Not a great deal of good news has come out of Greece recently. The sovereign debt crisis, which has ravaged much of southern Europe, has had a greater impact on this Mediterranean country than almost anywhere else.
The nation’s public debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 165.3 percent of nominal gross domestic product in 2011, and austerity measures have left many Greeks angry and demoralized. Youth unemployment currently stands at more than 50 percent.
During such times of economic difficulty, people are inevitably forced to cut back on luxuries. This includes eating out, a national pastime in Greece. Things were made even harder for restaurateurs following the government’s recent decision to raise the value-added tax rates on seafood up to 8 to 10 percent. The tense situation is acknowledged by Christian Potelle, manager of the famous Spondi restaurant in Athens.
“It’s very painful at the moment,” he agrees. “So we have to work extra hard to always be constantly improving.”
Since it opened in 1996, Spondi has become a Greek institution. It introduced high-level dining to a country more traditionally focused on informal eateries, like the seafood tavernas found on many of the country’s islands. These are the places where you’ll find Greek dishes such as lakerda, a fish in the tuna family, gavros marinatos (marinated anchovies) and kolios (grilled mackerel). The best kolios, say Greeks, are found on the tiny island of Lesbos.
The objective behind Spondi, says Potelle, was to introduce a French flair for elegance, refinement and authenticity into Greek dining culture.
“The owner [Apostolos Trastelis] has always had a real passion for food, and has done a lot of traveling,” he explains. “He thought Greece could maybe do better when it comes to fine dining. This was the beginning of Spondi.”
The restaurant is situated in the leafy Athens suburb of Pagkrati, in a handsome 19th-century townhouse with a stone courtyard and an interior notable for its stone arches and tasteful décor. One of the tree-lined neighborhood’s landmarks is the Panathenian Marble Stadium, which hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. And despite Greece’s well-publicized economic problems, the city squares are still filled with clinking glasses and laughter, and Spondi is still finding its tables snapped up.
The food, which includes fresh locally caught seasonal seafood, is heavily French-influenced.
Click here to read the full story which ran in the November issues of SeaFood Business >
