Thessaloniki: City of
Gastronomy
UNESCO has made Thessaloniki a City of Gastronomy, under its Creative
Cities network, the only city in Greece to be acknowledged for its unique food
and drink.
Thessaloniki, City of Gastronomy
Thessaloniki is the second-largest city in Greece and the
capital of Macedonia. In November 2021 it also became the first city in Greece
to be declared a City of Gastronomy by UNESCO.
Creative Cities
As well as designating certain significant places as World Heritage Sites, UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) also has a series of Creative Cities. These are cities which are considered exceptional in one of seven creative fields, such as music, literature, crafts and folk art, film… and gastronomy.
A Simple Greek Taverna in Thessaloniki, City of Gastronomy
At the time of writing there are only thirteen Cities of Gastronomy in the world, including Parma in Italy, Tucson and San Antonio in the USA, Rouen in France… and now Thessaloniki in Greece. Thessaloniki also has fifteen UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and was already referred to as Greece’s unofficial culinary capital, or food city.
Thessaloniki: City of
Gastronomy
So why has UNESCO made Thessaloniki the first City of
Gastronomy in Greece? One reason is that Thessaloniki has long been at a
crossroads of cultures. It was, for example, the second most important city of
both the Byzantine and Ottoman vast empires. The Romans were here too. It also offered a safe haven to Sephardic
Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, which led to Thessaloniki at one time
having Europe’s biggest Jewish community.
The Church of Agios Dimitrios in Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki is 500 km (311 miles) from Athens, but only 600 km (373 miles) from Istanbul, 300 km (186 miles) from Sofia in Bulgaria, and 240 km (149 miles) from Skopje in the Republic of North Macedonia. Its food and drink combines elements of native Greek cooking, Middle Eastern cuisine, and influences from various southern European nations.
Thessaloniki Street
Food
Like all gastronomical centers, it isn’t only because of haute cuisine. Good food cities are also
noted for good street food. In Thessaloniki this would include local
specialities like koulouri (similar
to bagels and topped with sesame seeds), or trigona
Panoramatos. These are decadent cream-filled
pastries with various possible toppings and are hyper-local, as they come specifically
from the Thessaloniki suburb of Panorama.
Or try bougatsa for breakfast, which can be savoury or sweet depending on your taste or mood – it’s basically a filo pastry pie that can be filled with feta or some other cheese, or with a sweet custard cream. Another local specialty is soutzoukakia. These are meatballs but more Middle Eastern than Italian, with spices like cumin and cinnamon adding a spiciness to the mix.
Thessaloniki Cuisine
Thessaloniki may not have the several Michelin-starred
restaurants that Athens has, including the acclaimed two-star Spondi,
but it can more than hold its own when it comes to classy, contemporary,
gourmet cuisine. Likewise, its cocktail scene is a thriving one, and there has
been a renaissance in the Ladadika quarter, where down-at-heel shops have been
converted into restaurants and bars, both smart and casual.
The Modiano Market in Thessaloniki, Greece's City of Gastronomy
The city’s historic Modiano Market is also getting a makeover, and while it won’t lose its traditional butchers and fishmongers, it’s being modernised and will add live music, food festivals and other events to bring it bouncing into the 21st century. This is where you’ll find all the best produce from the whole of Macedonia, one of Greece’s main food-producing regions. Look for deliciously sweet Florina red peppers, juicy Naoussa peaches, and olives from Halkidiki, showing that Kalamata isn’t the only place you can grow the best olives.
Thessaloniki Wine
In the last few years Greece has emerged as a leading wine
destination, after previously being known for cheap table wines and the Greek
speciality, retsina, which we love but not everyone develops a taste for. If
you head southwest from Thessaloniki towards Athens, you’ll pass by some of the
best wine-growing areas.
Don’t let the fact that many Greek grape varieties are not known outside Greece and have strange names like malagousia and assyrtiko. Any decent wine waiter will be able to tell you which one tastes like a chardonnay or which like a cabernet sauvignon, so that you have a reference point. Don’t miss the unique opportunity to try good Greek wines that you won’t find elsewhere…some not even outside of Thessaloniki.
Where to Stay in Thessaloniki
Other Greek food and drink pages
Raki is an alcoholic drink made with distilled grapes and anise, and popular in Greece and other Mediterranean countries, including Greece’s neighbour Turkey.
Greece Travel Secrets visits the Cretan Botano herbs and spices shop near Matala in southern Crete in search of the herb man of Kouses.
The First Corfu Beer Festival took place in Arillas in North West Corfu and celebrated the beer of Bavaria and of Corfu, in the Ionian islands of Greece.
Corfu’s special cuisine includes dishes like sofrito and pastitsade and the chance to try ginger beer and kumquats.
Antonis Maroudas is a Zakynthos winemaker who lives on the 'wine road' and is one of the people who make Zakynthos.
Greece Travel Secrets tours the Lyrarakis Winery on Crete and learns about Crete grape varieties such as plyto, dafni, vidiano, vilana, mandilari and kotsifali.
Greece Travel Secrets visits Crete and learns about making rakomelo from Jorgos Kourmoulis in Agouseliana.
Visiting Santorini wineries is a popular activity on this Greek island in the Cyclades, whose volcanic soil provides a distinctive terroir.
The Goules Taverna in Goulediana, south of Rethymnon, has been called one of the best tavernas on Crete and Greece Travel Secrets recently visited them.
For a Crete olive oil tour Greece Travel Secrets visits Biolea, one of the few olive oil factories on Crete that you can visit.
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Greece Travel Secrets visits the Zacharioudakis Winery near Ancient Gortina in southern Crete, and does a vineyard tour arranged by our guide from Go Crete.
Greek feta cheese is the most popular cheese in Greece, usually made from sheep’s milk, with a soft texture and salty taste and used to top off a Greek salad.
Athens culinary tours are among the food walking tours offered by an unusual company, Culinary Backstreets.
The Greece Travel Secrets guide to Greek grape varieties to help you know which wines to choose when dining in restaurants or buying wine in Greece.
Corfu olives are an important part of this Greek island's economy, with an estimated 3-4 million trees producing olive oil of exceptional quality.
If you're wondering where to eat in Athens and Piraeus we have a few suggestions including some favorites around the Acropolis, Omonia Square, and Syntagma.
Athens, an Eater's Guide to the City, is published by Culinary Backstreets, who do walking food tours in Athens and the book recommends the best places to eat.
This Athens dining guide doesn't list restaurants but gives practical advice on types of eating places, tipping, hotel breakfasts and picnics.
Information for travelers on Corfu Food and Drink including restaurants and tavernas, Corfiot specialties, desserts, wine and other Greek drinks like ouzo.
The Stilianou Winery near Knossos on Crete uses only Cretan grape varieties, with every bottle numbered, and aims for quality rather than quantity.
Two of the best cocktail bars in Athens, MoMix Kerameikos and The Clumsies, are making creative cocktails using that most Greek of Greek spirits, Metaxa.
Athens Food Tours are being introduced by new company The Greek Fork, and will include tours of the Central Market, and the best street food.
The Greece Travel Secrets guide to tipping in Greece from two Greece travel experts, including when to tip, what to tip and when not to tip.
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