Coviar
It was two years to the day that I visited Coviar in Kolonaki in Athens.
I was having a coffee in Taresso and was told of Coviar a new coffee shop not far away that I must visit.
About five minutes walk a little set back and would have missed if not looking for.
Externally the look of a five-star hotel.
And that was only the exterior, inside amazing, a long bar of white marble from Tinos, other surfaces green marble from a different island. On the long bar every coffee device could think of, V60, Japanese syphon, Aeropress.
Behind the bar, an eye catching custom designed espresso machine.
A separate bar for alcoholic drinks.
A Gesian coffee roaster with an adjacent environmentally controlled room for storing green beans.
A mezzanine floor with on display trophies won by world champion barista Christos Loukakis.
And the coffee, excellent.
In England, rare to see Aeropress, in Athens quite common, and not only for coffee, also for tea.
In Coviar was being used for cold dripped coffee.
I looked forward to visiting the following year, only to find Coviar closed, had closed after six months, rumoured to have cost half million euros to create.
The official explanation was closed for renovation, which was clearly nonsense as was sitting derelict. Word on the street, greed of the investors looking for a fast return.
A very sad loss for Athens coffee scene as Coviar was an excellent coffee shop that set very high standards.
