A breath away from the Nea Smyrni Panionios Stadium, in the bakery O Nikos, passion and Smyrna's traditions are combined daily—a recipe for success that has lasted almost 50 years.
Everyone knows him by his first name, Mr. Nikos. The students come to get a tiropita before school, the fans of Panionios on the weekends, and his now retired friends who arrive at 7 in the morning and say, "Nikos, open, we want coffee!"
Nikos Kostoglou learned the art of handmade pie from his Asia Minor father, Giorgos, who arrived from Smyrna to Athens carrying the memories of his homeland. Grandpa Giorgos was a baker and an excellent craftsman of traditional French puff pastry. A Frenchman once in Smyrna for three months taught him all the secrets.
He later revealed these secrets to his son when, as a teacher, he diligently checked the lines of butter in the rich puff pastry.
In 1977, Nikos decided to take over the reins of the workshop from his uncle and father, who advised him: "If you don't love it and don't keep the authenticity and quality, you will leave overnight".
From then until today, he has kept the inherited recipes unchanged: tiropita (cheese pie), Constantinople meat pie (mince pie with onion), sausage pie, and bougatsa, which are loved by children.
These pies first appeared in the workshop, and gradually, more modern goodies were added—about 30 in total—which also acquired their fanatical fans.
These include Thessaloniki koulouri, peinirli, calzone, "new generation" meat pie with cheese filling and rustic phyllo, cookies and muffins, all with handmade dough and the purest domestically produced ingredients.
That's how the workshop became a hangout, with people faithfully making their daily visit, forming queues, and emptying the windows in the blink of an eye.
"What is success about?" I ask Nikos' son, Giorgios Kostoglou.
"Our love for work. If you don't like it, you can't do it. After all, it is demanding," he said.
Giorgios is there at 6 a.m. to start the first baking. The puff pastry, the most difficult dough, rests on the big white counters from the day before since it needs half a day to mature.
"That's the traditional way, but nobody does it like that now," he said.
As we speak, Mr. Nikos is constantly bent over the large pot of sizzling hot stewed ground beef with spices or carefully examining the dough being opened and folded one after another on the counter.
"What gives him such an appetite?" I ask his son. "Contact with the world. After all, the workshop is his whole life."
Info: 36 Kon/nou Palaiologou, Nea Smyrni, tel. 210 9356865
Evi Tsiropoulou is a columnist for Cantina. Translated by Paul Antonopoulos.
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