Dolmades in Thessaloniki Tables While Genteel Waiters Ply Them with a Parade of Little Dishes
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C8034 M0 Y20EUROPE K0 Europe THESSALONIKI GREECE 35 The Best Places to Eat Dolmades Aristotelous moderate THESSALONIKI This classic ouzeri is a throwback to another era. C0 M40 Y70 K0 Middle East & Africa Situated in a plant-fi lled arcade decorated with THESSALONIKI GREECE chequerboard tiles and retro posters of Greece, it off ers calm respite from the hustle of Aristotelous Square. Writers and artists, lawyers and lovers squeeze around the marble-topped Dolmades in Thessaloniki tables while genteel waiters ply them with a parade of little dishes. You must, of course, try C40 M60 Y20 K0 Asia & Australisia the dolmades. But it’s also a good place to dip As a rule, Greek food is for purists and traditionalists, but Thessaloniki, the capital of Macedonia, into the vast repertoire of meze dishes – red peppers stuff ed with spicy feta, prawns sautéed is an exhilarating exception to the rule. Bridging East and West, Greece’s second city has adapted Above The streets of Thessaloniki are lined with high-quality restaurants and tempting ouzeri with garlic and tomato, squid oozing cheese to its cosmopolitan population over the centuries to develop a fusion of Middle Eastern and Balkan sauce and lightly battered courgettes. With live Left Thessaloniki, also known as Salonica, sits Greek music most evenings, the experience is as cuisine. Its signature dishes – such as dolmades (stuffed vine leaves) – are full of surprises. around a spacious harbour built by the Romans C60 M10 Y50 K0 North America much about the atmosphere as the food. Tourists have discovered its charms, so you Lying on the ancient trade route linking encompasses most of modern-day Turkey). Convivial often have to queue for a table and prices are a the Adriatic with Istanbul, meals consist of a succession of small dishes designed little steep. Yet the appeal of this former Turkish coff eehouse, which miraculously survived the Thessaloniki has long been a to be shared, usually accompanied by a glass of ouzo or great fi re that ravaged Thessaloniki in 1917, is confl uence of cultures. Echoes of tsipouro, spirits distilled from the vine. Grape leaves are C30 M90 Y50 K0 South America as enduring as ever. its former occupants crop up all also used to make one of the city’s most popular meze Aristotelous 8, Thessaloniki; open 10am–2am over the city, in Roman ruins, Ottoman baths, dish, dolmades, whose name reveals its origin: dolma is Mon–Sat, 11am–6pm Sun; +30 2310 233195 crumbling synagogues and Byzantine chapels. The the Turkish word for “stuff ed”. These glossy little city’s eclectic cuisine also bears the hallmarks of all parcels are also known as yaprakia, from the Turkish Also in Thessaloniki its past residents. But the most pervasive fl avours are yaprak, or leaf. The cooks of Thessaloniki have access to Aglaia’s Kitchen (inexpensive; +30 2310 those left by the Ottoman Empire, whose rule of tender vine leaves from the fertile mountains of 280044) is a tiny restaurant with a menu Macedonia extended to 1913, almost a century after Macedonia, the source of northern Greece’s robust red straight out of Asia Minor, situated in the heart the rest of Greece was liberated. wines. The leaves are picked in late spring, blanched of the fl ower market. Dishes of the day depend on what Aglaia fi nds in nearby Modiano market, Centuries of Ottoman occupation are most obvious and preserved in brine, then rolled by hand. but if you’re lucky the day’s menu will include today in the ramshackle Turkish quarter of Kastra, Eating a dolma is like opening a gift – you never her legendary sarmadakia, smothered in which is a 19th-century time warp. Minarets poke out quite know what’s inside until the fi rst bite. Tightly avgolemono. The sophisticated bistro B among apartment blocks, and former hammams wrapped into dainty bundles, they might be fi lled with (moderate; www.brestaurant.gr) is also (Turkish baths) are now cultural centres, cinemas, or minced lamb, currants and pine nuts, spiced with