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Yes, there is fancy Greek food. A new wave of chefs swept Athens starting in 2004; they've since been tinkering with the canon and obsessing about the freshness and local provenance of things. But don't ignore the taverna: A good one is the best introduction to the culture, as well as a great source of inexpensive, simple, and delicious food. Plaka—the area below the Parthenon—has emerged from decades of being a tourist joke to become a hangout for locals as well as visitors. Adrianou and Kydatheneon are the main drags, but explore the picturesque, vine-covered squares and alleys to find little art galleries, ouzeries, (places that serve small plates of food along with many different varieties of ouzo) and tavernas. (You can tell you're in a tourist-heavy haunt if it's full at 8:30 pm; locals don't eat dinner until around 10.) The streets south of (rebuilt, but still chaotic) Plateia Omonia, off Athinas, particularly around the meat market, have in the past few years been sprouting lots of small, cheap, interesting ethnic eateries as the immigrant population has grown.
That mouthful means "flavors of designated origin" (like D.O.C. on an Italian wine label), and it translates into mouthfuls of divinely fresh, beyond-authentic...more
One of Plaka's oldest tavernas, serving since 1932, Platanos is just what you want when you set out to eat unpretentious, grilled, and unreconstructed Greek...more
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