Reviews
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Il Tinello
54 Knossou St, Alimos, Athens
Tel: 210-982-8462
Open: Evening
Type: Northern Italian
Price: € 40.00 per person (2009) |
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It had been a few weeks since I was out for dinner. A few friends
had mentioned a traditional tratoria “Il Tinello”, located on the
southern suburb of Athens, Alimos.
Luckily I had been told that the restaurant was a bit out of the way
– an understatement. I visited Google maps beforehand to print a
guide map of our expedition. Checking out the site, I saw a map tag
with the name of the restaurant… how practical I thought!
A fifteen minute drive from the center of Athens, we arrived in the
residential area of Alimos. Although seemingly we were getting close
to our destination point, I thought I had made a mistake as the area
was strictly residential. Suddenly thirty cars parked on the street
in front of an ordinary looking home made us wonder. We peaked in at
what looked like a dinner party in the home’s dining room. I
double-checked the directions Larry Page and Sergey Brin had
provided us with; I figured this must be it.
There were no signs in the entrance of the building as we walked
into a plain colored well lit room. The ambiance in a word is loud.
No particular set-up or decoration or music… approximately 20 tables
filed with loud very casually dressed Greeks smoking, shouting hands
thrashing around in all directions and enjoying the Italian cuisine.
We had arrived 15 minutes late, still we were the first from our
party. The waiter / owner named Stefanos seated us and gave us a
green salad before we even sat down. In fact he did not serve it to
us at our table but rather handed it to my girlfriend to take back
to the table on her way back from the toilet having passed him on
the way. The tone and style had now firmly been set. This is odd but
fun, I thought. Stefanos and a bus-boy did all the running around
while Mrs. Stefano, of Italian origin, cooked in the background
kitchen with her helper. Everything whilst chaotic at first glance
ran like clockwork with an efficiency which truly impressed me.
As we were still alone, we thought it wise to ask for the menu.
Mistake. Stefanos with a condescending yet smirky grin simply stated
that clearly we had not been there before. No, we replied slightly
curious at his remark. “…there is no menu; I just bring you today’s
dishes…” was our answer. And then – wow - did the food start pouring
in…
The pace was frantic, dishes just kept on being put onto our table.
Superbly refreshing green salad, half lobster with linguini served
in the pan it had been cooked in, pumpkin risotto, pennes with
tomato sauce (tomatoes clearly visible and only slightly crushed),
carbonara, spaghetti with a curious yet delicious chicken, nut and
garlic sauce, wide taglatelle with porcini, rabbit with polenta,
lasagna, gnocchi with gorgonzola with leeks, beef tagliata with
mashed potato….the food kept on coming in for almost an hour. The
pasta was superbly al dente and very obviously home made, the meat
was fresh and delicious the tastes each unique and one seemingly
better than the other.
Stefanos was racing around dumping plates in the center of all the
tables. Looking around it was impressive how all dishes were placed
in the same order around all the tables. The organization and order
was astounding. How could one man remember and be so in control of
the whole room? The white or red house wine flowed endlessly. The
concept was simple: as soon as the carafe was almost empty, he would
replace it with a full fresh one. No need for us to have asked, no
need to have bothered him with anything. Everything was one way.
Dishes and wine kept on coming in, plates were taken away and
replaced, quick, simple and very entertaining. No questions asked.
By the end of our feast, and late into the evening – it had gone one
am without us having noticed - Stefanos lit his Cuban cigar, his
trophy to yet another successful evening. He was at this point
sitting and chatting with customers while flirting outrageously with
all the women. I had helped him serve the table behind us with wine
(again on my way back from the toilet) whilst at this point his wife
had finished cooking and was franticly clearing plates and keeping
an eye out for their remaining guests.
Before the shots of Sabuca made their appearance (in fact one bottle
per table and shot glasses), he had gone around each table with a
small gas flame gun in one hand his cigar in the other burning the
tops of the crème brulee which accompanied two other small dessert
plates.
Overall 'Il Tinello' offers a great unique experience. You eat well
– quantity, tastes, varieties, authenticity, all have been
addressed. At 40 euro a head plus a tip is also a great value for
money. The owner is a fun, nutty fellow whose eccentric personality
and style seals off the deal of a great evening out. It may be out
of the way and not well signed or advertised so you may think that
it’s your special little find. However the secret is out and you
will definitely need to book well in advance!
ZIGGY
