Talk to Thessalonians and you could be forgiven for thinking the word “crisis” means “opportunity”. “BC” stands for “before crisis”, but it’s referenced when describing an innovation or entrepreneurial venture that arose in response to it. Of course, the collapse of the economy has brought hardship and deprivation here in Thessaloniki, as in the rest of Greece, but locals – from the 150,000-strong student population to the 73-year-old mayor – have refused to let it stop the city moving forward. And nowhere is this more evident than in its thriving gastronomic scene: Thessaloniki might be the country’s second city, but it is the gourmet capital.
Located in the far north of the country, it has for over 2,000 years been a melting pot of cultures – reflected in the blend of spicy eastern, French, Balkan and Mediterranean flavours of its cuisine, and in its cosmopolitan vibe. are part of the culture, and while everyone has been forced to tighten their metaphorical belts, no one wants to tighten their real ones. So, gone are the days of meals in tavernas setting you back around €30 per head; in their place are good-value bars and cafes.
Thessalonians were never going to let a financial crisis get in the way of a good time. Instead, they’ve seized the chance to breathe new life into the city. Here are the highlights.
The Roman forum
The agora is undergoing excavations. The area is a typical Thessalonian mix of ancient and modern. Look down and you’ll see ancient columns and arches running the length of the agora; look up and you’re surrounded by tall office blocks and apartments leading to the Arch of Galeris and the Rotunda, which has the city’s only minaret. Once a Roman mausoleum, then a Christian church, and later a mosque, the Rotunda is the oldest monument in the city.
Barely a week goes by without a new cafe, bar or restaurant popping up here. One of the newer arrivals is six-month-old Basta (Mitropolitou Gennadiou 16). With its tiled floors, deep-red walls hung with black-and-white photos, and bistro-style chairs, it’s a modernised version of a traditional kafeneio, where retired men once eked out their days over backgammon and cigarettes. Linger over a coffee or tsipouro (the local grappa) for €3. More funky and colourful is the recently opened Koubi (Peloponnisou 2), a coffee-crafting cafe, which teaches crocheting, jewellery making and other crafts (€10 a session). Alternatively, €4 buys a drink and a panini.
Before the crisis, Dimitris Ekosidios restored classic cars; now he runs Derlicatessan Souvlaki (Ioanni Kouskoura 7) – a play on the word derli, meaning to scoff – where he serves pork and chicken souvlaki, dikavalo (mushrooms and halloumi cheese) with chips, and feta pitta pockets from as little as €2.50. Diners here spill out onto the wooden tables on the pavement.
Thessaloniki’s bakeries are famous for their trigona panoramatos (triangular pastries filled with cream) and koulouria (a regional, Sephardic, bagel-type bread), but new cafe on the block Piece of Cake (Xrysostomou Smyrnis 19) serves “Greek spoon sweets” with its coffee – chunks of oranges stewed in syrup, made to the recipe of the young owner’s grandmother (€2). It’s a narrow cafe, with just enough room to pass between the marble counter and the circular tables opposite, but it’s welcoming, with bright cups used as vases for fresh flowers. Another new restaurant, and a first for Thessaloniki, is the vegetarian Roots (Balanou 4-6, +30 231 026 8063) – veggie restaurants are few and far between in Greece – which serves dishes such as risotto, beetroot balls and fava (pureed chickpeas), inspired by Greek, Asian and Balkan cuisine.
Ano Poli
This district (its name means “upper town”) is a maze of wooden houses and restaurants that have adapted their menus and dropped their prices to suit the times. Propyleon Piano Bar (Eptapyrgiou 130, +30 231 020 2495) has outstanding views over the Byzantine domes of St Paul’s church to the city and gulf beyond. Suck on a “submarine”, a hard vanilla sweet, served with a spoon in a glass of water, with Greek coffee. Or, in the evening, order a selection of meze – mackerel, sardines, slices of sausage and grilled cheeses (€8, including a drink) – and listen to live traditional and contemporary music. Toixo Toixo (Polydorou Stergiou 1, +30 231 024 5351) is airy and bright, with sage woodwork, wooden tables and Greek rush seats, but it’s the view of the ancient city walls that makes it worth a visit, along with the food: try the hilopites metsovou (pasta made in the mountain village of Metsovo) or sikotia sharas (thick slices of chargrilled liver) with Macedonian red wine (from €15).
Heading downhill, narrow streets open out into small squares and the courtyards of Byzantine chapels. Tsinari Square, named after the Turkish (cinar) for the plane tree which provides welcome shade here, is home to Ouzeri Tsinari (Alexandras Papadopoulou 72, +30 231 028 4028) where, for around €20, you can wash down grilled sardines, flash-fried shrimps with tomato and thyme, and soutzoukakia (meatballs with cumin) with enough ouzo to send you staggering back to the lower town.
Valaoritou
In the former Jewish quarter, this is one of the few areas that was not destroyed by the great fire of Thessaloniki in 1917. Back then, the banks in the area held so much money in their vaults the fire crews rushed to their aid. Today, above the empty vaults stands Pizza Poselli (Vilara 2, +30 231 401 9687). Named after the building’s Italian architect, who reflected the aspirations of the merchant class of the early 20th century in the building’s columns and balustrades, it is topped by a facade with a built-in clock that shows the exact time the city was struck by an earthquake in June 1978 – 11.05pm.
Pizza Poselli dishes up generous slices of Greek-style pizza – wafer-thin crusts topped with fresh vegetables and local cheeses – with salad and beer, for around €3.
This area bursts into life after 10pm, when Thessaloniki’s younger crowd begins to party. Neoclassical merchant dwellings now house trendy cocktail bars, like Piccadilly (Syggrou 3) and Urania (Kapodistriou 7 & Paiko), where DJs spin to crowds over three floors – on the rooftop bar, the €3 drinks include a view over the lit-up city.
The atmosphere in Valaoritou is hedonistic, but a resurgence of fortune-tellers is indicative of the uncertainty that lies beneath. Will the teller at Café Sosa (Komninon 24, +30 231 023 8900) see a Grexit in the coffee grinds, If the queue is too long, opt for a coffee and bougatsa (custard-filled pastry) in the present, rather than wait to find out.
Squeeze through a narrow space between the front of Pentes Portes (five doors) restaurant (Fragkon 2, +30 231 053 2503) and the ancient city walls, and you enter a large, olive tree-filled garden strung with lanterns. The newly revamped menu offers slices of smoked chicken, grilled veal steak and squid stuffed with fresh herbs and feta, washed down with wine from the surrounding Macedonian vineyards (from around €15).
The Waterfront
This is a pricier dining area, but no visit to Thessaloniki would be complete without at least one drink in one of the bars strung along the newly completed two-mile boardwalk. Ouzeri Agioli (Leoforos Nikis 15, +30 231 026 2888) has magnificent views over the gulf and, on a clear day, you can see Mount Olympus, home of the gods. In an ouzo-induced haze, I dined like a god, on pan-fried red mullet, midopilafo (mussel risotto) and zucchini fritters with aubergine salad for €15, to the accompanying strains of a bouzouki player strumming Misirlou (aka the opening theme to Pulp Fiction).
• Trip provided by Visit Greece (visitgreece.gr). British Airways (britishairways.com), easyJet (easyjet.com), Ryanair (ryanair.com) and Thomson Airways (flights.thomson.co.uk) fly direct to Thessaloniki, returns start at £60 in low season. In the heart of the city, close to the waterfront, is the oasis-like City Hotel (rooms from €70, cityhotel.gr). Colors (Valaoritou 21, colors.com.gr) offers apartments and rooms from €45
