Our gastronomic walk in the co-capital included visits to 20 features its gastronomic hangouts Thessaloniki representative of their kind.

From Dia Deria, we chose shops where perhaps the most heraldic typical dishes of the city are served, such as bugacha, buns, buns, tulips, triangles, soutzoukaki, pitogyroi, ouzo appetizers, then we visited markets, taverns and gourmet situations and finally we made references to 4 great producers (Gerovassiliou, Babatzimopoulos, Arvanitis, Bekas) who more or less left their mark on the area.

The summary of the impressions is presented in this article, while for anyone interested in more information let us refer to the relevant links!

 

September

The September is a restaurant-grocery located next to the busy Ladadika, behind the Courts and represents a new type of store that appeared in the decade of 2010 in the city of Thessaloniki. Young people with progressive ideas and with relevant experience in catering, cuisine and service, they open restaurants with collective forms, with a philosophy of promoting creative cuisine and utilizing local products. These shapes change, there is a mobility, but they all have a very good relationship with each other and are one new gastronomic community of Thessaloniki. Restaurants belong to this category  Murga, Radikal, Nama, Nea Folia and of course it September. which was also the biggest success.

Diagonal

One of the most emblematic gastronomic hangouts of Thessaloniki is Diagonal, 13 Stratigou Kallari, in Fanarioton square. Nowadays and while the consumer is bombarded by a storm of ethnic cuisines and so many modern expressions of Greek creative cuisine, a stop at Diagonio is a reset to basics. White tablecloth, soutzoukaki, gyros, Russian salad and a Naoussa Boutari.  And if one wants to characterize her Diagonal with two or three words will suffice in: Cosmic steakhouse.

Bandis

The traditional bougatsatzidiko Bandis first opened in Panagia Faneromeni, number 33, in 1969, by the father of Filippos Bandis, who was kneading and opening the bougatsa sheet with a recipe taught by his own father, coming from Caesarea of ​​Cappadocia. Philip today opens a sheet and prepares any kind of bougatsa, with cream, cheese, minced meat, spinach, but also plain, ie bougatsa only from leaf, as preferred by the "old". At the same time, he makes village pies, buns, breadsticks and much more. "People used to want the bougatsa to drip oil, while today they want it to be drier."

Plane tree

In Tsinari in Ano Poli in the Turkish mahala was from the end of the 19th century and more specifically in 1885 one brown with the homonymous name.  After the uprooting of Smyrna, the settlement of the Greek refugees in Ano Poli, the shop passes into the hands of the Greeks and becomes cafe-ouzo where ouzo was served with Asia Minor delicacies. The ouzo cafe in the early 1990s was converted by Papadopoulou family in the tavern-ouzo Tsinari. Nowadays the Mrs. Tania and her two children, o Lefteris and Manto, do everything they can to maintain the popularity and authenticity of one of the few remaining historical sites of Thessaloniki, oasis sites, of sacred everyday life.

Gerovasiliou Estate

It does not make sense to deal with the gastronomy of Thessaloniki if you do not do 25 kilometers to Epanomi to meet the most beautiful winery in Greece, its pride Greek Wine Tourism. It Gerovasiliou Estate his creation Vangelis Gerovasiliou in 1981 the revival of the 25 acres of family vineyard in the area of ​​Epanomi began and today it has exceeded 750 acres (one of the largest and most beautiful single vineyards in the country). The winery of Gerovasiliou, in the center of the estate, has an impressive pavilion with a unique view of the vineyards, among monumental works of art by Greek artists, such as "The Grape" by Costa Tsokli, in the garden, or his "Moon" Costa Varotsou min the vineyard, while before the taste tests it is worth visiting the unique one Wine Museum.

