Cooking by the Athens calendar.

Six years of Friday recipes from a Pagrati kitchen. Honest restaurant reviews from across the city. Two cookbooks, printed in Halandri.

Friday's recipe

image of the latest dish, dish name, "Posted Friday 2 May" badge, link

This week at the laiki

image of the Pagrati Friday market, "What's at its best right now", link to /journal/market-notes/

Where I ate

image of the latest review subject, taverna name, three-visit verdict, link

Horta with Lemon and Olive Oil

wild greens from the Pagrati laiki, 25 min — €

Broad Bean Stew with Dill and Spring Onions

koukia me anitho, 50 min

Spanakopita with Twelve Sheets

the version Eleni taught me, 1 h 40 min

Cold Avgolemono with Asparagus

for the first warm Sunday, 35 min

Cherry and Almond Cake from Edessa Cherries

a simple loaf, 1 h

Octopus on the Grill with Capers and Vinegar

Easter leftovers, 30 min

Twelve Months in My Athens Kitchen

€26 — 240 pages, 84 recipes, one chapter per month, photographed by Athina Pappa. "The long version of why I cook the way I do."

Sunday Lunch

€22 — 168 pages, 36 long-cooking recipes for the table, with notes on what to drink with each. "For the day when nobody's in a hurry."

Bundle (both books + linen tote)

€42 — Free Athens delivery, €4.50 anywhere in Greece.

“I made Marina's spanakopita for my daughter's name day in March and three of my aunts asked for the recipe at the same time. The twelve-sheets-not-thirteen rule is the kind of detail you only get from someone who has actually rolled phyllo a hundred Sundays in a row.”
Elena Karagianni — Kifisia
“Sunday Lunch is the only newsletter I read every week without fail. Marina's review of Diporto sent me there on my last Athens trip and I sat at the same table she described. The lentil soup was exactly what she said it would be.”
James Whitfield — London (subscriber since 2021)
“I bought Twelve Months in My Athens Kitchen for my mother who is 73 and has been cooking longer than Marina has been alive. She read the chapter on March from cover to cover and called me to say 'this woman cooks like a person, not a chef.'”
Niki Sotiropoulou — Pagrati (neighbour and friend)
“I followed Marina's neighbourhood guide to Petralona on a Saturday in October and ended up at Oikonomou where she said to sit at the small table by the window. I did. The bekri meze was as good as she promised. I went back twice that month.”
Yiannis Lambropoulos — Petralona
“I cooked Marina's stuffed tomatoes for my mum's 80th birthday in April. She lived in Athens as a young woman in the 1960s and the smell sent her straight back. Marina, you made my mum cry happy tears. Thank you.”
Catherine Boyle — Melbourne
Australia

Market Notes — Pagrati Laiki, 2 May 2026

"The first cherries from Edessa arrived this morning at €4.20/kg. Stelios still has the artichokes from Tinos but only for one more week. Buy the broad beans now or wait until June."

Producer Visit — The Cheese Cellar in Metsovo

"I drove to Metsovo last month to see how Galotyri is made. Spent two days with the Tsoumakas family and ate at every meal."