In recent years, renowned pastry chefs have brought traditional French pastry to the forefront and, depending on their own philosophy and aesthetics, have enriched it with more creative aspects, offering us desserts that ignite the senses and raise the sense of pleasure to new heights.
Now we are talking about textures, crispness, complexity, structure, aftertaste and other technical jargon that we didn’t talk about until recently. But the presence of an ever-increasing number of high-end patisseries shows that we now tend to look for something slightly different, something special, without renouncing traditional desserts however.
And so, we took a tour of 7 top Athenian patisseries and present you their philosophy, their features and their Valentine’s specials, when everyone is looking for a more elegant dessert.
Sweet Alchemy by Stelios Parliaros
Named after the homonymous Greek pastry television show, Sweet Alchemy offers a wide range of equally beautiful and mouth-watering desserts. From delicious and delicate Black forest cakes to all-time classic pastafloras (sweet tart commonly made in Greece, Italy, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Egypt), from all kinds of biscuits and shortbreads to dainty chocolate truffles, it is guaranteed that in Sweet Alchemy you will find everything you might be craving for. Especially for Valentine’s day you will find heart-shaped chocolates with raspberry or strawberry flavour, chocolate shells filled with praline and croquants, as well as heart-shaped, cheery-coloured cakes with soft cookies, chocolate and praline inside.
24 Herodotus street, Athens, +30 210 7240205
Ourse – ice cream and desserts
A sweet polar bear, Ourse (Ourse = polar bear, in French), has moved to cosmopolitan Glyfada for about two years now. The original goal of its creators (Stefanos Tsoukalas, Vicky Dalagianni and Spyros Pediaditakis, who is the pastry chef) was to offer delicious ice cream made with pure ingredients. A series of events, however, prompted them to add a limited number of non-refrigerated desserts to their menu. The great success of these desserts motivated them to go towards this direction with greater zeal. Their main objective has always been to offer the freshest desserts that are fit for the modern palate, thus marrying the a la carte restaurant philosophy with that of pastry.
French recipes and techniques are enriched with Greek quality ingredients – such as the classic St. Honoré with puff pastry, pastry cream and a liquid caramel core, or the famous Paris-Brest renamed Paris-Aegina, as hazelnut cream is replaced by pistachio cream.
The flavour of the classic lemon pie is further enhanced with the addition of ginger cream and citrus confit. Whatever you choose, Ourse will win you over with both the elegant appearance and superb taste of their desserts. For Valentine’s Day, they have prepared a box with a dessert assortment, including fresh brioche, handmade pistachio and chocolate praline, a box of red chocolates, wine and balloons.
39 Mystra street, Glyfada, +30 212 1067019
La Maison – Fine Pastry
In the off-broadway area of Kallithea we meet one of the new generation pastry chefs who first brought French techniques to Athens. Returning from London, where he lived and worked, Thanasis Tsagliotis opened La Maison in order to create quality desserts based on his years of experience abroad and his own philosophy. He is a great fan of balance – something that is reflected in his desserts – a plethora of textures that blend harmoniously and create a flavour-burst in every bite. The pastry chef’s goal is simple and at the same time very difficult, as it requires constant taste exploration the ability to stay attuned to the latest trends.
The selection of desserts varies from traditional Greek to French recipes and even gelato, all made with a different approach and with high quality ingredients. The special mascarpone cream with baileys and coffee and the dreamy lemon pie are among the best sellers. It’s also worth trying the pistachio choux, which is sure to fascinate you. To celebrate Valentine’s day, La Maison has prepared five desserts to suit every taste: vanilla mousse with caramel and pecans, mixed berries with Madagascar vanilla, bitter chocolate with yuzu, milk chocolate with passion fruit and praline with crème brûlée – all heart-shaped for this special day.
149 Dimosthenous street, Kallithea, +30 216 7006518
Bon Bon Fait Maison
In the summer of 2020, Kriton Poulis‘ beautiful boutique pastry shop opened in the centre of Athens. Bon Bon was known to many from the homonymous pastry shops in Kythera and Mykonos, as well as from the pastry Atelier in Piraeus. This time, however, a much larger audience was given the opportunity to get to know the pastry chef’s highly aesthetic and delicious pastries. With long work experience abroad and studies at top pastry schools, Kriton Poulis’ background is vast. Moreover, he has worked as an assistant to one of the greatest masters of modern French pastry, Pierre Hermé. All of his background and skills are reflected in the elaborate desserts he creates – visually striking, impeccably crafted with excellent technique and exquisite flavour combinations. The chef creates desserts based on classic French techniques and recipes, which he combines with high quality products, mainly of Greek origin. Thus, the fluffy Choux is filled with light pastry cream made from Chios mandarin, while the “From Aegina to Ceylon” dessert perfectly marries the aromatic Ceylonese cinnamon cream with the crunchiness of roasted Aegina pistachio on a base of dacquoise pistachio cake. For Valentine’s Day, he proposes “Forastero”, a heart-shaped cake with velvety chocolate mousse made from 66% cocoa and fresh wild raspberry juice, a brownie base, fresh raspberries, airy chocolate-strawberry whipped cream – all sprinkled with raspberry powder. In addition, for lovers of elegant macarons, he has created a special collection of rose-flavoured macarons.