known as Vyzantino, after its location in the fl ower stalls. Even the city’s most prominent landmark, cloves, cumin or cinnamon, speckled with mint, dill or Byzantine Museum. It serves tasty dolmades the White Tower (which isn’t white at all) was built by parsley, or bursting at the seams with sardines, fennel with minted yoghurt, and you can enjoy a the Ottomans as a fortress, before becoming a and onions. Yalantzi (Turkish for “fake”) are meatless tour of the museum’s frescoes, mosaics and icons as a marvellous digestif. notorious prison. The tower is an evocative monument dolma; sarmadakia uses pickled cabbage leaves to the city’s diversity, and has a fascinating virtual tour stuff ed with minced lamb and smothered in Also in Greece of its culinary history on the top fl oor. avgolemono, a tangy egg and lemon sauce that is Above Dolmades are cigar-shaped, stuff ed vine The far-fl ung isle of Kasos in the Dodecanese is Thessaloniki’s thriving meze culture owes much almost as tricky to perfect as mayonnaise. The leaves bursting with fl avour; a subtle scent of renowned for its tiny dolmades (or dourmaes, lemon tantalizes the tastebuds to the infl uence of Asia Minor (the area that now variations are endless, and delicious. as they are called in the local dialect). The best place to try them is Emborios (inexpensive; The Modiano Market www.emborios.com), a lively, family-run taverna, which serves moreish mezedes A Day in Thessaloniki Essentials The glass-domed Modiano, built in 1922, is accompanied by fantastically fresh fi sh and Layers of history intersect in Thessaloniki, Greece’s most alluring city. With its high GETTING THERE Thessaloniki’s best and biggest food improvised singalongs to a lyre and lute. density of museums, waterfront bars, restaurants and hip hotels, Thessaloniki also Fly to Macedonia International Airport, then market. It’s a celebration of the city’s culinary diversity: stalls are heaped with has a vibrant modern identity. take Bus 78 into town. Trains from Thessaloniki Around the World Station run to cities throughout Europe. glistening olives, sticky pastries, delicate MORNING Visit the Archaeological Museum: a thrilling modernist building with an rosebuds, pickled peppers, fragrant mounds Melbourne, Australia, has the largest Greek WHERE TO STAY extraordinary collection of artifacts. Then wander along the boardwalk to the of saff ron and briny buckets of vine leaves. community outside Greece, so it’s not surprising The Met (inexpensive) is a glossy newcomer Photography and Cinema museums, formerly shipping warehouses. Head to There are several places to sample mezedes that it has several excellent Greek restaurants. with destination Asian restaurant, spa and Art 02 in the Teloglion Foundation of Art, a museum in a hilltop park with a great café. inside the market, which echoes day and Philhellene (moderate; www.philhellene.com. rooftop pool. www.themethotel.gr night with the banter of bargain hunters and au) is like eating at home with the garrulous AFTERNOON Get lost in the twisting alleys of Ano Poli, the old Turkish Quarter Excelsior (moderate) is a restored 1920s bon viveurs. Gypsy minstrels weave among ringed by Byzantine walls. Old-time ouzeri (meze bars) with overgrown courtyards are property with a fun bistro. www.excelsiorhotel.gr Rerakis family, whose beef and cumin dolmades tightly packed tables, where punters tuck Daios (expensive) off ers modern minimalism are wrapped in silverbeet leaves grown in their tucked among the timber-framed houses. Meals here are often accompanied by into tiny plates of grilled sardines or smoky on the waterfront. www.daioshotels.com own garden. Don’t miss their wonderful stuff ed spontaneous renditions of rembetika – the Greek blues. aubergine puree. The beauty of these shared courgette fl owers, only featured when in season. EVENING The party gets started around midnight; follow the crowds outside the bars TOURIST INFORMATION feasts is their spontaneity – and the fact 136 Tsimiski Street; www.saloniki.org on Valaoritou Street and around the splendid Malakopi arcade. that they can go on indefi nitely..