Kafeneios back after the summer lull
Athenians can put up with a lot, but not their local cafe closing during the August break
You could cut the tension with a knife on Friday morning at the Panellinion, located on the corner of Solonos and Mavromichali in the downtown Athens district of Exarchia: The chessboards were out at the kafeneio, with pawns, rooks and castles positioned for battle. No one came to get the battle started though, so owner Yiannis Katsionis switched on the TV to watch the news instead. He looked like he was waiting for August to be over and the city to get back to life rather than for his first customers after the holiday hiatus.
“We never used to close in August because we had a steady stream of customers. There was no internet to keep people indoors at their consoles. Now we close for 10 days or so because there isn’t enough business to stay open for,” he tells Kathimerini.
With 35 years in the business, Katsionis is in the ideal position to analyze consumer behavior. “Our customers used to come for a game of chess in August too, but then that crowd dwindled because of age and was replaced by a younger crowd, which, however, goes on holiday in August,” he says.
Nevertheless, many of his customers complained when he put up the notice with the dates he’d be closing: “How can you leave us in the lurch like that?” they said. “It’s just for a few days, guys, don’t worry,” he answered.
“You’ve got to love your customers; we’re a family in here. That’s why I’m always going around with a bottle of cold water, filling people’s glasses in this heat, or keeping their bags safe in the back,” Katsionis tells Kathimerini, as the first few customers start to arrive.
Like the passionate chess players who complain when Panellinion closes for a few days, Athenians are addicted to their local kafeneio. When Filion on Skoufa Street shuts its doors – this year it was from August 8 to 18 – many residents of Kolonaki start counting down the days until it opens again. City dwellers love the empty streets, but they can’t live without their kafeneio, it seems.
‘Greeks will come in for a bite to eat, a drink or a coffee and then leave. Tourists want to know all about the kafeneio and the city too’
Having worked as a waiter at Filion for a whopping 31 years, Iraklis Thanos is an institution; he is also accustomed to the dismay of customers at the news that the cafe will be closing. “We always get complaints because quite a lot of people don’t leave in August. We explain that it’s also a time when we can get important work done. This year we had the floors redone, for example,” he says.
Before it closed, however, Filion had a steady stream of customers, usually tourists filling in the seats at the iconic cafe left empty by the regulars going off to their summer homes for a few days. Thanos prefers his regulars. “You know them; you know their ways,” he says. “I love being around people; that’s why I chose this job. I actually trained as an electrician.”
We see more crowds of people as we get close to Kolonaki Square. At Da Capo, nothing can keep the tables empty. “We never close in the summer,” says Nikos, the cashier, who declined to give his last name. “But the strangest thing happened this summer. Traffic usually tapers off; this year, though, we were as busy as usual until the last day of July and business dropped suddenly on August 1. It started getting back to normal this week,” he says, admitting that the intense heat may have played a part in driving Athenians out of the city.
Oraia Ellas in the Pandrossou Arcade had a steady stream of tourists keeping it going this summer. “Of course we don’t close; we’re very busy in August,” says Pinelopi Dafni, the owner of the historic kafeneio, which also acts as an outlet for the Center of Greek Tradition, showcasing the work of craftspeople from all over the country. “It wasn’t always like this, but in the past few years we have come to rely on tourists, especially in the summer.”
Pandrossou is right on the route between Monastiraki and Plaka, so the people at Oraia Ellas often have to play the role of tourist guides too. “Greeks will come in for a bite to eat, a drink or a coffee and then leave. Tourists want to know all about the kafeneio and the city too,” says Dafni.
In Ilion, just west of central Athens, in another beloved, old-school kafeneio, also called the Panellinion, Kostas Makrogiannakis is checking that everything’s shipshape and ready to welcome his customers back after closing for a few days and going on holiday.
“We just got back but it looks like a lot of others have not. The streets are empty! It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the neighborhood looking so deserted,” he says.
He’s got a dozen customers or so by noon, though “normally it would be twice that,” says Makrogiannakis, explaining that rush hour on a normal day usually starts around 1 p.m. as people come in for a drink and a meze.
“We’ll logically start filling up again on the weekend, when there’s also a lot of sports on the TV. Greeks don’t care much about the Olympic Games; they prefer the domestic championships,” he says.
Ilion’s Panellinion has been around since 1978, at the same address on Aiantos Street, and was started by Makrogiannakis’ grandfather, Emmanouil Frangioudakis. “Back when my grandparents ran the place, customers were happy with a glass of tsipouro and a small bowl of dried chickpeas. Now they want a meze too. But I really love this job,” he adds.
