Backstage at Akra. In Athens’ Pangrati district, the new restaurant Akra – ‘edges’ or ‘extremes’ in English – designed by architect Myrto Kiourti for chefs Giannis Loukakis and Spiros Pediaditakis, revisits the question of why we eat out. The double-height proportions, original glazed front, and terrazzo flooring are classic for mid-century Athens. 

Text by Amber Charmei

   Preserving the space’s nostalgic bones, Kiourti has inverted the conventional open-kitchen model. Instead of a performative space, separated from patrons by a counter, both the barrier and the theatrics have been eliminated: the chefs cook along the walls, their backs to the patrons, like home cooks.


Heat radiates from the cast iron hearth (Molteni, enameled in brick red) in the back. The pastry station in the front – the other akra – is a cool model of order, balancing the intensity of activity at the hearth.

“It was important to the chefs that the patrons can see them while they prepare the food,” says Kiourti, “they wanted to convey the process of nurturing that is so essential to the family-centered Greek psyche”.

Viewed through a prism of emotional functionalism, the space itself underscores this dynamic: Akra’s logo, taken directly from the floorplan, represents the hearth in one corner and the pastry station in the other, holding the patrons in an embrace.
There’s a lot happening in this modest room. Every element is on view: knives, flames, goats’ heads. There’s constant motion at the hearth; chanterelles hit the grill with a hiss; a cleaver strikes a butcher block as the staff flows deftly through the space. It’s exciting, but never overwhelming; Kiourti’s strict mathematical harmonies keep the potential for chaos in check. Her precise and satisfying geometries – the unbroken, completed lines of the counters and shelves, the even proportions and spacing between the elements, the perfect angles – all project an underlying order.

Materials are exclusively natural; iron for the window frames and stairs, stainless steel for under-counter refrigeration. Open shelving is pine in its natural shade. Dionysian marble from Mt Penteli on the facade harmonizes with the surrounding streetscape: Akra is on the ground floor of a “Polykatoikia”- a classic Athenian block of flats of varying size and value.

This vertical integration of people of different incomes is essential to Athenian society, a philosophy that also informs the restaurant’s design. Without compromising quality, Akra has been outiftted with minimum expense, in order to make high-quality dining affordable to as many people as possible.
One essential luxury however was the marble for the extensive counters. Loukakis notes that this is a sacrificial space, a “Βωμός” (altar): animals are butchered there, and they deserve no less.
Objects resonate with meaning. Hand-hammered vessels for cooking over flame are sourced from a traditional artisan. Serving dishes, designed for Akra by a local ceramicist, have a sculptural, Cycladic presence.
Parallel rows of pine and marble tables were commissioned from an Athenian carpenter. The plywood chairs are standard-issue, from the manufacturer who supplies the same to public schools. Excellent for posture, they also playfully create context: it’s worth noting that Pedidiatakis’ signature desserts are conceptually milk-forward.
Like the “αγορά,” everything and everyone is on view at Akra. The acoustics are ideal for socializing; you can hear the warmth of conversation at other tables, but not the specifics. Forks strike plates. In the background, Satie, Morissey, and Cretan lyra player Psarantonis share the playlist. The food is poignantly expressive. Blossoms scattered on Loukakis’ tartare of goat acknowledging a life of grazing; Pediaditakis’ tart addresses the other akra of the cycle of life – milk reduced to the caramelized essence of comfort. 
Akra’s primal narrative references both the contemporary and the archaic: mid-century Athenian modernism, the schoolroom, hearth, “Βωμός” (altar), “Αγορά” (agora), Cycladic simplicity. The references are artless in their sincerity, “…almost unconscious,” Kiourti relates, “an inevitable expression of our Athenian identity.”

Plans

  

 

Facts & Credits

Project title: Akra restaurant

Project type: Restaurant design

Architecture: Myrto Kiourti

Project location: Pangrati, Athens

Text: Amber Charmei

Photography: Dimitris Kleanthis


RELATED ARTICLES