Simul Restaurant, Athens

You patient, eagle-eyed reader you, yes this is the food etc. section that I promised you a couple of weeks ago, when I wrote about being led astray - kicking and screaming, as was made clear - on the occasion of my (and, by now your) friend YT's birthday. In this post I get to briefly mention the food and rave about the lovely little restaurant and all it offers.

Before I get stuck in, let me make a correction to the post about the wine, specifically about the red wine from that Languedoc jewel, Mas de Daumas Gassac: the wine we had was not the domaine's straight red, impressive as it is in itself, but the special cuvee Emile Peynaud, named after the famous Bordeaux oenologist who helped advise in the setting up and early winemaking period of Mas de Daumas Gassac. This is made in very limited numbers (about 1800 bottles for the 2001 vintage) from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon vines planted in 1972, low yields, careful selection and only in the best vintages - no wonder it was dashed impressive, with a fullness and ripeness that Cab. Sauv. struggles to find elsewhere. Apologies for the booboo, if you spotted it...

Now if you either live in Athens or visit it regularly - and know it well you - will know that it's rare to rave about gastronomic restaurants there, at least if you are being honest. There are clearly exceptions, but it must be noted that the market for seriously good food is limited and the public for it not abundant. Furthermore, most Athenians have relatively low standards (prevailing attitude: 'the best food in the world is your mother's cooking') and are, therefore, easy to please. There are successful places - very pleasant, comforting ones in many ways - that have been serving pretty well the same ' French' food for more than forty years with little alteration... Comfort food wrapped up in memories is one thing, great food is another.

In a little side street across the way from the Athens Hilton Hotel you will find, assuming you are persistent enough, a proper little gastronomic treasure, a labour of love known as SIMUL. The young chef-patron and his wife/other half, who superbly handles front of house, have created a little haven for unpretentious foodies from Athens and beyond, people who seek out good food and do not need pompous surroundings to feel good. Their food is imaginative and innovative but not over-elaborate or trying to be 'clever', their ingredients top-notch and the service appropriate to the simple, stylish dining room. And to my mind a good guide to whether a restaurant is run properly is the quality of the bread; the bread here is very good indeed.

 
We started with a dish of cockles and vegetables in a green broth, fresh as anything, subtle and tasty. Not something I would normally order (the menu here was pre-set, same for us all), this was a perfect way to start and just right with the first wine (you remember, the dazzling 2007 Sancerre that I mentioned, dear observant reader); a small bowl of deliciousness. The second course was a lovely dish of seasonal morel (morchella) mushrooms, stronger tasting and with a unique texture, nutty and filling. The mushrooms were cut into thick-ish strips, thus keeping most of their flavour and texture, and were just the right thing to lead up to the main course, a veal fillet.

In Greece there is little beef served, other than in certain specialist meat restaurants; most of the meat served is veal, irrespective of the cut, and it seems to be what most people prefer, I suppose preferring blander, more tender meat to the fuller taste of beef. This was a superb grilled specimen, excellent in size, cooked medium as ordered and with impeccable texture, very tasty (for veal) and accompanied by a fine potato puree and roast vegetables. Good ingredients, superbly cooked produced a very satisfying result.

The dessert was a chocolate thingy - if you didn't know, I'm very, VERY fond of chocolate thingies! - which satisfied any cravings I may have had. I seem to remember that it was, perhaps, not perfectly balanced taste-wise, so maybe there is a spot of perfecting to be done. It rounded up our evening well, partnering the Marc de Bourgogne admirably - too admirably in my case, as I kept testing the proposition just to be certain. As I've said before, though, and I'll keep repeating indefinitely, is that when you are drinking quality it is very rare to suffer from 'abad head' the next day; for that you need to seriously overdo it, something your 'wise' scribe here shies away from these days.

SIMUL is a good place, so go and enjoy it if you like good food or if you fancy a special occasion treat. Just don't spoil it for me and the kind friends who invite me there...