It’s an oxymoron, and an improbable fact, but no matter what happens the Athens bar scene is on a constant rise. An economic crisis didn’t prevent it, and a pandemic couldn’t stop it either, even with some of Europe’s toughest restrictions threatening the survival of many establishments.
In fact, while many Greeks during the financial crisis replaced restaurant visits with home cooking, and manufactured cigarettes with roll-your-own, bartenders also saw them switch their rum and cokes for signature cocktails and premium spirits. And now, in the aftermath of two lockdowns that kept customers from visiting bars for months, the latest World’s 50 Best Bars list, which was announced this week, for the first time ranks two of the city’s most popular watering holes in the top 15.
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The bars in question are not newcomers on the list. The Clumsies, a bar which award-winning bartenders and co-owners Vasilis Kyritsis and Nikos Bakoulis have managed to turn into a meeting point for the international bartending community, first appeared on it at number 22 in 2015, before leapfrogging into the top ten as number 9 in 2016. Last year, they were number 3, and this year, they’re ranked number 4. Their response to the last two years’ struggles is a new menu titled F<3lings which, as the 50 Best Bars’ nomination explains, “is designed as a counterpoint to the pandemic.” Meanwhile some of their most popular concoctions are now available bottled at many local stores and via several online outlets.
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The other Greek bar on the list, which was the first Greek bar to be featured on it, as number 48 in 2013, took a huge step this year, from 31st- to 14th place. A cocktail bar with special focus on rum, Baba au Rum, managed by Thanos Prunarus, is often mentioned as the bar that ignited the flame that would make fine drinking completely explode in Greece. While Athenians are proud of The Clumsies, and visit there often, Baba has a relaxed bar-on-the-corner feel. Locals are at home here, and know the discreetly evolving menu by heart. This fall, a sister establishment opened across the street: a café-patisserie called In Love Again, serving pastries inspired by cocktails – the most delicious one, of course, being the rum baba.
Another oxymoron, Athens hosting one of the world’s most competitive bar scenes may seem to industry professionals like old news. However, it’s showing no signs of stagnating. The Athens Bar Show, renowned now as one of the best spirits conventions around, is just one more example of the fertile environment where new and old bars still have plenty of room to grow. The innovation and ambition of its workforce is quickly turning Athens into one of the world’s top drinking destinations.
