ΟΧΙ ΑΛΛΟ ΜΟΥΣΑΚΑ! Τα ελληνικά εστιατόρια που σαρώνουν στην Αγγλία
[ Beef cheek at Opso. Photograph: Katherine Anne Rose/Observer ] For decades, Greek food in the UK was rubbish. As a Greek Cypriot and long-time reviewer of Hellenic restaurants, I got used to stodgy flagstones of oily moussaka, curiously eggy hummus and halloumi you could cut into circles and top pencils with. At their best, the restaurants offering this stolid, carb-heavy tedium were so chintzy they could have doubled as doily museums. At their worst, their idea of “cooked to order” was “scooping it from under the battered saveloys in the halogen heater”.
But that’s all changing. In Lancashire’s family-run Olive Tree Brasserie (“Greek cuisine … with modern twists”), local kale is served with pan-fried cod, and salads combine kefalotiri cheese with hot-smoked Goosnargh duck breast and caramelised apples. In London’s Greek tapas joint Opso, there are souvlaki sliders, cheeses served with homemade rhubarb jam and slow-cooked lamb shank pepped up with lemongrass. Start smashing the plates here and you’re committing a culinary atrocity.
Brits are pouncing on it as greedily as a Georgian lord who has just noticed some unguarded marble frescoes. The Olive Tree’s rapid expansion plans across the north involve 10 restaurants in the next five years. Last May, mini-chain The Real Greek opened its first branch outside London, in Windsor, and a Southampton location is now being mooted. And in the capital, not only have a handful of modern Greek restaurants started proferring innovative, pomegranate-seed studded takes on horiatiki [Greek salad] in the past couple of years, but the oregano-salted, feta-topped fries from such food trucks as I Should Be Souvlakiare propelling Greek food into London’s trend-obsessed street food scene.
[ Koftas a The Real Greek. Photograph: Michael Franke ]
It is no coincidence that this is happening at the same time that Greek bank vaults are starting to look like abandoned warehouses. In the past couple of years, there has been something of a culinary revolution in Athens, including the opening ofFunky Gourmet, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant co-owned by two ex-El Bulli chefs – and the 19th-best restaurant in the world, according to TripAdvisor. But with the highest unemployment rate in the EU and Greece’s talented youth leaving faster than an audience at a Spice Girls musical, it doesn’t exactly scream: “Plough your cash into our economy!”
Hence a number of the most exciting foodie openings in London are all Greek to us. Athens-founded restaurant Estiatorio Milos follows up its New York, Las Vegas, Miami and Montreal branches with a Regent Street opening in July. Athenian grill Suvlaki opens in May in Soho, and the rose syrup-topped take on saganaki cheese offered at funky West End deli-restaurant Ergon, which opened recently, has already proven a hit at its six branches in Greece. Only a fool would beware Greeks bearing these kinds of gifts. source
