Sale
& pepe is the Italian restaurant of sommelier Ivan Ottaviani at the area of
kolonaki in the center of Athens.
Located by the hills of Lycabetus in a very narrow alley this is certainly a
restaurant that you need to search a lot to find it. My first good impression
was the beautiful decoration which travels you to south tirol in the borders of
Italy and Austria. Wooden
walls, chairs and tables with a mix of style between a typical North Italian trattoria
and Austrian stuba. Second good impression was the wine list, the biggest I
have ever seen! The list had at least 100 pages and it was mainly focused in
the old world with prices starting from 25 Euros a bottle and ending to chateau
petrus… The Greek vineyard was represented by all regions and there were also
options from older vintages. Thumps up also for the amazing wine glasses as
they are an important part when you want be a considered a serious wine
restaurant. The only reason not to give
a 10 of out 10 in this wine list is the prices which I believe should be
reconsidered. I decided to go with an Italian wine as I strongly believe in the
regional match of wine and food. The
wine was a 2009 Fattoria Zerbina Ceregio Sagniovese and It was love at first
smell! Color was ruby red while the nose was full of wild berry. The tannins
were pleasingly dry, as much as I like them to be, despite the young age of the
wine and finish was long.
Mr
Ottaviani kindly offered us some Pumpkin gnocchi while we waited for the first
course which was a fennel soufflé that I enjoyed very much. My main course was an Arrosto made of Chianina
beef. Chianina is an Italian breed of cattle and it is used for the famous
bisteca alla fiorentina. The meat was cut and grilled in very thick slices but it
was a bit more cooked then I wanted it. The chocolate fondant with orange
sorbet was the prefect way to end this dinner.
What I
should mention in the first place is that we used a coupon for 50% discount on
the dishes which in the end brought a very reasonable amount of the money to
pay. The standard menu prices though come from another period of Greece before
crisis. I can accept such prices for a restaurant that has something new to
offer but sale & pepe is a typical north |Italian trattoria and that’s how
they should charge the customers. Mr Ottaviani who is a real gentleman should
think twice about the prices if he wants to have more then 3 tables on a
Saturday night.
Cuisine: 6/10
Wine List: 9/10
Service: 9/10
Atmosphere: 10/10
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