Feyrouz Brings Middle East Flavor to the Heart of Athens
Not far from the Acropolis, make a detour to a semi-secret spot that bristles with Levantine enchantment
Eastern spice and intrigue, without a trip to Beirut? Yes indeed. Feyrouz is a Levantine pearl in the heart of the madcap labyrinth of downtown Athens. It is not exactly new, but hiding out as it does in a sea of souvlaki, it feels fresh and more crucially it tastes new. Particularly for those unfamiliar with some of the more delightfully quixotic flavors of the Middle East, this is going to be virgin territory.
Not by-the-book Lebanese cooking, this is more about Levantine street food that draws inspiration from the traditions of Antioch, the vanished city of antiquity that finds its modern counterpart at Antakya in today’s Turkey, and from where the owner hails. One of the signature foodie items of that corner of the Mediterranean basin is the peinirli, an elongated, open savory pie made in a boat shape. Boat is the right word, because at less than $5 a pop, one bite and these things will transport you to a souk straight out of the pages of “The Arabian Nights”.
My first oven-fresh peinirli was stuffed with a blend of three cheeses and tender diced chicken delicately spiced with cinnamon and curry. A day later I had my second peinirli fix with one that was filled with pastourma, a kind of seasoned Levantine air-dried beef, along with diced tomatoes and a similar trio of cheeses, including notably the mild Greek Kasseri cheese.
Fragrance and alchemy reign in the Feyrouz kitchen: exotic ingredients include the likes of pistachios from the island of Aegina, Cretan myzithra cheese, wine-marinated rooster, Chios mastic, tsalafouti, pool pepper, pomegranate petimezi, souzouki (spiced minced meat), zaatar (here, that means Antiochian wild thyme), red lentils and roasted wild cumin.
I also tried Lahm bi-Ajin, hand-rolled dough topped with some of that minced meat and a mixture of spices. I dressed it up with some house-made babaganoush and Feyrouz salad with petimezi, which as it turns out is a kind of not overly sweet pomegranate molasses.
A steaming cauldron of soup beckoned on both visits but I did not try it. Maybe that was a mistake. If it was mahlouta, an appetizing potage of red lentil with fennel, pumpkin, homemade chicken stock, and freshly roasted cumin, then I definitely missed out.
Athens itself steps up to fill in some of those gaps. The small eatery is located in a section of the city called Monastiraki —a lively area where the only tourists are either European, got there by mistake, or both. It is but a short amble from the city’s boisterous central marketplace and the old spice market quarter. The latter does not compare with the spicy overdrive of Istanbul’s Egyptian Bazaar but it still something that has to be experienced offline to truly appreciate.
Despite or because of its age, the Greek capital is always evolving; it is an energy that touches even the most shadowy corners of the asphalt jungle such as the one that Feyrouz brings to life. The place has quite a following, I learned, and even has a newish annex just across the narrow street where tea and Middle Eastern pastries are served.
Last month, right next to that, they opened a restaurant that has only one table — a very hipster, Brooklyn-ish thing to do. Also a bit more expensive than a five-buck dough boat, but $35 or so for an exotic late lunch or early dinner is well worth the investment. Other Middle Eastern choices should be so easily made.
Visit Feyrouz at Karori 23 and Agathonos 1 streets in downtown Athens.