The year 2025 was filled with new restaurant openings, adding fresh dots to the gastronomic map of Athens. Right at the year’s close, one more appeared — slightly more imposing than the rest, mainly because of its name. Thirio Fun Dining Bar, read the neon-lit sign on Navarchou Nikodimou Street 2, the night I visited, just a few metres before its intersection with Filellinon.

Thirio: A Fun Dining Bar

Minimalism and a philosophy that embraces elements of culinary theatre define Thirio — the art of transforming part of the food’s preparation and final presentation into a sensory performance, unfolding in front of an open kitchen where the chefs take centre stage.

A granite, L-shaped bar seating 8–10 people and an additional stone counter directly opposite form the stage on which Thomás Mátsas’ culinary brigade performs its score. Some may liken the space to an Asian food bar, others to a lively Spanish tapas bar — especially when the counter fills with plates.

Neither comparison quite fits.

From the very first moments at the “beast’s” bar, what enveloped me instead was the aura of a well-crafted, though new, contemporary Greek taverna. Yes — a taverna. A taverna always keeps its fires lit. In tavernas and old wine shops, the cook-owner once listened directly to guests’ wishes and served them personally. The same happens here.

In a taverna, patrons meet, converse, interact; they partake in a small miracle — the sharing of solitude. Strangers and acquaintances become one. So it is at Thirio. Its bar acts as a confessional, bringing together disparate groups of people separated by just a few centimetres.

The Food at Thirio

Thomas Matsas’ kitchen has a clearly defined personal character, enriched here with a more theatrical essence. All dishes are finished and presented in front of the guest, while the cooking team behind the bar cooks and serves simultaneously — both to bar seats and to those at the monastery-style granite table opposite.

We began with sourdough bread made with malt, accompanied by pickled caper leaves and rock samphire. Then followed grilled red mullet with a delicate oil-and-lemon dressing and dried flakes of soutzouki. Cauliflower bites came next, paired with an unusual cauliflower and white chocolate cream, finished with a well-crafted spicy pastourma oil, which would also have beautifully complemented the mullet, lending aromatic heat balanced by the honeyed sweetness of the dressing.

Then came the standout: a rooster in a cinnamon-style roll, reminiscent of a micro-bakery creation. Stuffed with minced rooster, dusted with spetsieriko (a Corfiot spice blend), layered with pastitsada sauce, and topped with a Metsovone cheese cream designed to mimic the frosted top of a cinnamon roll. This dish perfectly encapsulates Mátsas’ vision for Thirio’s culinary identity — both now and going forward.

Personally, I most enjoyed the tirokafteri made with geremezi (a traditional soft sheep’s milk cheese from Epirus), pecorino from Amfilochia, and genuine feta, blended with green chilli cream, basil oil, wild herbs — alongside a starkly simple raw dish of Greek shrimp with fleur de sel, pepper, and exceptional extra-virgin olive oil (Manaki variety).

Dessert inevitably followed. Too often, restaurants offer sweet finales that are pleasant but lack true dessert identity. While syrup-soaked treats like airy touloumbakia with honey, warm chocolate, cinnamon, clove and salep are tempting, they are not, strictly speaking, desserts.

The chocolate tart with pear and chestnut was a proper dessert — yet I opted for the third choice: aromatic rice pudding with ginger and bergamot, finished with burnt sugar on top, in the spirit of a crème brûlée.

Much will be written — and much already has — about Thomás Mátsas’ gastronomic creation and the team behind Strigla. Beyond any inventive headline or critique, what ultimately remains are these warm, intimate square metres, where human connection merges with culinary craft and the enduring value of hospitality.

Info
Navarchou Nikodimou 2, Syntagma
Tel. +30 211 008 8648