Anton Pinsky's Greek Restaurant “Athina” Has Opened on Bolshaya Bronnaya

Sitting on the sun-bleached streets of Athens, eating octopus with fennel and fried artichokes, drinking cold, resin-tinged retsina. Someday, when there's time and the right flight. Or right now. The Olympic trio — Anton Pinsky, Vitaly Istomin, and Artem Losev — presents a new project: Greek restaurant "Athina" on Bolshaya Bronnaya. 

Instead of the souvenir-shop blue-and-white palette of coastal tavernas — a modern restaurant that looks like a fashionable Mediterranean villa. Instead of stereotypical wreaths and plate-smashing — stylish custom furniture and artisan stained glass and bas-reliefs confidently woven into the interior. Greek not just in style but in spirit, "Athina" carries its name for good reason: in honor of the goddess as a symbol of preserving tradition, and in honor of the capital as the epicenter of the country's current life.
The brightest, sunniest of AVA Team's recent restaurants has brought a vibe new to Patriki — light and fresh, warm and natural. The bleached linen and cotton of the lampshades, tablecloths, and upholstery evokes sun-dried fabric, the terracotta tile resembles tiled roofs, and the light-colored stone is a dead ringer for the Aegean coast. The architects at bureau Static Aesthetic set a large communal table at the entrance to "Athina," so large groups can gather around it, tucked rounded sofas into the window niches for those who value coziness, and built a low, comfortable bar with a contact counter at the far end of the room. Above the bar is an antique bas-relief, as if lifted straight off the walls of the Parthenon, by Vasily Selivanov — creator of the famous fire maidens hovering under "Phantom's" ceiling. Opposite, resembling yet another colorful window, is a stained-glass piece by artist Vladimir Mikhailov.

The restaurant's team joins in the game, drawing their own new Greece. Every funny little fish on the blue-rimmed plates is from their own sketches. The blue-and-white tile patterns for the oven in the open kitchen were commissioned by them. Even the idea of making glasses out of mother-of-pearl shells was Artem Losev's own. 

Having cycled all across Athens with Istomin, they can pick the right ingredients with their eyes closed: only green, pit-in olives, with moderate saltiness and ideal firmness; capers with no lemon, only natural acidity and spice; olive oil only Greek, selected from among forty other varieties. Brynza is specially dried out so it turns from creamy to aged and crumbles well. Every two weeks, mullet bottarga is brought in from Dubai — slightly under-cured and, because of that, softer and more fragrant, for adding to the tomato salad and to the orzo with sea bass. For the first time, an AVA Team menu has no sea urchin, oysters, scallops, avocado, parmesan, or truffle. No bold flavors or Asian sauces either, but plenty of oregano and dill, whose aroma carries the elusive mood of Greece.

Chef Ramanos Iliani, Greek on his mother's side, adds his own contribution to "Athina's" simple, straightforward, almost homestyle menu — the dolma, moussaka, loukoumades, and baklava here follow his family recipes. And Istomin and Losev hide in the dishes exactly what will keep bringing guests back again and again. In the pea-and-chickpea hummus — sunflower-seed tahini; in the sea bass crudo — a tomato sauce built on fish teshi; in the country-style fish soup — a bottarga-based sauté, cinnamon, and anise. 

A recipe for potato with vongole, spotted in Athens, sits alongside a cauliflower salad with pomegranate and honey sauce done very much in Patriki fashion, and homemade pasta with feta and a piri kara pepper ragout. And a whole roasted flounder with tomatoes and olives is every bit as worthy of its own photo shoot as the famous AVA Team-style desserts, which at "Athina" take the form of a cheesecake shaped like crab sticks, and a feta mousse perched atop a pedestal of Greek salad vegetables.

Greek ingredients also form the foundation of Liza Chuprova's bar menu. Fig, peach, eucalyptus, apricot, Metaxa, sambuca, homemade anise liqueur — new combinations are born from this vivid palette of new flavors. The signature "Athina," served in a shell, is a vodka sour with pear and white peach. "Mykonos" is an authentic twist on the Old Fashioned — bourbon with plum distillate and grapefruit. The Greek take on a spritz is the fragrant "Aurora," with anise and apple liqueur. And there are colorful digestifs too: "Olympia" on vodka with amaro, coffee, and clove, and "Antonopoulos" on bourbon with ginger and popcorn. Non-alcoholic drinks, hot drinks, lemonades — each chapter has its own discoveries. You can try a tea reminiscent of a Bellini, or refresh yourself with aloe and eucalyptus.

 And head sommelier Ekaterina Kudryavtseva's wine list is another starting point for a journey. The Champagne chapter has nearly two dozen bottles, not counting rosé and sparkling. Another dozen wines sit in the Small Bottles section — for when you want just a little with lunch and aren't in the mood to share. Naturally, there's plenty of Greek and Burgundian — the perfect Patriki balance of authenticity and polish. Bold orange wines and a curious excursion through Italian wines made from indigenous grape varieties. It's no accident that Athena is also the goddess of wisdom — this will be interesting.