Gazi College and The Saturday Morning Curse

Saturday again today. Unsurprisingly, it happens once a week. After Friday and before Sunday. And as is the case on most of my Saturdays: the 'Saturday Morning Curse'. Eyes wide open at eight, and as much as I try to sleep in, another week of getting up for work in the morning is more routine than my body can fight against. Usually by ten, and despite my very best efforts to 'go slow', I'm all dressed up and ready to go! And, have nowhere to go to.

By half ten, I'm holding my mobile phone and thinking, 'I could start calling people up for morning coffee, but do I really want to be know as the annoying one that wakes people up in the morning?'. Luckily, this morning, the phone rang as I was having these thoughts, and after a brief consultation, I was off to meet a friend at Gazi College for our morning coffee.

I've written about how great Gazi College is for all hours of the day, but the point to be made here is how great it is for Saturday and Sunday late morning coffee both because one can easily find a seat and because of the feeling one gets this time and day from Gazi. On a sunny weekend morning, Gazi feels like you're on a party island in the morning, holiday season, when there's a strange quiet in the air as most are asleep from the night before. Calm and serene, and those who are up are only now getting things ready for the day (and more importantly the night) to come.

We sat down, ordered our coffee, and my friend asked for the menu. Oh dear. I didn't even try to resist when he suggested the mini-burgers for breakfast (he didn't even try disguise it as brunch). At least this time round I had my camera with me so I took some pictures to capture how amazingly perfect these mini burgers are.

The Mini Burgers: Perfect as always.

Smarties Served With Coffee

This was the surprise of the day: together with our coffees, instead of the conventional cookie or piece of cake, they served us a shot glass filled with Smarties (or other chocolate filled, colourful sweet). I love it when places do these sort of simple small things, if for no other reason, just for the sake of it and to keep things interesting.

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Gazi College: Best of Both Worlds

Today I think it's my turn to write about "Gazi College"...

Once upon a time not so long ago, a youth by the name of George embarked on an exploratory adventure of Athens. With the help of a veteran of the scene and fellow ex army postman, he discovered a sort of club called 'Mad' in an area called Gazi.

Back then there was no metro stop in the area and getting to Gazi was a matter of enduring rush-hour levels of traffic at 1am and wishing upon the god of parking for a cozy parking space to leave thy vehicle. Little did George know that not so far into the future this area would not only be a mainstream place for going out but also a five minute walk from his place of work.

This club that the boys had visited wasn't really George's cup of tea, but for only that it was one of the first steps of what was to be a great adventure, he had always held the club in a special place along with other fond memories. Therefore it was not to his liking when one day on returning home from work, his crossed the spot where the club once stood only to discover that it had been replaced by a coffee-food-maybe-bar style place called "Gazi College".

George was aware that the general area of Gazi was undergoing major changes due to the Keramikos Metro stop that had opened on the main square, and in his mind - affected by the disappointment that the physical link to one of his fondest memories was no more - this new place was just another one of the many new businesses that were popping up like mushrooms.

The story was the same for all of them: shroud businessman in suit and tie has money to invest. Throws money at consultants, financial advisers, interior decorators, cooks, bar men, blady blady bla... everything in a huge melting pot, stirs with an evil laugh, and out comes yet another soulless cafe/ bar/ restaurant.

To that end, George stayed away from this place for a long time after it had opened, until one day, around noon on a Saturday he found himself in Gazi with a friend thirsting for coffee and a snack. For no particular reason they sat at Gazi College.

Needless to say that the George in the story is me, and boy was I wrong about Gazi College. I guess every now and then the hoard of accountants, interior designers etc. get it right!

That first time we had a coffee each and two mini-burgers to share. Looking through a menu I usually get a fairly accurate vibe about a place, and it was really bugging me that I was getting a good vibe about this place. Not a huge menu, and nothing there that seemed to be there just for the sake of being there. One, Two for Four mini burgers, a choice of maybe four pizzas including the Margarita, a few salads, a few sandwiches and probably a few things I cant remember. Point is, spot on Cafe-Lunch material.

The burgers were to die for, small and succulent with tasty sauces, and best of all, served with fresh fries - and you know, when a place makes the effort to serve freshly fried crunch chips they're going to make the effort for allot more other things. Looking around a got a glimpse of the Pizzas: thin based, not too much cheese, straight out the oven. I was dead set on coming back to try them.

After going on and on about the mini-burgers, next time I went was with my burger-connoisseur friend & co. The burgers got the thumbs up - as did the interior of the place that I hadn't really noticed before. Decorated with a college-books-globes-equations-study vibe (unsurprisingly). And the music was definitely there, but at just the right volume and of just the right genre to create a pleasant atmosphere without being overwhelming. We also tried some deserts: a cheese cake and a chestnut caramel cream filled sweat bread. Thumbs up there too.

And finally, the pizza, which I had to wait one more time to try. After a Saturday of working in the office (deadlines - who needs them?!?), I went with a colleague. Two mini burgers, a Caesar salad, and a Margarita pizza all to share. The burgers where, by now, something that one can count on. The pizza, like i said, thin based, tasty sauce, not too much cheese: yum yum yum! The salad, slightly over dressed, but i think i'll give it another try. All and all a very pleasant meal.

There there it is. George on Gazi College. And why you ask the best of both worlds? In a nutshell, Gazi college combine the new with the old. A cozy place in a great area with easy access by car or public transport and good modern menu items on offer. A great place to go for a morning or afternoon coffee, brunch or lunch!

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Update: 14/05/2011

The Mini Burgers

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