Anestis Babatzimopoulos

It does not mean a visit to gastronomic Thessaloniki if you do not know it Babatzimopoulos estate. The Anestis Babatzimopoulos he is a legend of Macedonia, a daring viticulturist, an excellent winemaker, a unique distiller, a diligent cook - for his friends only - and of course a charming interlocutor. The Babatzimopoulos estate, is located on the slopes of Mount Vertiskos, an estate of 550 acres, with a vineyard surrounded by oaks, beeches and chestnuts, near Lagadas, about 30 km from Thessaloniki. Next to his winery, Mr. Anestis created one open-air museum oenology-winemaking, with the construction of 5 sheds, area 450 meters, tasting areas, which formed the basis for the development of wine tourism - Mr. Anestis was one of the first to promote him, while since 1988, he was the first to receive a permit for bottling of tsipouro kthen Tsantalis and the others followed.

Agios Antonios Coffee Shop

That's it Coffee shop of the Women's Agricultural Cooperative of Agios Antonios, in the settlement of Agios Antonios has been operating since 2008 and is the place where the Pontian and not only delicacies of the Cooperative are offered, which was founded in June 1999 and is the first women's Cooperative of the Prefecture of Thessaloniki. The products produced is the leafy perek - handmade pie sheets baked in the fireplace with wood -, siron, ibristo, macaroni (Pontian products), noodles, trachanas, jams and pastries from fresh seasonal fruits without any preservatives. The Coffee Shop, very tastefully made, in a short time, became a tourist destination, where many visitors visit, to enjoy the view to Mount Olympus, to taste the sweets and the famous perek and of course to do their shopping. It is another example of women's cooperative entrepreneurship but also one sample by the will of women to leave their mark on the economy and culture of their place.

Costas Steakhouse

The steakhouse Costas, Friend Emmanuel 15, in Ano Toumpa, has one of the best rounds in Thessaloniki. Holding high the reputation of the souvlaki restaurants of Toumba (Giotis etc) o Costas Moustakidis makes a gourmet souvlaki, in a tasteful and gourmet -for souvlaki restaurant- space. Costas in his post, you will see him every morning placing the pieces of marinated pork on the spit - unlike most who buy the spit ready. It becomes a popular pilgrimage every hour for a place on the table and for skewers in hand! Maybe the only giradiko without delivery and yet everyone gets up and goes to pick it up on the spot!

Funky Burger

At Tuba, in the cave of souvlaki and gyros, in the area where since the 1960s gastronomic surprises of all kinds are presented, in the summer of 2016 a new one came and was installed hamburger shop. At the intersection of Mpotsari and Eastern Thrace, in Agios Therapontas the Funky Burger who with the first won the hearts of Thessaloniki and a year later won the first prize in a relevant competition in Athens. The meat is passed once as defined by the original burger. The meat producers are from Lake Kerkini, Veria, Aridea, and the meats are 100% free of antibiotics. Some innovative products developed to support the final products produced in Alexandria, Imathia are the red rocket in the salad which is really good for bile.

Koukoumerias

On Dardanelion Street in the most legendary of all its bakeries Toumpas, the Koukoumeria since 1922, known for its tsoureki and the pride of the neighborhood, since people from all over Thessaloniki come for the special tsoureki and its baked goods. The secret of the taste apart from the recipe that lasts for more than ninety years is apart from the ingredients and the very good beating of the dough as Elsa Koukoumeria says πάν However, my look and my taste were trapped in a baking tray that Elsa Koukoumeria with anthropomorphic cookies for children!

Shoot

A "Pie shop" in every sense of the word, a shop on Papafi Street in Toumpa has been making perhaps the best sheet in town for years. "Shoot”Its name and opened in 1993, when the Costas Astraios, originating from Vlasti Kozani, decided to set up a workshop to produce daily handmade traditional, but ultimately "modern" pies. Two signs define the philosophy of the store: "We are producers and not directors" and "Our pies (yes with 2 t) are tomorrow". Pies with cheese, spinach, leeks, mushrooms, meat pies, politics with feta cheese, cheese, olive and tomato, pizza with cheese and ham, and even diet products, but also sweet pies with wild cherry, apple and chocolate pies. Accompanied with Greek coffee in the cup!

