Dopios
Chef Christoforos Peskias — highly awarded and a pioneer of modern Greek cuisine — has made the culture of meze his banner. Everything he creates at Dopios in Athens, which opened in 2021, and in the newer Dopios in Glyfada, which opened six months ago, is meze for sharing. Meze to bring people together.

By meze we mean not just sardines, cheese, and olives. Here, meze are creative delicacies with personality — that special touch you expect from a chef like Peskias. The Greek identity prevails both in flavor and in ingredients. Carefully selected products from Greece either enhance the dishes or can be ordered separately as part of a mini meze menu within the main menu.

We began with lesser-known Greek delicacies, ordering Kermes ham from the Greek farm Kermes in Lapitha, Elis. They raise Spanish black pigs and produce a dream ham that would delight Spaniards with its firm texture and concentrated meaty flavor. We also ordered the wonderful sheep-and-goat milk graviera cheese “Meriareno” from Kasos, by cheesemaker Ioannis Bonaparte — fragrant and buttery.

Next came a trilogy of spreads: tzatziki with avocado (by Athinagoras), smoked eggplant salad with Florina pepper dressing, and a light taramasalata. The tzatziki had its garlic kick, and the by Athinagoras refers to Chef Athinagoras Kostakos, who first imagined tzatziki with avocado. Peskias gives him full written credit. We also ordered the herring salad, and rightly so — it’s a signature recipe. Made with herring roe and olive oil, it is delicious and contains chunks of herring flesh that surprise you with their texture.

The stamnagathi (wild greens) with Japanese olive oil-lemon dressing were beautifully seasoned, combining the familiar lemon acidity with subtle umami notes from dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi), a hallmark of Japanese cuisine and a main ingredient in dashi broth.

The grilled squid with bourdetto sauce smelled of the sea. The flesh was tender, and the tentacles fried to crisp perfection. The sauce, served on the side, was red and intensely spicy with chili, following the traditional Corfiot recipe, enhancing the scent of the grilled seafood.

The amberjack tartare was excellent. The rich flesh mixed with tomato chunks, capers, and a bit of chive was dressed with a delightful sauce featuring a hint of molasses that makes it truly special.

When tasting the chickpea stew with manouri cream, we debated whether to classify this divine dish as a meze. Perfectly cooked chickpeas from Salamousa (a local variety from Panagia, Lemnos), paired with a delicate manouri cream garnish, made for a dish worth ordering as a main in its own right.

Another standout dish was the spicy sweetbreads from milk-fed lamb with a sauce of seven different peppers. The sweetbreads melted in the mouth, their gentle flavor amplified by the sauce — another dish we would gladly order as a main portion next time.

The meatballs remain unbeatable — juicy, aromatic, with a beautiful crust, perfectly fried, and a joy from the first bite. Archetypal Greek meatballs.

Moving to the “main dishes” as described in the menu, we chose milk-fed kid lamb in a casserole with mustard sauce. Generous enough for two people, it could be cut with a spoon and was delicious.

For dessert, at the Athens Dopios, we have tried the galatopita tres leches and the semifreddo of Macedonian halva with coconut caramel — desserts loved by those who want sweets truly sweet.

Here in Glyfada, we enjoyed a kataifi roll filled with soft Aegina pistachio cream, topped with coarsely chopped pistachios, and pseudobougatsa in crispy spheres. These spheres are pani puri from traditional Indian cuisine — small dough shells fried until puffed into crispy balls and filled with sweet cream. A delightful contrast of texture.

In short, Dopios is a modern mezedopolio that maintains the spirit of conviviality while offering creative meze by Peskias, many varieties of tsipouro and aged spirits, and in-house wine from Katogi Averoff. Integral to the pleasure is the excellent service led by Giorgos Anagnou.

Info:
Laodikis 31, Glyfada
210 8981747