Diporto
- Getting there
- A basement below Athens's Central Market — look for two plain doors, no sign
Why it’s in the log
Diporto has fed the traders of Athens's Central Market since 1887, from a basement with no signage announcing it's a restaurant at all — the name itself just means "two doors," the only identifying feature the place bothers with. Fishmongers, butchers and greengrocers from the market above have eaten here since before the building housing it existed in its current form.
The room is exactly what a century-and-a-half of continuous use looks like: wine barrels along the walls, a concrete floor, marble sinks in plain view, a handful of dishes that haven't changed because they've never needed to — chickpea soup, grilled sardines, whatever the market had that morning. Wine comes from the barrel, not a bottle.
Go for lunch, when the market above is still running — it's closed by evening and shut entirely on Sundays.
“There's no sign, no menu you can read in advance, and no name on the door — the two doors it's named for are all you get.”