Kanella

Gazi, on a Wednesday night: Roaming around Gazi just the other night gave me the feeling I sometimes have when I’ve been away for a week or so, come back, and notice that my children have grown. It had been a while since I had strolled around the old streets of Keramikos and Gazi, and in my absence the area had flowered. From the era of Gazi as a neighborhood with one hip taverna (Mamacas, the groundbreaker just a few years ago) it has blossomed into the hottest, most happening part of the city. Between Skoufias on Meg. Basiliou Street to Kanella on Konstantinopouleos, there must be 50 other bars and restaurants in between. Some of them were bustling, some of them were too well-lighted to attract the young crowd that congregates down here. Some of them clearly catered to the gay scene.

I took my chances and wandered around oscillating between Skoufias, which was quiet, Gazohori which was too packed with 20-somethings, and Kanella, which was busy and looked like it a mix of clientele: gay, straight, young, old. I also liked the idea of going to a place that bills itself as an oinomageirio, proud to have a traditional open kitchen where the day’s food is on display and yet modern and hip in design.

The room is simple. Colored bottles in the windows lend the closest thing to a design element in the otherwise pared down space. Tables are covered with butcher’s paper not cloth, the seats are squeezed in pretty tight. The waitstaff is friendly, maybe a little too much so, interrupting the taking of an order for example, to joke between themselves, or, even more audacious, to make out behind the meatballs on display, which we happened to be sitting right next to.

The food is simple and friendly, with small touches that set some things apart. Classics like Cretan dako (barley rusk), fava (yellow split pea puree) and fried potatoes are all here. Some classics come with a twist. The roasted eggplant salad, for example is a toss of chunky roasted eggplant, raw red and green bell peppers, and so much garlic you can’t really taste anything else. It looks pretty but it’s very strong. The lentil salad with carrots and feta is simple enough: al dente lentils, cubes of feta, and slices of carrot tossed together in a light dressing. In both the eggplant salad and the lentil salad the oil was less than virgin. We ordered a Saganaki, too, which is made with a semihard cheese dipped in batter. It’s good taverna fair, crunchy on the outside and stretchy within.

Under the Daily Dishes that Mom makes, we tried the soutzoukakia smyrneika and the politico spanaki. Both were ok. The soutzoukakia had a little too much bread in them to achieve that depth of cumin-filled flavor the best renditions of this dish boast. My chef friend and I angsted over the mashed potatoes: are they or aren’t they homemade? The Politiko spanaki is a mixture of chopped spinach and ground beef cooked together and served over an oversupply of strained yogurt. It didn’t have much flavor and there was way too much dairy on the plate, but the idea was interesting.

The best thing Kanella served us that night was a lemon cake, which was moist, dense layers of some kind of phyllo pastry and semolina, with a texture that was somewhere between ravani and bread pudding. It was good, homey, original, cute.

Kanella serves up a cuisine totally in sync with its prices: simple, straightforward, easy food that has one foot in tradition and one foot in downtown hip. The wine is bulk Nemea, the plate ware is laiki agora mix and match. The service is casual and the crowd hip.

Cuisine: taverna and traditional Greek fare with flair

Athens Area: Keramikos

Decor: Cool, artsy

Wine list: Greek and house wine

Prices 20-25 Euro per person

Service a little too friendly

Address: 70 Konstantinoupoleos & Evmolpidon str., Gazi, Tel. 210 34 76 320