Where do we eat better, Athens or Thessaloniki?
We often say that food unites us, but it is not uncommon for it to cause division and controversy. Suffice it to recall from time to time discussions that lead to quarrels over where we eat better cook or whether it’s worth the money and the reputation of this or that store.
If we zoom out from our microcosm, the discussion about good food can take on bigger dimensions, with entire cities coming into play. Like Athens and Thessaloniki that are often in controversy over where we end up eating better.
A food journalist I admire and trust for her judgment is clear. ‘You clearly eat more delicious in Thessaloniki. It creates trends that are coming to Athens as well, but it is more of experimentation “.
“In Athens we eat better because it was more avant garde, Thessaloniki used to be a gastronomic destination, but now that has changed. The big city Athena really likes this “says Vassilis Kallidis (cook, owner of Pink Flamingo) to conclude:” In Thessaloniki I have τι, whatever happens in the city, even a gastronomic earthquake, the people of Thessaloniki will want to eat their wonderful things mezeklikia. tourism and therefore a more open minded world ”.
In Athens there is more fertile ground for experimentation, more tourism and therefore a more open minded world.- Vassilis Kallidis.
Having grown up in a rural family on her mother’s side in vineyards, plains with olive groves, fields with vegetables, coops, sheep, goats and donkeys, a traditional wood-fired oven and a great love for food, Mary Retsina (radio derivatives) learned what good raw material, respect for animals, and most importantly taste means. “My mother always said that food is an emotion, what it feels like when you cook, goes into your plate. This is how I approach food, I love it deeply because it is a ritual full of emotions, memories, but also culinary consistency, the key to a computer dish. So the answer is one and it is clear, Thessaloniki “.
Mary has lived in the co-capital for five years as a student and to this day she visits her very often. She always looks forward “as a small child”, as she says, to sit at the tables of her favorite stores and experience it deliciously. “I know that whatever I choose to eat, whether it is a simple grilled sandwich or a more teased kitchen, it will be 100% what I want and need. Dishes with memory and a taste that reassures you “.
One of the things that bothers a lot in the restaurant scene of Athens is the inconsistency. “Eating well during the day and the next half, or even below average, and unfortunately it happens to me very often and my choices are limited. Obviously there are exceptions, and others to which I return again and again because I love their dishes and their philosophy but also many that I have given a second and third chance. I have never experienced this in Thessaloniki, I have never eaten the well-known “fola”, its food always calms my soul “.
In Thessaloniki I have never eaten the well-known “fola”, her food always calms my soul – Mary Retsina.
“Many times I bring to my palate the breaded shrimp with cereals and sweet and hot sauce of the gastronomic cafe Contrabando, the fried eggs with kavourma of the Gianniotiko cafe Jamala or the stamnagathi salad in Mitsos. truffle in Surfer Maya or gnocchi with shrimp in Lola and many more that do not fit in words. And how many more new arrivals that I have not had time to try but I am sure of the quality and the result. For all these reasons and for the most consistent sweet of the planet, the triangle of Panorama Elenidis, Thessaloniki that is always first “concludes.
Nikos Tzirinis (Canteen Team), believes that in the last decade, Thessaloniki has modernized by turning to innovative and fresh restaurant proposals, without standing disrespectful to the traditional tavern or the side hangout, which historically characterized it, something that is indisputable. . makes it a must visit gastronomic destination. At the same time, it observes an uninterrupted interaction between the two cities.
“Athens is the first to listen to European and international bookings, Thessaloniki supports its multiculturalism, its oriental and local influences. Indeed, Athens has proved that it is experimenting without fear, but with a lot of passion. Constantly seeks, draws inspiration and constantly transforms its gastronomic culture. “Thessaloniki takes less risks, it moves with more stable and selective steps”.
Finally, where do these two cities meet gastronomically and what are their differences? “We are going through a time when the two cities are closer than ever, accompanying and interacting with each other. “Athens is bolder, Thessaloniki more cautious, but clearly more extroverted in relation to its not so distant past,” he concludes.
