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As soon as I arrived in Athens a month ago, the first thing I did was to go to Cookoovaya, the hottest opening in restaurants in the city this season.

by Maria Th. Massoura

What happens when five of the best chefs of Athens, join their powers and open their own restaurant? “ Something magic”, I thought when I first read  at the beginning of the season  that Nikos Karathanos with experience at the Michelin star-awarded restaurant, Hytra,  Periklis Koskinas with a background at Milos and Alatsi, Manos Zournatzis  of Cuccina Povera and the  brothers, Spyros and Vangelis Liakos, the guys behind the amazing Base Grill and Travolta, are found in their own space starting from this season.  Head in the kitchen is chef Spyros Pavlides who coordinates this special, dynamic team like an orchestra conductor.

Cookoovaya has the “wise cuisine” as its central philosophy . But, what does “wise cuisine”  mean? This is what we went to find out downtown in Athens that sunny Sunday midday.

The restaurant is located behind Hilton Hotel. The space conveys Athenian elegance, with a nice old-fashioned essence and clean lines in the decoration. Inside lies the open- state of the art kitchen where you can see the chefs cooking. The point of the lobby, where you can watch them doing their magic, is also the best place to sit.

The menu arrived ahead in front of us. Based on an interesting idea, the dishes are listed according to the way they are cooked. So the categories are:

1. Salads, cold dishes and Raw with flavors like cabbage salad, carrot and celery, fish tartare, the well known Athenian salad – a nostalgic urban dish – and veal tenderloin tartare.
2. On a Skewer and on charcoal .Dishes that are baked on the grill and in the rotisserie of the kitchen. Beef with pork and lamb on a skewer coexist with hot cheese sauce made with grilled manouri and virgin olive oil, skewers with meat of black pig, burgers, whole lamb on the spit, grilled Lemnos squid,  and so on.
3.  In the oven. For example, vegetable pie made with wild greens and feta cheese and cheese pie with feta and cream cheese.
4. In a sauce pan and casserole such as fried amanites (kind of mushroom) with truffle mayonnaise.

The menu is simple. So is the description of the dishes. At this point you start feeling that the ‘game will be played’ with the ingredients and the implementation. Just as a … «wise cuisine» is and should be. The flavors are Greek, creative made with raw materials from various parts of Greece and selected producers. The dishes are familiar such as the pies, the fricassee and the casserole.

We chose a red wine from Peloponnese, from a list with correct selections from the Greek vineyards.  It is worth noting that, if you want a cocktail before or after eating, there is an interesting list of very good ones by the bartenders Vassilis Kyritsis and Nikos Bakouli ( you will find them at the bar The Clumsies).

We started the meal with a simple salad made with tomatoes, shepherd’s cheese and wild rocket. This seemingly simple salad managed to travel us to the Cyclades, in the midst of summer. By eating it, I felt the saltiness and freshness of the sea in my mouth.

The culinary journey in Greece continued with the tartare fish of the day . Tasty, well-seasoned bites served with potato chips in the middle as those served at “Base Grill”. What followed was a dish with fried gampares (prawns) from Amvrakikos served with spicy mayonnaise. It was a dish with fried crispy shrimps and a fine mayonnaise that was seemingly simple, but, how many times did you eat something that was not fried properly? Too many, I shall say!

We put the main dishes in the middle of the table : an excellent meat pie made with  pastry that melted in your mouth like foam and a fried egg on top that spilled over the mince by cutting it. It was ‘food porn’ both in appearance and taste.  The burgers served with french fries, yogurt and mint were very delicious and the skewers with meat of black pig on crispy pitta and tzatziki were beautiful while the giouvetsi ( orzo) with beef spare ribs and dry ricotta cheese on top were fantastic.

The fact that flavours were wonderful proved that the five chefs were right to have as their philosophy “sourcing” i.e the careful finding of raw materials from small producers and farms throughout Greece. In addition, everything was perfectly cooked something which is a real fact  when you have such a “heavy artillery” in the kitchen.

We finished the meal with a traditional chocolate truffle made with sour cherries and bananas cooked on charcoal. However, not such a spectacular taste as the other ones.

We left from Cookoovaya around 6 after sunset, having learned what ultimately ‘wise cuisine’ means.

‘Wise Cuisine’ is genuine. In both taste and philosophy. It is the cuisine without unnecessary ingredients and the one that does not try to impress. It is familiar and is based on carefully selected raw materials. It makes you feel good, like being at a friend’s home (who knows how to cook perfectly).

Cookovaya will create trends.  Those who are impressed only with stunning visual dishes and expensive ingredients won’t be attracted because the work done at Cookoovaya is something more profound and real.

 Note: We tested the menu served in December. As from 18 January there is a new one.

 

Address : Hadjiyianni Meksi 2A, Ilisia (behind Hilton hotel), Athens, +30 210 07 235 005.