Some openings begin with stories about concepts, signature cocktails and Instagram-worthy interiors. Others start with a much simpler idea: bringing Athenians back to the heart of the city. Something tells me Exotica is going to do exactly that.
By Eleni Nikoloulia
As an Athenian, constantly juggling work, motherhood, deadlines and very little free time, my expectations have become surprisingly simple. Or perhaps surprisingly difficult, considering how hard it is to find a place that gets the basics right.
I want easy parking and somewhere close to home. I want my son to have enough space to run around while I can actually enjoy a drink with friends. I want to spend an afternoon around Syntagma without feeling trapped in concrete. I want meatballs, fried chicken or pancakes with a Spritz at lunch, but I also want to come back in the evening for a Negroni, a perfectly cooked tagliata or a plate of lobster pasta.
Too much to ask? Maybe. But I think I just found it.
“I wanted to create a place that would bring Athenians back to the city centre,” says Giorgos Gigis, one of Exotica’s owners.
Located inside the beautiful Zappeion Gardens, yet easily accessible from Amalias Avenue, Exotica isn’t trying to become the city’s next big hype. Instead, it’s aiming for something far more ambitious: becoming part of people’s everyday lives.
A place for your morning coffee, a relaxed lunch after work, an ice-cold beer, a Spritz, a cocktail or a glass of wine before heading home.
Its greatest advantage hardly needs an introduction.
There simply isn’t another all day bar in Athens with this much greenery, such an expansive garden and this level of accessibility in the very centre of the city. Park at the Zappeion parking lot, walk for two minutes and suddenly you’re surrounded by trees instead of traffic.
The food menu follows the same philosophy. Breakfast ranges from overnight oats, eggs and pancakes, while lunch and dinner move effortlessly through tacos, burgers, pizzas, salads, ceviche, fresh pasta and generous comfort dishes designed to make you come back again and again.
For us, though, the real story is behind the bar.
he cocktail programme, curated by Dinos Dimogerontakis, is refreshingly straightforward. Well-made drinks that fit every moment of the day, with a strong focus on highballs, aperitivo serves, low-ABV cocktails and timeless classics. It’s a drinks list built around balance rather than complexity, following one simple philosophy: I don’t want to impress you. I simply want you to come back.
Perhaps that’s exactly what defines Exotica.
“I want this to be the kind of place I create in my forties and still visit in my sixties. A place that eventually becomes a classic.”
And maybe that’s the best way to describe it.
A place for your first date or your thousandth. For coffee with the kids, lunch with colleagues, an after-work aperitivo or late-night cocktails with friends.
An all day destination that wasn’t designed to go viral. It was designed to stay.
Daily: 08:00-00:30
