Ammonites

MOMA has Danny Meyer, the quintessential New York restaurateur, who runs the museum’s excellent restaurant; the Museum of Natural History in Kifissia has Thanassis Platis, the latest in a line of caterers who have taken over this lovely, modern dining room. While success proved evasive to previous managers of this unique space, Platis is determined—and poised—to make it work.

Really, how can his recipe for success not work: Take a space (remember that old restaurant rule “location, location, location”) that’s centrally located in the most affluent neighborhood in the country and that offers a stately, subdued, contemporary design within one of the most beautiful museums (culture, food, natural history—it all sort of ties together), import a young, enthusiastic, excellent French chef, Olivier Campanha, who just happens to be married to a Greek chef (she also works at Ammonites) and who just happens to have worked as a sous chef at Sketches, an acclaimed London restaurant, as well as with French master Pierre Gagnaire. Organize a menu of 6 refined but exciting French dishes that changes on a weekly basis, charge 45 euro for it and keep the wine list priced within most people’s limits (from 18 euro to 138 euro, with plenty to chose from on the lower end). To this enthusiastic diner, Ammonites seemed like the culinary equivalent of a head-to-toe Prada outfit at bargain prices!

Needless to say, we ate very well: a delicious starter of foie gras with pear crisps came out first. The foie gras was perhaps a tad more cooked than I like it but the combination struck a post-holiday balance, brought together by spiced wine sauce like an echo of Christmas. The lobster bisque, with a faint smokiness and a swirl of crème fraiche, was outstanding. The cod, coated with black and regular sesame seeds, comes in bite-sized pieces afloat in an ethereal miso broth. It was a little salty but nevertheless evinced what a chef who knows his techniques can do with any ingredients, no matter what ethnic cuisine they belong to. The pigeon breast was a hearty break from typical meat offerings, even typical game offerings, which tend toward wild boar in this country, but it was a little disjointed from the bed of wilted cabbage on which strips of breast, cooked medium by request, rested. Raspberries and the tiniest broccoli florets also garnish the dish. The cheese plate which followed was divine and very generous: warm camembert, aged parmesan, gorgonzola cream, and various dried fruits and nuts.

Our night at the museum ended with a guanaja chocolate bombe, very, very rich, crystallized kumquats, which were delicious, and way too much white porto for this aging head.

Now, that was then. Next week, and the week after, and the week after that, the dishes will change. It takes a disciplined, talented chef to switch gears like that week in and week out and to maintain consistent quality. I can’t wait to go back again and try more. Ammonites is also open for lunch.

Cuisine: Haute Franco-Grecque

Athens Area: 30 min. north of the city in Kifissia, accessible by train, bus, taxi

Decor: Gorgeous, stately setting inside one of the city's best museums

Service: Very good

Wine list: Excellent and international

Prices: Prix Fixe at 45 euro w/o wine (6 plates courses, change weekly)

Address: Goulandris Museum of Natural History, 100 Othonos str., Kifissia, Tel.: 2108015112