For Kostas Kapetanakis (Estrella, Surfer Maya), Thessaloniki is the “capital” of the gastronomic tavern, since, as he emphasizes, it dominates the meze, the tsipouro and the friendly company. “Let us not forget that it is a crossroads of minorities, it is multicultural and it has remained in our DNA. It will be difficult for Thessaloniki to come to a fine dining and it will feel comfortable. It often happens to me that they tell me “where did you send us”. If I send them to FITA of course, they feel that it is their embassy. Athens excels in fine dining and international cuisine, it has very nice suggestions either on hand or in seats to eat. In Thessaloniki, I think it is a bit behind “.
While we are talking to Kostas, the thought that Thessaloniki remains more real in its food for tourism, has been deconstructed. And in the co-capital there are “meat shops” with Uruguayan cuts, which will usually be completed by executives who travel for work. They are the youngest, the students and the age group of 20 to 30 who are looking anyway, the ones who will have better options in the city. Costas reminds me how the choices are here in front of us, it depends on us where we will move.
He emphasizes, however, shops that have been associated with the gastronomy of the city and are a school even for Athens. “The pillars of gastronomy are the shops that are defined as gastronomic taverns and some chefs of course. Giannis Loukakis with Mourga and Syn-Trofi (+ Trofi), who has built a school since 2013.
“For nine years in Mourga he has been shopping in the organic markets without advertising, he has included natural wines in the menu and he does not put meat. And yes, it has managed to educate an audience. I think it is a matter of cook and school, seasonality and locality. If you start and see what was happening in ’89 -92, there is no such view and food at such prices. The cream was predominant. Serbico was a beginning, the nama, Heliopetra also stands out. You also have Manolis Papoutsakis at the Ten Tables who does something completely different “.
However, he notes a drop in taverns that insist on touristy and popular dishes. “The fanatical owners have left, something that still holds in Athens. And the capital has a better souvlaki, regardless of whether the people of Thessaloniki say it is small or clean. It has to do with the raw material and of course the price plays a role in everything “. A chapter in itself for the modern gastronomy of Thessaloniki is the chef Sotiris Evangelou at Makedonia Palace. “Awesome chef and man. On Sundays he puts skewers with pork, he also makes tripe. This is beautiful Thessaloniki right now. And she is lucky because in the surrounding area there are excellent wineries that will help the food, and most of them with biodynamic crops. It is not only the food, but the wine and the music that count “.
Leaving behind an outdated lifestyle, the co-capital keeps the essence of things. Authenticity, which for Athens is the new trend, has always existed in Thessaloniki, it was only up to the younger ones to bring it back to the surface in their own way. Niki Pileidou (journalist), a foodie, with plenty of humor and an important tenure in the media, closes this “controversy” in the best way.
“The first time I asked an Athenian ouzo if there was mackerel or lacquer to accompany the tsipouro, they looked at me strangely. And the second time the same thing happened… After many times, I got used to the lack, cut off most of the questions and switched to methadone: one marinated anchovy was enough for me (but never cheese croquettes!). So yes, I am from Thessaloniki and I have been trained in the tsipouro ritual with the appropriate appetizers that are not de and well fried of any kind. And you know that my city plays this game well. From the neighborhood cafe to the Cyril ouzadiko!
Last time we also entered the map of fine dining and fortunately so that the cholesterol does not turn red with the salts. In this chapter, Athens has to present a scientific dissertation. I will never forget my first teased meatballs or the first time I tried a decomposed village salad. Eureka! And I started the journey of flavors. Vietnamese, Japanese, Arabic or Jewish cuisine? It is understood all but always with the help of a dictionary. Because in the beginning I had unfamiliar words umami, julienne, misote, aroze and anxiety that I will eat something I do not want.
However, I managed to do it without watching Master Chef. Today I know for example that ramen is the Japanese soup with meat, scrambled eggs and noodles which I will never try because from a young age I avoid scrambled eggs like the devil incense. So wiser I come to an effortless conclusion. At each one’s taste! You can eat just as well in the north or south. “It just depends on what your appetite craves and the budget can be with you, as Yoda would say.”
If in the end Thessaloniki seems to win in points, maybe in the end what they say is true. You beautify what you do not have. In this case for the “Athenians”, a walk in the co-capital is equivalent to delicious food in gastronomic cafes and appetizers and shops that have begun to become the focus of the gastronomic scene. Athens, however, for many years, seems to have everything and in recent years, is in a constant dialogue with experimentation and rediscovering simplicity and substance.
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