Villa Incognito in Tripoli

Villa Incognito or how we discovered a gastronomic diamond in the center of Tripoli. Some things can happen by chance, but at some point the saying is confirmed that when some people have to meet, one day they will meet and it will be a festive day.

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come immediately. Zorbas »

So on a festive day, on the occasion of the presentation of the film "Arcadia 1900, champagne of the Orient" created by the Tselepou and Spyropoulos Estates, which chronicles the epic effort of the Papanikolaou Brothers family winery to produce sparkling wine in Arcadia - Mantineia - in the 19th century, the guests after the show were invited to the restaurant Villa Incognito to enjoy the sparkling wines of the 2 wineries. That's how we got to know the restaurant and its creators.

At first our place was charming, artistic, happy with impeccable service, while the canapes that accompanied the sparkling wines were delicious and had a gastronomic point of view. When we met the owners of the business we said "here we have an issue", and arranged a meeting for further acquaintance.

The next day after our morning visit to Tselepou Estate, we returned to Tripoli to reveal this rare find.

The Villa Incognito is located in the heart of Tripoli, a few meters from the main square with its lush grove. At first glance, you are overwhelmed by his artistic mood. Walls deep red, with two huge gray paintings that one shows a sculpture of Pan, god of Arcadia, a follower of the god Dionysus.

Dionysian, baroque with a focus on the dreamy Arcadia, with visual interventions - such as the exquisite cage with the laptop and the credit card trapped - The hall, although it is not aimed at a mainstream audience, it has aroused the interest not only of the city's residents but also of its visitors.

But what has made Villa Incognito the most interesting restaurant in Tripoli - and one of the most interesting in the Peloponnese - is its cuisine, its wines and the personalities of its owners.

The restaurant was born in 2012 by three young people, Sotiris, Yakinthi and Giorgos, that everyone carries on their back a heavy gastronomic family past.

His story Sotiri Kourou starts from pre-war Tripoli and "Ta klimata", the tavern of Dimitris Kouros, Sotiris's father, who had turned his father's old inn into a tavern. After the death of his father, the kitchen was taken over by Sotiris's mother, Athanasia Kourou, a famous cook of the time. Later Sotiris and his mother open a traditional restaurant, Kouros, which was much loved by the locals, and a few years later, in 2012, he gives his place to Villa Incognito.

Η Yakinthi Tyrovola-Dagre is the daughter of Panagiotis Dakre of the homonymous historical butchery of Tripoli. He studied topographic engineering, while at the same time he attended seminars on cooking, scenography, interior architecture. In 2015 he studied wine at the WSPC and has won, among other things, level 3 for the world vineyard and the modern sommelier diploma.

Ο George Sougioultzis is the delicacy of Villa Incognito, the cook who temporarily came to help for six, months and remained a pillar of flavors for 10 years. A child of family restaurants has one of the oldest restaurants with Czech cuisine in Athens, Bohemia.

They told us about their creation:

«Bringing together our stories, dreams, wants and goals, this restaurant was created to support, first and foremost, our memories and experiences, as well as the good raw material, local traditions, small producers and the branded bottled wine. Art, music, gastronomy and incognito, a word of double importance to us. As a word the term incognito refers to and identifies with the role of the restaurant in the present era, incognito - "between us", "for us"… to bring us closer, in communication in contact… Hospitality, taste, taste are words that define us.

With Villa Incognito we want to highlight our place through wine and gastronomic tourism.»

As the "children" told us, the Greek creative cuisine married the Greek wines, the knowledge, the music, the art and the imagination and they made an exceptional result. From a gastronomic point of view The restaurant's kitchen utilizes local traditional and Greek dishes adding modern touches, without altering their primary identity. For the wine list, Yakinthi has utilized all the knowledge about the Greek and especially about the Peloponnesian vineyard, creating a very interesting list.

We tried and enjoyed:

• Tsaoulia beans boiled al dente, with sheep yogurt, grilled nectarines, Tripoli feta and mint.
• Eggplant with minced mushrooms, gruyere cream and crispy chips from Tripoli potatoes.
• Kokoraki with traditional noodles, crispy crust, manouromyzithra mousse.
• "Argetiko", simmered beef with honeyed onions and buttered potatoes, which is the modern interpretation of the traditional recipe (it takes time). The beef was covered with onions, allspice, fresh tomatoes and olive oil, placed in a pan and left to simmer overnight.