30 Petraki street, Athens, +30 210 3318703
Dimitris Economides Athens
Located in Neo Psychiko, Dimitris Economides boutique pastry shop is the epitome of French pastry made in Athens and a must destination for fine pastry lovers. The work of pastritect (pastry + architect) Dimitris Economides is impressive. The imaginative and highly representative term describing Mr Economides’ work comes from the way the patissier creates his desserts as an architect. The term was coined by Nikos Paleologos, creator of this unique pastry shop. The latter features simple, clean and elegant lines and an elongated window adorned with seductive desserts.
Here you will find amazing éclair with Valrhona chocolate, airy mille-feuille, unique apple cassis, sablés diamant, soft cookies, croissants and ice cream. For Valentine’s Day the pastritect has prepared three heart-shaped desserts – the old-time classic St. Honoré with caramelized puff pastry, choux, pastry cream and vanilla ganache, a raspberry tart with shortbread, almond cream, raspberry crémeux, raspberry compote and fresh raspberries, and a chocolate tart with praline and gianduja.
340 Kifissias Avenue, Neo Psychiko, +30 210 6755000
Madame Fraise
At the beginning of last December, Madame Fraise opened her online door for the first time in the bustling Pagrati area and immediately won over the Athenian audience.
The city’s first ghost pastry shop has a modern, full of energy and enchanting smells workshop, where two talented pastry chefs, Eugenios Vardakastanis and Yannis Kikiras, create their sweet delights. Their main goal is to present a high end version of classic French pastry through their own perspective. They pay special attention to quality ingredients, selected after research, to multidimensional but perfectly balanced textures – crisp and fluid, fluffy and moist – and to the taste and structure of their sweets – all sweets are designed before they are created.
Thus, the classic almond cake is visually and tastefully improved with the addition of pear meringue, tonka beans and almond meringue that adds texture and crunch, while the mille-feuille is revamped featuring caramelized puff pastry, Madagascar vanilla chantilly and pecan praline on the inside. Particularly special is the very delicate “Rose Cheesecake” with rose mousse, raspberry jam and almond sablé – a combination of European and New York cheesecake. Noble Panettone – an exquisite panettone, made with fresh sourdough, available in two flavours (classic and marroncini) all year round – holds a special place in this highly creative project. For Valentine’s Day, they are launching a heart-shaped soft cookie, which will be permanently added to the menu. They are also offering “Chocolate Panettone” and two heart-shaped tarts – one hazelnut dacquoise with exotic fruit and milk chocolate and the other crispy sablé with wild cherry, vanilla cream and aromatic tea.
25 Hymettus street, Pagrati, +30 211 4186086
Antonis Selekos – Conceptual Desserts
Antonis Selekos – Conceptual Desserts
True to the principles of French pastry but also inspired by the more open-hearted and Mediterranean Spanish cuisine, Antonis Selekos wants the freshness and natural sweetness of the ingredients to play a leading role in his desserts. The pastry workshop of Antonis Selekos and Anna Dionysiadou operates on the principles of a fine dining restaurant, where desserts are made to order.
The first dessert he introduced us to, and the only one still on offer, is My panetoni, his own panettone – light, delicious and with beautiful hive-like bubbles inside. All four options – Signature, Total Hazelnut, Pistachio and Citrus – are characterised by the exuberant garnish on the outside and the airy texture on the inside. Aiming for year-round consumption, the company will play with seasonality and constantly propose new panetonne flavours.
On Valentine’s Day a pignatta – a large red bitter chocolate ball with a mixture of fresh raspberries, caramelized and non-caramelized hazelnuts, caramel, gianduja chocolate cream, popping and chocolate pearls – makes its appearance. In addition, the desserts prepared by the pastry chef especially for this day are based on the his favourite ingredients – such as citrus, mastic, chocolate (bitter and milk) and alcohol. Finally, all desserts are available in cake form or in a box of six identical individual desserts.
2 Erifylis street, Pagrati, +30 210 7248888
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