrooms, chestnuts, and truffle cream. Not a cutting edge dish, but a soul-warming one to be sure. I can’t resist a risotto with porcini and truffles and the version at Cilentio was pretty good. Even better though was the lavraki with fava. The piece de resistance on this simple dish was the subtle garnish of plump sultaninas and capers over the fava and the contrast between the crunchy golden lavraki filets cookedin a skillet and the silky smooth delicacy of the fava.
We indulged on the desserts, opting for the mousse of fountoukia and chocolate, which was, unlike all the delicate dishes that preceeded it…turbo charged!
It’s always so sweet to be pleasantly surprised by a restaurant that isn’t on the radar screen of all that’s hot at the moment, but rather that has weathered the times with charm, grace and civility and has cultivated an obvious fan club, if the fact that by 10.30 on a Wednesday night the place had filled up. Even more than the food, the one thing I adored here is the sound level, which is totally human.

Cuisine: Modern Greek and Mediterranean

Decor: Romantic, Homey, Quiet and Civilized

Athens Area: Downtown Athens, Kolonaki

Service: Good

Wine List: Good

Prices: 35-45 euro per person

Address: 3 Mantzarou & 54 Solonos str., Kolonaki, Tel.: 2103633144