A new venue with an emphasis on Greek wine, a Michelin-starred chef, Greek flavours with Cretan inspiration, specialty coffee and great music is preparing for its premiere in the centre of Thessaloniki.
In the early afternoon, at the beginning of the pedestrian street of Iktinou, diagonally opposite the gourmet coffee shop Valenio and almost next to the 41st Primary School of Thessaloniki, there is a lot of activity. A lot of strollers come and go with the imposing dome of the church of Aghia Sophia in the background. Some are carrying metal chairs and tables, some are unloading machinery for the kitchen, and most are carrying boxes of wine, lots of wine. Passers-by, on this sunny afternoon with the cool breeze creating a Cycladic illusion, stand, observe, photograph and comment. A
The final touches are being made for the opening of Tiffany’s x 1905, Thessaloniki’s new wine and gastronomic destination – opening next Thursday.
And although it’s located on the site of one of the city’s most famous restaurants, Tiffany’s, which after four decades finally closed in 2013 to be succeeded by various eateries, its philosophy bears no resemblance to the past. T This is not a revival, but the creation of an entirely new project that evokes a modern Parisian bistro.” We couldn’t keep the name, it would be disrespectful to this gastronomic landmark of the city. Therefore, in collaboration with graphic designer Thanasis Georgiou (designmono), we freshened up the style and combined it with the 1905 date. One is the year of the Therissos Revolution, and the other is the name of the last restaurant we opened in London in October 2022, which is inspired by Cretan cuisine,” explains Nikos Nifoudis, restaurateur and main shareholder of the new venture.
Having already owned two restaurants in Thessaloniki, AnfanGate in Teloglion and Tzaki Ho in Hortiatis, and three more in London – one of them, The Life Goddess, celebrates its 12th birthday this year – I ask him why he decided to invest in the city centre, which at first glance seems to be unable to afford another restaurant. “I was very interested in creating a downtown wine space based on Greek cuisine, where both locals and tourists can sample all the local varieties and enjoy the flavors of our country. I believe that food outlets have a cultural dimension and at the same time act as neighborhood landmarks. We, in Iktinou, in a pedestrian street that is constantly evolving, aspire to create a gastronomic hub where delicious wine, Greek cuisine, quality coffee and great music meet,” he says.
One of the promising collaborations at Tiffany’s x 1905, which will be open daily from eight in the morning until midnight and then some, is with neighbouring Valenio. The latter, as a coffee shop, does not serve coffee on tables but only by hand. “We give people the opportunity to enjoy their specialty coffee with a delicious brunch, even with their lunch or dinner. In addition to our blend, NORTH coffee, we also provide an exceptional decaf, where the decaffeination process has been carried out without chemical solvents. The result is a full-bodied, aromatic coffee that retains all the flavour characteristics of the special varieties we have selected from Colombia,” explains Valantis Lambrianidis, owner of Valenio, who informs me that there will be regular punchy coffee offerings of unique origin.
Talking with Valantis in front of the blue and white facade of the new restaurant and observing next to us the oenologist Anestis Haitidis, in charge of the cellar, smiling and talking to the winemakers from Macedonia who gathered at the new restaurant for the photo shoot of Gastronomo, as wine is a very basic ingredient in this project, I was thinking how hopeful, optimistic and at the same time liberating it is when people work together. “I appreciate that Thessaloniki needs the most friction with bottled, not widely known wine.
Shops like Tiffany’s x 1905, which focus on fine wine, while also selecting smaller producers, help the consumer public to broaden their taste buds and get to know the Greek terroir better,” notes Chloe Hadjivariti, of the eponymous estate from Goumenissa. Next to her, Pericles Tatsis and Maria Tatsis, Dimitris Paralidis (Moschopolis Winery), Viki and Lena Aslani, and Stavroula Kioutsouki (Kamara Winery) were preparing to be photographed in front of the large painting “Holy Wine”, one of the many paintings on wine and food that adorn the walls on the ground and upper floors. And all these worthy protagonists of the Greek land were next to each other, in a festive atmosphere, just before the grand premiere of this shop that aspires to capture in its list many aspects of the Greek vineyard. In fact, according to Nikos, starting in the summer, daily wine tastings will be organized for visitors and residents of the city.
