EΘER: The Restaurant Ilioupoli Didn’t Ask For, but Clearly Needed

Within this steady, if not somewhat static, landscape, Giorgos Papadopoulos and the brothers Giannis and Konstantinos Karandreas, who grew up here, decided almost three years ago to open a Mediterranean restaurant with a seasonal menu and an open kitchen. Some might have called them bold, while others would have seen such a venture, in this part of town, as a lost bet from the outset.

We arrived at EΘER on a Friday evening, at around 7.30pm, just as the sun was beginning to dip, casting its orange light through the large windows and into the dining room. The courtyard outside looked wonderfully inviting, with blankets placed on the chairs just in case, a detail that immediately won me over as a genuine admirer of northern European culture. We chose to sit inside, almost opposite the open kitchen, where Rianna Balas and Zafeiris Roumeliotis, friends for many years, have formed Ether`s culinary duo since the restaurant’s very first day.

The service was well informed, polite and warm, without any affected manner, and the team knew exactly what lay behind each creation on a menu built around the philosophy of sharing. Panagiotis Kypriotis, who has curated the wine list, has created a small but impressive selection of around 60 labels in collaboration with the owners, centred on Greek wineries. Panagiotis suggested a short pairing based on what we had ordered, a choice that worked beautifully right through to the end of the evening.

The bread, which everyone at EΘER is rightly proud of, was the first thing to arrive at the table. Handmade with a sourdough starter the chefs have kept alive for ten years, it was followed by the taramosalata, made with white tarama, sumac and herb oil. Its texture was velvety, its flavour beautifully balanced, qualities that made me fully understand why this dish has been on the menu since the restaurant first opened.

Next came a salad of roasted cauliflower, sprouts, almond cream, onion, almond, cumin and avgolemono, which fully justified its status as one of their bestsellers. For me, the high point of the evening came very early on, when marinated anchovy arrived at the table with carrot and Florina pepper cream, garlic, pickled carrot, hot pepper flakes and aromatic parsley oil. With acidity and sweetness alternating in every bite, the gastronomic ambitions of the people behind the kitchen became immediately clear.

The prawn carpaccio with burnt lemon oil, spring onion and chive-parsley mayonnaise was delicate, with a buttery texture, though I felt it was calling out for a touch of fruity acidity that would have really lifted it. That lift, however, came in the dish of the day: grilled prawns served in a broth made from their shells, with a gentle ladolemono, onion and herbs. The team told me it is a dish they are thinking of adding to the new menu, but as far as I’m concerned, there’s no need to think twice. It’s a must.

The pasta with slow-cooked rooster from Mani was certainly one of the highlights of the dinner. The sauce created by the sitaka from Kasos, together with lemon, a pepper mix and grated mizithra that gradually melts through the dish, placed this version with hollow pasta among the best pasta dishes I have tried this year, without the slightest exaggeration.

The last savoury dish to arrive at the table was braised beef with hilopitakia pasta and Ladotyri cheese from Mytilene. It was a preparation with a comforting, home-cooked quality, ideal for a Sunday lunch, with the sweetness of the sauce and the crust of melted cheese settling harmoniously on the palate.

To finish, the chefs kindly offered us three desserts to try, two of which were off menu. The most opinionated of the three was a meringue with yoghurt cream, citrus spoon sweet and portokalopita ice cream. The next was a Constantinopolitan-style semolina halva with raisins, scented with rose and served with kaimaki ice cream, while the third was a take on armenoville, with semifreddo paired with chocolate ganache, caramelised nuts and crushed meringue.

For me, the one that worked best was the last, as the other two require a certain fondness for specific ingredients, which makes them a little more challenging when their role is to close a meal.