WANT IN ON A LITTLE GREEK SECRET? Let us "Whispers" it in your ear

This aerie in the heart of Athens has bodacious views and a freaktastically tasty club sandwich that involves, like all good sandwiches should, the island of Tinos

But you came for the food, actually…the view from WHISPERS in Athens. Photo: Anthony Grant

Did you know that Greeks don’t call it a “Greek salad”? Nope, they call it a garden salad — in Greek, natch — because back in the day, the garden salad was a way of presenting the bounty of one’s garden in a salad bowl. Sort of way of showing off, but in an agreeably edible, non-Penelope kind of way.

Now, aren’t you glad I don’t do a podcast? Because if you’re the kind of person who listens to those things (i.e. nobody; cue the recent NYTimes article on the subject) you’d know that I or whoever else could have gone off for an hour about the above revelation even though as with most podcast “content” it could easily be distilled into two 15-second sound bites.

Now, speaking of bites….remember that scene in Never Say Never Again when Barbara Carrera (as Fatima Blush) demands Sean Connery say that she’s the best he’s ever had — and then he jokes, “well, there was this girl in Philadelphia once…”

Fatima Blush: She sizzled, just like Athens in a heatwave.

I feel this way everytime somebody asks me where to go for the perfect club sandwich. You’d think I’d say this or that deli in Manhattan or country club in Connecticut but no, dagnammit, the best one I ever had was at an undisclosed location in Mykonos that may or may not have had something to do with Lindsay Lohan. But memories of food like non-sociopathic presidents grow dim with time. Today, the best club sandwich is the one at WHISPERS.

Is it expensive? Yes. But the views only add to these plated yums. The best club sandwich. Photo: Anthony Grant

What? Where? WHISPERS is the restaurant bar on the beautiful rooftop of the Amalia Hotel in Athens. The hotel is located a stone’s throw from Syntagma Square and across the street from the National Garden, of which there is a spectacular view, all the way across to the Panathenaic Stadium.

Oh, there’s also a peripheral view of the Acropolis, which by the way is closed (at least on July 25) due to the heatwave, which is more oppressive than your latest nightmare about the IRS or ICE (or both). Speaking of which, more ice in our Coke Zero (a club sandwich should always be paired with your cola of choice) please, we’re melting! Perissótero págo, parakaló!

But center stage is the food, which is not cheap, this being a hotel restaurant, but I’m going to focus on the $21 club sandwich. Actually, a chicken club sandwich, but it did have bacon, so it qualifies as a club sandwich.

Now, the classic cut of the club sandwich is the quartet cut, but at WHISPERS they do it in two halves which is fine, because it’s chicken paillard, tender and juicy which was so perfect for a hot day. Nice Greek sliced tomatoes too, plus iceberg lettuce, crispy bacon (in bits, not strips) spicy mayo and, in my book the coup de grâce, Tinos graviera cheese melted into one side of the perfectly toasted bread; how do you say ‘this is delicious’ in Greek? Aftó eínai nóstimo.

Tinos? Yes, Tinos.

All that yum plus good fries and swift, polite service, fantastic views, cheerful tunes (Blondie, Springsteen…) and nice frosty air conditioning too? More, please. The Parthenon can wait.🍴

WHISPERS is located on the seventh floor of the Amalia Hotel in downtown Athens, Leof. Vasilisis Amalias 10, tel. +30 2103237300. Reservations recommended for evening hours. Tell them Greek Column sent you!