Taking a look at the catalogue, I find varieties that I am unaware of, I see great surprises in a glass, such as the exhausted “Kaifas” by Apostolos Thimiopoulos offered at the attractive price of 7.5 euros (75ml), and a large selection of wineries from all over Greece and abroad. For starters, we have about 60 selections by the glass and close to 400 labels by the bottle. Bottle list is divided alphabetically, so almost every letter has a variety of wine. We are working on highlighting unknown Greek varieties and not so widespread foreign varieties, such as Kosmas from Anafi and Potamisi from Naxos, and Blaufränkisch from Austria, for example,” says an enthusiastic Anestis, who highlights the existence of three sommeliers.
Margarita Touloumtzi, Dimitris Tsaramboulidis and Homer Angelidis are here to de-emphasize the wine from the many-many. We want the selection of the label to be a simple process without overloading people with information they don’t want, but when they are looking for it, we want to be able to inform them appropriately”, Anestis explains, while Nikos adds that “there are no limits in wine, what we are primarily interested in is their taste. Nevertheless, we emphasize native yeasts and mild intervention wines, we must turn to wild yeasts, this is the future”. Notably, not all tables will be for food, there will always be reserved inside and outside seating for those who want to try a glass of wine.
Crete with a Michelin star in terms of the food menu, there will actually be two zones, one for breakfast/brunch and another for lunch/dinner. The menu is curated by chef Asimakis Haniotis, who is the youngest chef in London to win a Michelin star at Pied á Terre restaurant. The two have been toying with the collaboration, as Asimakis was one of the first customers in 2012 at the delicatessen restaurant The Life Goddess, but the dessert “bonded” last year at 1905. The result is a fresh Greek menu with clear Cretan origins, which -seems to- harmoniously combine meat in various forms with cooked appetizers and some interesting seafood. Among the dishes are three classics of the old restaurant, but expressed in a modern way: the potatoes compline, the stuffed burger and the filet mignon.
I didn’t try the menu, as the kitchen was coming into its final stages, but its philosophy seems to be based on three principles. First, it brings to the fore more “popular” dishes which it serves upgraded in a modern setting, such as the kokoretsi, kontosuvli and chicken on a spit. Secondly, the majority of the dishes are for the “middle” of the table, giving people the opportunity to try different flavours. For example, the gammopilafo is offered on a platter where drained yoghurt, braised lamb along with chicken and rice are displayed in different utensils. In addition, it uses ingredients that are not used so much in Thessaloniki, such as wild agnaracia from Tinos and ascolibri.
From then on, to a certain extent, the same principles are also served in the breakfast menu, where pies and eggs play a leading role: chaniotiko bureki, marathopita and handmade calzone with soutzouki in the wood-fired oven on the one hand, saxouka, staka with eggs and poached eggs with leek jam on the other. he choices are complemented by natural lemonades and juices, some smoothies, such as banana with almond milk, cucumber and forest fruits, and of course Valantis’ coffees. ‘Inclusive menu,’ I comment to Niko, laughing to ‘tease’ him. He takes the pass immediately. The biggest challenge for us is to create a space that literally fits everyone. a It’s a great pleasure at Tiffany’s x 1905 to have a young couple with a rock aesthetic sitting next to a group of older people who have come to enjoy their wine.”
Jazz and Maraveyas the philosophy of the new space, but also for the decoration for which he collaborated with the decorator Nikos Letsas – they chose to move in the dichromatic blue and white – he explains that he was inspired by the Parisian neo-bistros. The wine will be the connecting link”, he concludes, with the background of DJ Leonidas Kotelis, responsible for the music, choosing between foreign jazz, Greek covers and Maraveias. We will have a DJ every day and in the future we plan to turn the basement into a stage that will host artistic events, giving space for expression, especially to young artists”, Nikos says just before I leave.
Walking along Iktinou, observing the midday sun creating contrasts of shadow and light on the surfaces of the buildings, I thought for a moment that the pedestrian street of Iktinou, with its minimal greenery and residents walking unmolested by cars and motorbikes, is a crack of aesthetics in the noisy concrete city, an oasis of humanity. Its beginning is this new shop, which aspires to become a destination. May it succeed.
