Two Athens eateries among 31 places to 'eat at before you die'

An Exarchia eatery where waiters invariably forget some part of an order and a restaurant in Metaxourgeio where no dish ever exceeds 7 euros are among “31 places around the world you should eat at before you die," according to BuzzFeed. The popular news and entertainment website recently asked a group of professional globetrotters to share their favorite culinary destinations around the world.

Jess Brammar, senior broadcast journalist on the BBC's “Newsnight” program, singled out Ama Laxei in Exarchia, central Athens, where, she writes, “the food is amazing – traditional Greek with a modern twist, lots of salads and plates to share.”

Although Brammar points out that the service leaves a lot to desire, she adds, “When you are sitting in an Athenian courtyard at midnight drinking wine and laughing with friends, who cares?"

When in Athens, Guardian feature writer Jon Henley visits Seychelles, a no-frills, price-is-right restaurant in Metaxourgeio. “The food is Greek with a slight but inventive and hugely satisfying twist, and its quality is astounding,” says Henley, who mentions juicy lamb cutlets with thyme and grilled vegetables with a “just-right” fig sauce among his favorite platters.

Covering the globe, the BuzzFeed list also showcases Umm Hagar in central Cairo, where the lucky diners to get the one single table at the restaurant get to savor whatever the cook feels like preparing on the day, Armand's, a small bistro on a Phnom Penh side street, where dishes include a tenderloin Rossini with foie gras, south Indian cuisine at Vijay's, northwest London, where platters include green mango prawn curry, as well as the two-Michelin-starred Don Alfonso 1890, an Italian restaurant overlooking the stunning Amalfi and Sorrento coasts where beef fillet in puff pastry with buffalo mozzarella is among the favorites.

Source: Kathimerini Newspaper

Direct Delta Airlines flight linking Athens with NYC

Delta Air Lines will inaugurate a direct flight linking Athens International Airport with JFK Airport in New York City, beginning on Tuesday, April 5.

Delta is celebrating its 25-year presence in Greece this year, having transported some 1.5 million passengers between Athens and the United States since November 1991.

One flight per day is scheduled until June 17, followed by two flights per day during the peak summer season until the end of September 2016.

A permanent direct air link between the Greece and the United States has been a standing desire of tourism professionals in the east Mediterranean country as well as the significant Greek expatriate communities of North America.  

Source: Naftemporiki Newspaper

Additional flights and carriers to inaugurate tourism season in Messinia prefecture

Nine new air routes to and from Kalamata’s “Kapetan Vassilis Konstantakopoulos” and an additional two carriers are the latest additions to the burgeoning tourism sector of Messinia prefecture, in extreme southeast Greece.

Specifically, and beginning from April, British Airways will inaugurate two flights a week from London Heathrow on Thursday and Saturday; Vueling will service a route every Friday to Rome Fiumicino, while Aegean Airlines will inaugurate six routes from Milan (Tuesday), Copenhagen (Monday), Billund (Monday), Paris (Tuesday), Lyon (Tuesday) and Nantes (Saturday).

Messinia prefecture, which includes Kalamata, Pylos and the internationally known Costa Navarino resort, often inaugurates the holiday season in Greece, with Aegean Airlines flights arriving from Munich, Dusseldorf, Stockholm this month.

Source: Naftemporiki Newspaper

Chalkidiki increasingly attractive for Scandinavian tourists

Tourist arrivals to Greece from the lucrative Scandinavia market are expected to increase by 4-5 percent this year, according to initial estimates collected during the "Grekland Panorama" exhibition last week in Stockholm.

The exhibition was supported by the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO).

One destination that stood out at this year’s tourism fair was Chalkidiki prefecture (Halkidiki) in northern Greece, according to tour agency representatives on the sidelines of the exhibition.

Greece is ranked seventh in terms of Scandinavians' tourism preference.

Source: Naftemporiki Newspaper