There are some restaurants that from the moment you walk in you know you’re going to have a good time. One such case is Monzù, which recently passed into the hands of the skilled restaurateur Dimitris Ballian, chef Giannis Liokas and the active bartender Spyros Kerkyras.

The well-known and beloved space has previously hosted the restaurants Gefesis with the name of Origin, Shy Horse and Parla. It is located next to Cava Vinifera, in the neoclassical mansion of the century before last that was built as a country pavilion for the royal family, who used it to rest their carriages on the way to Tatoi. As Monzù, today, it utilizes the legacy of the beloved Nolita (an Italian project that marked the collaboration of Balian-Liokas) and has the coordinates that make it an elegant Italian, which seems to be here to stay.

The night we visited with my connoisseur friend Vicky V., in early October, the Kifissia breeze brought a pleasant freshness, similar to that brought to Italian cuisine by the “Monzù”, (it comes from the French “Monsieur”) and refers to the Italian chefs, who were trained in France during the 18th & 19th centuries, worked for the aristocracy of Southern Italy and defined the Italian traditional taste.

Passing by the interesting trivia information of the evening, I notice the oversized futuristic garden lights that resemble celestial bodies and the groups that are starting to fill the tables set with the appropriate distances. A charming ensemble, capable of calming any unwanted thoughts dictated by the strange times we live in and creating pleasant conversations where the return to Athens, new restaurants, summer flirtations, Netflix series, new faces and reality shows on television, the hilarious jokes of friends in the wider circle and plans for long trips that have been put on hold and others that seem more likely.

When the cocktail list is signed by Spyros Kerkyras – although I often avoid them due to calories – you succumb without many regrets. He suggested a Garibaldi, which is nothing more than the classic Campari with orange in a fizzy version with lemon cordial and orange soda. The cocktail in question is named after Garibaldi, the national hero of Italy, who in the late 19th century was associated with the struggles for the unification of Italy. A cocktail where the rich Italian north (Campari) coexists with the poor south (orange). For Vicky, he made an aromatic Gin Spritz with handmade wildflower gin, which is matured with flowers and fruits, sparkling wine and soda.

Accordingly, the executive chef, Yiannis Liokas, without being limited by geographical and gastronomic boundaries, gives his own modern interpretation to classic Italian and other dishes, while the pizza maitre Nikos Sotiropoulos signs five pizzas with handmade, crispy and fluffy, Neapolitan sourdough dough. We tried an excellent funghi with seasonal mushrooms, stracciatella, parmesan and black truffle.

From the appetizers we preferred the Bresaola-style tuna with a flavor of spices, stracciatella cheese, fig, parsley pesto and aged balsamic. I singled out the roasted celeriac with milk-fed veal ragout and aged parmesan sauce, for the deep flavor balanced by the vegetable. We closed with linguine gamberi in a saffron shrimp broth and shrimp tartare, in an unconventionally tasty combination.

To finish, the tiramisu with pistachio, mascarpone cream and espresso ice cream offers a fascinating finale, with the ever-so-sweet, yet rich in the mouth, cream achieving the long-desired simplicity that I personally prefer in desserts. The Espresso Martini, next to it, proved to be the ideal after-dinner cocktail.

As we move into Winter, in addition to the warm interior of the former residence, which will operate at a capacity compatible with the restrictions of the pandemic, on the terrace, but also in the center of the garden, an atrium with awnings and stoves is being designed to protect from the cold, while simultaneously renewing the air.

Info: 317B Kifissias Ave., Kifissia, tel. 210 6200495