ATHENS — A glamorous Greek seafood restaurant that has anchored a block of Manhattan’s West 55th Street since 1997, Estiatorio Milos, is now taking reservations in the Greek capital, where its airy new outpost comes with a serving of 43 refined rooms and suites on the side — or, rather, above. Xenodocheio Milos bills itself as the Greek capital’s first five-star food destination hotel, and the guest rooms are arrayed in a pair of refurbished neoclassical buildings with a modern addition and at the ground level of which is the namesake restaurant. Xenodocheio is the Greek word for hotel, and the decision to employ the locally sourced word is deliberate. From the location adjacent to the old Greek Parliament House — faded but colorful, and still patrician — to the flavors of the Greek seas that unfailingly please, the Greek vibe here is authentic and intense. Not too intense, of course, otherwise it would not be quite so Greek. The New York City iteration always has a certain charge about it, like the defunct 21 Club once did and some other Midtown power lunch spots still do. The Athenian vibe is more of a mood, one that oscillates between frenzied and languorous, and when powered by Grecian ingredients that are second to none it is hard not to succumb. What makes the Xenodocheio a “food destination hotel” is not just the presence of the restaurant but the fact that one can re-create the Milos gastronomic experience upstairs in the guest rooms, most of which come equipped with large wooden tables that are meant for some serious in-room dining. The same plates of fresh Greek ceviche or wild red Madagascar shrimp that you can indulge in downstairs can be savored privately in your room — and al fresco if it has a terrace. All the rooms have high ceilings, marble bathrooms, and wooden floors.Athens from the Xenodocheio Milos. The New York Sun/Anthony GrantThe signature suites and terrace suites are the ones to beat at Xenodocheio Milos. I wanted to have a gander at the rooftop suite but an NBA star, nomenclature confidential, was occupying it during my visit so I couldn’t get my peek. The regular rooms are just fine, though, furnished as they are with an understated elegance that makes sense: Staying in the center of Athens means flirting with the risk of sensory overload, so the savvier traveler opts for a room that is more refuge than fashion statement. A press release notes that A1 Architects and Dimitris Agiostratitis converted the historic property to a hotel, and the design concept and interior design was handled by Divercity and Nikolas Travasaros — it is a Greek project inside out, and it shows.The Greekness of the seafood also shows, as it does in Manhattan, where Milos’s founder and executive chef Costas Spiliadis has through the years been the ablest of ambassadors for Greek-style grazing with his focus on market pricing, family-style sharing, clean and uncomplicated flavors, superb vegetables and fruits, and artisanal olive oil and yogurt imported from Greece. In Athens, of course, there is no need to import the yogurt. It’s whipped into the tangiest tzatziki imaginable and served most memorably in the Milos Special. This is a tower of almost paper-thin zucchini and eggplant slices, lightly fried, delicately seasoned, and surrounding a cool tzatziki core. Four petite squares of zesty saganaki cheese anchor the marvelous mound. The message from the open kitchen is clear: Diner, start your dipping.The Milos Special. The New York Sun/Anthony GrantThe Greek salad is as the best Greek salads must be: simple. One of the key components is tomatoes and those served here come from Kythera, the obscure island where the love goddess Aphrodite was born and, judging from the taste of these juicy wedges, tomatoes of divine provenance grow. The drizzle of Greek olive oil, the snap of the red onions, the smattering of Aegean sea salt, and of course the capers make this a Greek island getaway on a plate. Wine, naturally, helps sustain that illusion. I left the selection to my partner in all capers culinary, Konstantinos Foutzopoulos, an advisor to the American-born former prime minister of Greece, George Papandreou (who at 69 can still dance a mean zeibekiko). He opted for a bottle of Zafeirakis Malagouzia, a smooth white from Crete that was the perfect accompaniment to his plate of something that on grounds of aesthetic sensitivity I would never consume: grilled octopus. He deemed it excellent and the silky Santorini fava puree that accompanied the remains of the creature tempted us both. We each had a grilled sea bream to ourselves. Here again simplicity rules: just the fish — the whole fish, thankfully already fileted — with some sea salt, olive oil, and lemon. One bite and you are at the seaside fish taverna of your dreams.The honk of a horn and rumble of a garbage truck outside serve as reminders that this is not Mykonos but rather the Manhattan of the Mediterranean. Is that such a bad thing? If it is, the arrival of Estiatorio Milos just made the urban grit that much easier to swallow.