Patsas 92

At 25th of March Street 92, in the area of ​​Charilaou of Thessaloniki, it was created in 1996 by the veteran football player of ARIS andAEK, but also of National Greece, Dino Balli a patsatsidiko that writes history, the Patsas 92. Its tripe is made of beef and not pork and its facilities, both in the brewery and in the dining area, are extremely modern and do not at all resemble the atmosphere of a dilapidated and dirty area. The store shines with cleanliness and pastry. In the specialties of the store, except tripe and cook, There are a number of delicious dishes, while now it is managed by Balis the Younger!

Buy Vlali (Kapani)

The Kapani ή Buy Vlali is the traditional market of Thessaloniki. It is located in the city center and consists of sidewalks (Menexe, Vlali, Solomou, Askipou, Chalkeon, Kidoniati, Spandoni, and other smaller streets) enclosed by Egnatia, Aristotelous, Ermou and Venizelou streets. At a very short distance from it are the other traditional markets of the center, the Modiano market (it was deserted and is in the development phase!), the Athonos square and Bezesteni market. The market buildings are two-storey, while most of the sidewalks are covered.

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The word “Kapani” comes from the Turkish phrase Un-Kapan, which means flour market. The market today sells mainly food, spices, household items. It is one of the previous markets that we mentioned the most lively, because among the shops have sprung beautiful hangouts (ouzo, tanneries, cafes) that gather young people, students and market travelers.

The Grocery of Thessaloniki

The Grocery of Thessaloniki is very popular in the city of Thessaloniki. In this rapidly changing data in our lives, in the economy and in trade it is very reassuring to see small family businesses enduring but also playing leading role for three generations and especially in the field of trade, where for years the chains, the big supermarkets have dominated. "The Grocery of Thessaloniki" has been saving the honor of Thessaloniki for a century. Here you will really find the bird's milk, in a place that is full of products (healthy in the organic store, normal and sinful in the classic), smells, human and family service. George Sotiriadis with his wife Zoe and daughter Jenny at the box office - below the two photos of ancestors Kosmas and Michalis Sotiriadis - are always there, with their noble staff to guide you to find the gastronomic treasures hidden in the store their.

Ouzo of Aristotle

At Aristotelous Square", the square that lived historical moments, and among them the historical pre-election rallies, a few meters above the Olympion that was built in the late 1950s and among other things houses the headquarters of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and near the hotel" Electra ", built in the 1960s by the architect Jacques Moses, is hidden one of the most famous gastronomic hangouts of Thessaloniki, the ouzo Aristotle, an oasis of unpretentious and relaxed food, in the busiest part of the city. People of all ages and social backgrounds get involved and enjoy "loosely" tsipouro, ouzo and wine with a wide variety of appetizers.

Dorkada

On the outskirts of the Upper Town of Thessaloniki, at 91 Kassandrou Street, is the famous for its yogurt, Dorkada, the historic dairy of Thessaloniki, one of the few that survived in the city that is now run by two cousins ​​Giannides both, Gavalini. What excites you today is the vintage unpretentious atmosphere of the store, its shop windows and its products. As if 60 years have not passed and you will see sweets from other eras. Handmade syrupy sweets, to fill your eyes and run your saliva, of any kind tulips, saraglia, triangles, dads (I regretted trying one!), revani, walnut pies, galatoboureka. But also coke, fluffy millefeuille, orange pies, and the most modern cheese cake with strawberry or sour cherry. Of course, the heavy artillery of the store is the yogurt in a cup (40 tons of production per year), the rice pudding, the creams and the ice cream from sheep's milk.

Arvanitis Cheese Factory

The Arvanitis Cheese Factory begins its journey in 1980, a journey full of success in Greece and abroad. The ever-increasing course of the company places Arvanitis Dairy among the most competitive companies in the industry internationally and the quality of the cheeses has been recognized by the World Cheese Championship where it won the Gold Award, which is awarded to a Greek company for the first time. The main product of the Arvanitis family is feta but at the same time they develop other cheese products such as goat bag cheese, goat cheese, kefalotyri, saganaki, sulugouni and gais (Pontian cheeses), blueberry cheese, smoked Thessaloniki cheese, manouri and others.

