Ateno Cook & Deli, the comeback of Nikos Karathanos

The impatience that possessed me that night was not only about the food. I wanted, at last, to understand in practice what Nikos Karathanos had identified as his "next step" after two and a half years of absence - and self-discovery - abroad, where he was not content with simply making new friends or coming into contact with many different cultures. The most important thing that happened to him, he says, was that he realized who he wanted to be and how he would express that in his cooking from now on.

That`s what I was thinking about, and that`s why I was surprised to find that I was already at the corner of Aeolou and Miltiadou. In front of me, the beautifully lit Ateno building captured my attention. I usually passed by, indifferently, the old and for years closed toy store - I am trying to remember whose it was now. That evening, for the first time, I noticed the slightest detail of the now renovated building - they say that in the early 19th century, it was built as the residence of Michael Saliveros, a well-known publisher of the time. It shone and gave the street a new lease of life.

I couldn`t resist making a quick stop at the ground floor. The well-appointed déli and the Liakos brothers` Salumeria stretched defiantly across the space. But let me not dwell on mapping it out since you`ve already read the detailed descriptions on FNL, as you will have read about "Project Ateno" and the team dynamics behind it. Vangelis and Spyros Liakos, Nikos Karathanos, Konstantinos Tranoulidis and Anthoula Papageorgiou dreamed and created this beautiful space on the oldest shopping street of old Athens.

My curiosity (professional) invites me for a second stop at the mezzanine that houses the kitchen. I will describe the picture with only one word: "boiling"! Fortunately, that "sense of togetherness" of well-tuned groups floating in the air always bodes well for me. Finally, I am sitting at our table. The seat and the massive mirror in front of me give me a general view of the room. Its clean lines and curves "converse" with the archway that divides the room and give the space an indefinable art deco feel, cleverly combined with the contemporary furniture, the coloured glass partitions, the small, faintly grey tiles on the walls, the warm wood of the marble tables and the pop paintings on the walls, creating a bright, cosmopolitan ensemble.

Opening the catalogue, the temptations abound, and I realise I`ll have to hold on. I start with a must, the charcuterie platter, which contained all the MetaMeat goodies. It was a good choice because it allowed me to try the charcuterie in its original form. Some of them were also involved in some of the dishes we ordered. They are all extremely fine. I singled out the black pig mortadella and porchetta (from the Municipality`s farm) and the calf sheep prosciutto, but that`s just a matter of taste. The hot meze, with three chef`s choice dishes (fluffy meatballs with sauce and peppery cream cheese, the dolmades and a cheese-stuffed fried bread with chopped gyro, with merchandise sauce) came in a three-story booth - very deejay-like, I must admit, which for some reason, reminded me of the way sweets and savoury treats used to be served at urban jour-fixe.

We started with a Greek pet nat (less sweet, as a matter of course, and less alcoholic) that stood beautifully both next to the cold cuts and the cauliflower salad - a cauliflower trilogy (in three textures: "couscous", cream, foam) whose freshness resisted the crunchy cantaloupe that accompanied it stuffed with "sharp" Tinos cariki. Then came the chickpea chevithada with chunks of egg tartare, mussels and codfish - cooked between two "pies" stuffed with lemon leaves and rosemary. Before I even tasted it I felt a subtle scent of lemon leaves introducing it. I liked that they had chosen small-seeded Greek chickpeas and were properly cooked. I appreciated the chewy flavour and distinctive saltiness of the egg tarragon and that airy lemon foam that barely added to the flavour and was lost as you stirred the dish.

I was equally fascinated by the veal sole-allano, with its distinct well-sorted mushrooms, shrimp and aromatic greens - the cauliflower and myrrh, cooked in broth, stood out... shrimp. While it was not one of our tradition`s "recorded" dishes, its delicacy and balance made me feel at home eating it as if some good old housewives had cooked it in their homes. As the plates continued to come one after another (at a professional pace, which I appreciated), I thought Ateno`s moussaka would be talked about as much as Karathanos` previous one, which, if you remember, left an era... This one is entirely different. It`s served on a crispy "paillasson" of thinly-cut fries - Base Grill style - with the eggplant in rolls and nicely cut and properly roasted minced meat, along with a rather runny but velvety béchamel sauce, which, as it comes hot, completes the dish. Of course, I also appreciated the braised, succulent and tender lamb fricassee with seasonal greens and celeriac (cut into "spaghetti"). I liked its pleasantly acidic egg-lemon, which "downplayed" the flavours of the lamb.

The wine list curated by Yannis Karakasis, MW, allowed us to marry our heterogeneous dinner with various wines (by the glass), giving us many happy moments.

At the exit, I met Vangelis Liakos. For a moment, it occurred to me that I should congratulate him for the passion with which he and his team are dedicated to culinary art. But big words make it difficult for me. Standing in the front doorway, I wanted to say something to Nikos Karathanos. I was going to tell him about his return, about the path of Greekness he chose to follow... But, after being asked, I only said: "Pour me a raki to wish you well", and that`s how the evening ended, in Greek.