Ergon House: exploring Athens’ first foodie hotel

Many times, I’m called to recommend a good Greek cuisine restaurant in Athens. But there’s a problem. I don’t frequent many Greek cuisine restaurants and taverns in Athens. I haven’t dined in a tavern in Plaka (Athens’ most touristy area) for more than 15 years! For the last 3+ years, I finally have a place to recommend with I love a lot. And it recently got bigger and better. I present you, Ergon House Athens.

Ergon Foods History

Ergon Foods started off as a deli. They collect products from Greek artisans and sell them in their stores in Greece and abroad. You can find more details about the Ergon Foods philosophy on their website.

In 2015 they opened their flagship store in Thessaloniki called “Agora” (aka market). It covers 1000sq meters and combines a spacious deli with a restaurant. They opened a restaurant in Athens back in 2016 across the street from the current location. I visited that restaurant and loved it. In 2018 that restaurant closed and work on a new project started: the first foodie hotel in Greece, Ergon House.

Ergon House: restaurant and deli area

The building that houses the restaurant and hotel was built in 1990. The building’s facade belongs to a two-storied neoclassical building. The new building was built away from the facade creating an atrium in the space between. The atrium has an olive tree in the center, tables, and the grocery store. It looks like a village’s central square, where people gather. On the right wall, there is an herb garden, which produces the herbs for the restaurant. On the left, there is a huge mural. It depicted ancient goddess Artemis, designed by street artist Ino.

Moving further inside we meet the deli, the fishmonger, the butchery, the coffee shop, and the bar. There are also tables on the left side of the bar. The back wall is adorned with a mural designed by Beetroot. Thanks to the Open House Athens tour I learned that it depicts scenes from a folk poem called The Dead Brother’s Song.

Ergon House: the food

As much as I love the interior design of the restaurant, I came here for the food. There is a dish that I ate in the past and was keen to eat again. It is gruyere cheese with paprika in kataifi pastry with honey and pistachios.

The menu offers lots of starters and delicacies. For example cheese puffs, zucchini balls, falafel, grilled octopus and many more. The menu includes also spreads, salads, pasta, meat dishes, fish dishes.

For starters, we got the gruyere mentioned above as well as a falafel dish. For the main course, my husband got mushroom pilaf and I got sautéed pork, chicken and sausage on flatbread. It was delicious! I must add a disclaimer here that I couldn’t eat it all (stomach issues) so I took it in a box home for dinner. I love it when restaurants do that!

Ergon House: The Foodie Hotel

Now a presentation wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t include the hotel, would it? It is a foodie hotel after all. Thankfully Open House Athens 2019 included Ergon House in their list and that’s how I got to visit it.

The hotel’s reception is on the first floor above the restaurant. The hotel has more than 30 rooms in 5 different sizes, spanning on 4 floors. As part of the Open House tour, we visited 2 of them. One was facing towards the atrium ant the other towards the back of the building. All rooms have a minimal aesthetic and goodies from the deli downstairs! The rooms are loosely divided into different areas by breezeblock screenings. The blocks were popular in the 60s. The bathrooms basins are hand-carved from old marble treads. They were reclaimed from old Athenian homes in Plaka.

The communal space on the first floor is separated from the corridors with breeze blocks. The sofas reminded me of the traditional built ones. The woven textiles used for the pillows are by Greek brand Zeus + Dione.

I hope you liked my presentation! You will find Ergon House Foodie Hotel, Restaurant and Deli on 23, Mitropoleos Street. If you plan to dine there, make a booking as it gets crowded especially at weekends. You can find more information about the whole project on their website.