Beka Farm

Η Bekaa farm is the first unit to present a complete range of products from buffalo milk and got to know them all over Greece through a wide distribution network. Hailing from a breeding family, Giannis Bekas, after studying at the American School and abroad, created a vertical unit in 2006, which uses buffalo milk from breeders in eastern and central Macedonia to make high quality and unique taste products such as  butter, yogurt, rice pudding, cream, airani, kefir, white cheese, cream and cauldron dip and from spring ice cream and frozen yogurt. In the company's facilities, which are spread over an area of ​​1.500 sq.m. in the area of ​​Sindos, Thessaloniki, its products are produced and all those quality controls that guarantee their quality are carried out daily. We watched its production there cauldron dip and we were impressed by the way it was made but also by the taste.

The Central

In Thessaloniki, traditionally for the food sector, the area of ​​Vassileos Heraklion has always been the most special and busy market. Here, from 1924 until the end of the 90's, the Sotiriadis family was active in the trade of superior quality food. The next generation that grew up and loved this neighborhood, in October 2014 opened a delicatessen Butcher and christened it "The Central". Here you will find only Greek meats, the best from all over Greece but also gourmet preparations which is the novelty of the store. Dozens of delicatessen options with all kinds of meats ready for cooking. Sarmadakia, goat roll, tsigerosarmades, cabbage dolmades, pork and beef sausages, tzoumagia sausages, petals, gulbasi, Elassona roll, kopanisti roll, soutzoukaki, souvlaki and many more And of course the lads of Michalis Zombouloglou (descendant of the Sotiriadis family) will suggest you the corresponding wine that will accompany your meze.

Corn

We close our gastronomic tour in Thessaloniki with Corn, one of the most interesting gastronomic attractions of Thessaloniki. In a two-storey neoclassical listed building at the corner of Agia Sofia and Georgios Stavros, the temple of the bakery, this combination aesthetically and high gastronomic pleasure, which seems to have been the recipe for success of this relatively new pastry-baking venture. Breads from special flours, sweets with balanced sweetness by chefs pâtissier, Mino Allegrini and Stavros Mousakos, exposed in glass shop windows, to fool around with the hours, but also traditional flavors such as handmade melomakarona with Cretan honey filled with walnut, traditional fluffy kourabiedes. Beautiful sandwiches, pies, seals, oily and green salads, ice creams with fresh milk, Cretan flavors and much more for snacks and these - especially for those who become addicted - available to the public 24 hours a day!

Mourga Restaurant by Giannis Loukakis

 

 

A narrow hall with a glass-window facade just four meters, in an "anarcho-autonomous" mix and match style, an old mosaic on the floor with walls painted in pastel discreet colors and a series of exquisite photos - magical realism - to create a poetic atmosphere. The store is of course from a young "wanted" world, and we finally had the good fortune to be comfortable in the four bar positions located in front of the open kitchen, in a theatrical stage and we watched in a private show, the ritual of cooking and setting the dishes from a coordinated brigade of young cook dancers led by him Giannis Loukakis! Giannis is very low-key, noble, modest, anti-media not out of fencing but out of modesty and point of view, nothing to do with the reeds of our profession, with mother cook and father in service - and two homelands Pontos and Crete, Giannis married him past with the future and the local with the ecumenical.

Cafe in Mitsos

In the Kapani market - Vlali market - at the end of Kidoniatou street, of the street that is perpendicular to Ermou street, in the center of Thessaloniki, is the traditional cafe "in Mitsos". A small tosodouli shop that steals your heart. At first glance, I felt like I had known him for years. Coffee tables made of metal, snacks on plates, bottles with tsipoura and ouza, a fridge with PDO cheeses as a showcase, the kitchenette with pans and preparations, happy customers, personal svelte and noble. Its creator Mitsos, lad from detoxification, managed in four years to fix maybe the best tavern, but definitely the most lovable in town and it did not come as a surprise to anyone that in 2018 it came out in the top ten, in the category "Hidden diamonds", in the competition for the best 100 restaurants in Greece.