Places in Athens

Metaxourgio courtyard restaurant, Gikas Xenakis' one-Michelin contemporary tasting menu.

Kifissia izakaya, yakitori counter, charcoal-grilled, one Michelin star.

Pangrati five-chef collective, contemporary-Greek, Bib Gourmand, the city's most-booked Tuesday.

Working-class cellar since 1887, Athens Central Market lunch room, no signs, two doors, the city's most stubbornly itself room.

Kifissia French-Greek tasting room, Hervé Pronzato's one-Michelin star.

Vouliagmeni cliff-edge fish room, Athens-Riviera summer lunch, the rocky-cove view.

Pangrati taverna since 1926, barrel retsina, paper-tablecloth classics, the institution.

Upper-Plaka taverna since 1927, courtyard, charcoal grill, the working-Athenian institution above the tourist belt.

Plaka souvlaki stall since 1946, six stools, a charcoal grill, the canonical pita.

Pangrati mezedopoleio, the city's most-booked Bib Gourmand small-plates room.

Athens' canonical two-Michelin-star room, Pangrati side street, restored neoclassical, classical-French foundation.

Psyrri delicatessen-restaurant, the Smyrna refugee canon, the cuisine cousin Istanbul lost in 1922.

Working-class pork-chop room since 1955, Evripidou Street, one dish, the institution.

Praxitelous all-day cocktail bar, top-50-bar canon, Athens' canonical drinks address.

Lefteris Lazarou's Piraeus marina seafood room, one Michelin star, the canonical Athens-Riviera fish dinner.