Athens!
my two favorite spots
Lunch
I’m in Athens for work for a few days and today I went into town to visit my two favorite spots that happen to be ≈100 m away from each other. The first is a restaurant within the Central Market that serves, among other things, the white tripe soup called patsas (πατσασ), a traditional dish typically eaten at 4AM to cure a hangover. Thousands wouldn’t, but I love it. It is composed of 90% collagen and coats your interiors with delicious glue. And that is indeed how it feels. It literally keeps body and soul together. I imagine once in the bloodstream it rushes to your joints and gives them a fresh coat of cartilage.
The market itself, like all large meat markets, is a scene of mayhem liable to turn most people into vegetarians. Not yet, says I, on my way to the restaurant. It is small, very busy and wonderfully efficient. They sit me alone at a small table, bring four slices of excellent bread and soon the patsas comes. It is the kind of dish that can only be made in large quantities or not at all. In the 20 minutes I spent there, I saw at least twenty portions taken to the tables.
The Bazaar
Next door to the central market is the Big Bazaar, quite the most extraordinary shop I’ve ever been in. The floors are askew, the stairs groan as you ascend, the place feels like it’s about to collapse and bury you. It is amazing the shop has survived one of the many (usually small) earthquakes that rock Athens from time to time. The three floors are so full of stuff I get nervous about the load on the structure of this lovely 19th century building.
I love the way they've made the hazard warning cones into an actual hazard on the stairs.
Every drinking culture seems to have a tripe dish, Menudo, Trippa alla Romana, Fleckchensuppe, and this Tripe dish sounds delicious.