Aneton

 There has always been something, let’s say, comforting (the English equivalent for the Greek word aneton) about Aneton, the small, well-known gourmet hot spot in Maroussi, where chef Vasilis Kalidis cooks up some of the most original Greek food in town. The setting, like a Greek living room right out of the late 1960s, has remained a constant source of fun every time we visit.

I don’t get here as often as I’d like. The last time was about a year ago, with a group of friends, on a Friday night. My most recent visit found me there in the fasting days before Easter, tempted into carnivorous ways with little regret. The first thing we ordered was one of the best plates I’ve tasted in a long time, a velouté of fresh grape leaves. The color was like freshly cut grass in a bowl and the aroma and flavor tinged with the delicious acidity endemic to grape leaves in general. But the chef tempered this with a little potato and some yogurt. Soup lovers like me have a hard time finding good bowls to slurp in Greek restaurants, since Greece is not a soup-loving country. This was superb, original, refined, and memorable.

It’s not every day I can devote a whole paragraph to a bowl of soup, but alas I want to leave room for some of the other dishes we tried. The grilled spring onions with avgotaraho (botargo) was an interesting idea, potentially elegant but lacking the chef’s characteristic flair. The thick lemony sauce overwhelmed the grilled spring onions, but the botargo paired perfectly with them. I would have preferred great olive oil, a little grating of lemon zest and some black pepper to bring out the natural flavors of the season’s young onions. We loved the chick pea croquettes with fresh herbs and tarama (fish roe). For one, they looked and tasted nothing like the revithokeftedes (chick pea fritters) most of us have either had at home or in tavernas. These were plump and tender and crumbly, with delicious herbal undertones, and served artfully on a long plate. I couldn’t resist the Pontian pasta stuffed with meat and served with yogurt sauce. The dough, spicy meat filling, light tomato sauce, yogurt and touch of smoky paprika all make for an irresistible quartet at least to my comfort-sensitized palate. They were out of the peinirli (dough boat) with Armenian soutzouki (spicy sausage) and kasseri cheese, a classic gone upscale for sure at the hands of this able chef. But the shrimp souvlaki (skewer) and the soupies (cuttlefish) yiahni with spinach made up for it. The shrimp, medium-sized and grilled to perfection, not too dry, not too flaccid, were deliciously seasoned with eastern spices and served with zucchini and basil pesto. The soupies (cuttlefish) were also very good but even better was the hand made squid ink pasta they came with.

I can’t decide what I liked most at Aneton, but the desserts are up there in terms of favorites. Best of all was the childhood memory inducing “krema” (cream), a concoction of pear velouté, politico ice cream, and crumbled petit beurre cookies, This was an adult dessert with totally baby flavors and we loved it! The tahini mousse with strawberries and chocolate sauce came in a close second.

Aneton was one of my favorite restaurants a few years ago when it first opened, and it was comforting to feel the same surprise and pleasure at all of Kalidis’ original creations. I want the recipe for that grape leaf soup!

Cuisine: Some of the most original new Greek food around
Athens Area: Northern suburbs
Decor: Home circa 1965
Service: Professional and friendly
Wine List: Good
Prices: 45-55 euro per person
Address: 19, Strat. Lekka str., Maroussi, tel. 210 8066700