Live in Athens

The tourists, the locals and the space in between

I love to travel. My friends love to travel. We enjoy discovering new places by taking sneak peaks into other people’s lives, into their kitchens, into their favorite cafes and grocery stores… The idea of living like locals while being citizens of the world, fascinates us and inspires us. Insiders with a twist; a twist of a time limit or a twist of a different background and there you go-, we have it all: the refreshing distance and the reassuring familiarity that can transform both our perspective and us.

Live in Athens is the idea of an experience: stay, walk, see and feel Athens as locals do. Andonis, Varnavas, Andreas and Vassilis, the four friends that created the Live in Athens project are visionary people. And I was more than happy to spend a day with them and rediscover their -love to hate you- city of contradictions, the mother of beauty, the cradle, the one and only, Athens.

We met at the place that signals the heartbeat of the city: at the Varvakeios central market of Athens, one of my favorite places, so charming, always full of noise and odors, where you can lose the track of time while you try to chose the best shrimps or the best greens for your cooking. We managed to get lost inside the market and laughed so much trying to hold our breath when we passed from the meat vendors; we found some wonderful wild rocket and were inspired to use it for a winter salad with lentils, sausage and orange vinaigrette; we wondered near the fruit vendors, admired the carefully arranged jars of herbs and spices inside small shops that smelled like a thousand and one nights and we had lunch at one of the oldest, hidden taverns of the market. A tavern like the ones that can be found only in 50s movies: you sit; don’t order a thing and the food keeps coming to your table. Paper instead of plates, oil paint everywhere, wine barrels and regular customers that talk politics. Then, we walked again, from one neighborhood to another, to get to Thisseio and to the Live in Athens apartment that remind me of a nest; so close to the sky, with beautiful light and breathtaking view, quiet, cozy… Unpretentious and elegant, just like the neighborhood, the apartment with its small but organized kitchen that was calling: time for cooking!

Varnavas would make patates antinaxtes; a traditional recipe from Cyprus, with baby potatoes, coriander and wine, that he would cook with pork. We all helped; soon, the aromas of the ingredients were floating through the place…

The dinner at the balcony with the illuminated Parthenon in the background, the small talk with friends and the amazing flavor of the food, created a memory that I know I will carry with me for a long time.

Athens is a city that has a wise spirit and a playful, childlike mood. The Live in Athens experience was for me a game of hide and seek in search of creativity and love. Everything was already there to discover: in the everyday stories of the people of the market and in the relationships that grow just with a smile and a good morning; in the peace and quiet that you are surprised to find at a downtown balcony; in the million faces of the Acropolis and in the contemporary graffiti’s that bloom inside the streets and alleys. More than that, this experience gave me the impression of a village inside a city, and a sense of belonging that was unexpected and touching.

 

Patates antinaxtes | A recipe by Varnavas

Ingredients:

1kilo of pork shoulder cut in cubes

1 kilo of baby potatoes with their skin

1,5 glass of red wine

4 tablespoons of fresh grated coriander seeds

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 of a cup olive oil

oil to fry the potatoes

salt and pepper

>>>basic: love and good company

 

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large pan and sauté the meat. Add cinnamon, salt, pepper and add enough water to cook the meat. When it is cooked, turn off the fire and put on kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil.

Wash and scrub the potatoes well, leaving their skin on, then carve them slightly. Fry them in very hot oil and put them on kitchen paper as you did with the meat.

Put the meat and the potatoes in a casserole, add the wine and coriander and let them simmer for a while, until the wine evaporates. Turn off the heat; the food is done!

Kali orexi!

🙂

 

We would like to thank the amazing Live in Athens team: Andonis, Varnavas, Andreas and Vassilis for their warm hospitality; and a big thank you to Nicky and Dimitris for being sο great hosts! Thank you wonderful people!

words: maria alipranti

photography: christos drazos