Ta Kioupia

With a handful of foreign visitors in tow, my choice of where to dine had to be narrowed down to Greek and only Greek. But the question then became: traditional or contemporary? One friend wanted to try the latest in Greek food and one wanted to try the oldest. It was time to go to Kioupia. I hadn’t been to this well-known restaurant since it closed its doors in Politeia a few years ago and opened anew, in what is arguably the best house in Athens, a perfectly preserved neoclassical mansion built in 1927 on the corner of Deinokratous Street.

I had remembered the restaurant for its over-the-top approach to classic Greek food and recalled that forced-feeding feeling I had waddling out of the place after more food in one meal than I typically consume in a week. But that was years ago; these are leaner times. The menu now represents a twofold take on Greek cuisine: for the most part dishes are much lighter, with contemporary brushstrokes to move even molecular chefs to excess. But that unique Greek sense of unyielding hospitality as expressed in a plethora of food is still the modus operandi of Kioupia. Dinner, at a fixed price, includes a whopping 16 starters and sixmain courses!

The classics that gave Kioupia its good name to begin with are still very good, especially that chunky, smoky eggplant salad.
Much of the food here is rooted in the traditional cuisine of Rhodes, where the owners come from and got their start in the business some 30 years ago. Dodecanese inspired dishes include a delicious pork chop (fileto) where souma meets the southern Dodecanese pasta, makarounes. It’s not quite a dish for 40 degree summer nights in the city, but the weather will change soon enough to make it a must-have. Rhodian trademarks like cookes seskoula and barbounofasoula with plenty of olive oil and rich undertones from the copious amount of onions were delicious.

The fava with caramelized orange wasn’t the best attempt to modernize this taverna luminary that I’ve ever tasted. The soutzoukakia were a little too gentrified for my peasant roots, but good. The melekouni, with its gentle hint of cumin, which is how this Rhodian pasteli is seasoned, is a lovely end to the meal. Unless, after 16 starters and a choice of six main courses, you opt for a few sweet killers, like ice cream with grape spoon sweet and almonds, or samali (delicious).

Would I come back here? Yes, yes, yes. But only after a starvation diet.

Cuisine: Traditional Greek in copious amounts

Athens Area: Kolonaki

Decor: Light, clean renovation of a neoclassical mansion with all its glories intact and updated for the 21st century

Service: Accommodating

Wine List: Very good

Prices: 54 euro per person for prix fix “non stop” dinner; 32 euro for prix fix lunch; a la carte 35-60 euro per person.

Address: Dinokratous & 22 Anapiron Polemou str., Kolonaki, Tel. 210 740 01 50.