Located on the ground floor of the Athens 1890 Hotel & Spa, the 1890 Restaurant fills a distinctive gap in central Athens — it’s the only fine dining establishment in that part of the city that delivers elevated cuisine without veering into pretension.
A Historic Setting, A Modern Vision
Housed in a 19th-century neoclassical building once home to the legendary Josephidis textile shop, the restaurant was conceived from the outset to honour its historic setting. Rather than relying on spectacle, it aims for something far more demanding: balance.
Helmed by Chef Christos Sidiroplou
At the helm is award-winning chef Christos Sidiroplou — a culinary voice whose background justifies the ambition behind the project. Beyond his acclaimed work at Agora in The Old Market boutique hotel on Symi, he has trained and worked in high-profile restaurants across London and Greece. His foundation lies in rigorous French technique and contemporary European gastronomy.
Key milestones in his career include Midsummer House in Cambridge under Daniel Clifford, as well as stints at The Ritz, Hide, Ormer, Clove Club, Meraki (by Athinagoras Kostakos), and the Michelin-starred Hytra in Athens. This trajectory reflects a rare synthesis of formal fine dining discipline and urban, modern sensibility.
A Philosophy Rooted in Ingredients, Precision, and Creativity
What Sidiroplou brings to 1890 is a clear philosophy: respect for exceptional raw materials, technical precision, and deeply personal creativity. His menu offers both à la carte and tasting options — six- and nine-course degustation experiences — anchored firmly in fine dining tradition, with unmistakable references to French cuisine. Yet this isn’t cliché: Greek identity emerges not through imitation or translation, but through the provenance of ingredients — many sourced locally, including honey from Halkidiki, produced by the chef’s own beekeeper father.
The First Bites Set the Tone
The meal begins with a sequence of amuse-bouches that immediately signal the kitchen’s direction. A Caesar tartlet stands out for its crisp elegance; a spanakopita-inspired beignet follows — familiar in spirit, yet technically refined. Then comes a delicate bite of feta and honey — a personal, layered gesture with remarkable finesse and depth.
Bread arrives next: sourdough fermented for years, served with tarama, intensely tangy tomato pelte, and a playful ‘virtual olive’ — a hollow olive-shaped vessel filled with briam. It’s a masterclass in texture, reference, and restraint — a preview of what’s to come.
The amuse-bouches make one thing unmistakably clear: this is a kitchen guided by clarity, confidence, and quiet authority.