Greece Shluchim Open ‘Gostijo’

Meredith Levick – Chabad.org

As Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries in Athens for the past 10 years, Rabbi Mendel and Nechama Hendel have seen it all in their service of the local Jewish community and the many tourists who annually visit the Greek capital.

But the couple got a new experience this past August when they became restaurateurs, opening up Gostijo, Greece’s only kosher restaurant.

Its name borrowed from a Ladino word meaning an offering of food to friends and neighbors, Gostijo hews closely to the Sephardic Jewish tradition with a menu of Mediterranean-inspired dishes, such as the Salonikan huevos haminados – eggs slowly cooked with onions and ground coffee – and an Iraqi chicken pie known as the sambukah.

Both items happen to be local resident Rikky Vidal‘s favorites.

“It’s a great restaurant,” says the Israeli expatriate, who moved to Athens 38 years ago. “It’s so nice: the atmosphere, the design inside. The food is cheap compared to the market in Greece.”

Mendel Hendel admits that the timing of the restaurant may strike some as odd, considering that Greece’s flagging economy and near-constant protests against a series of austerity measures have put the country in a negative light. But, he says, tourists are still travelling to Athens, and the Jewish ones always keep their eyes open for kosher food.

“Many travelers who pass through Greece would look for kosher restaurants, and there was nothing available,” explains Hendel. And many residents had been clamoring for a kosher eatery.

In developing their menu, the Hendels – who have provided kosher catering, primarily for Sabbath visitors, for years – went back to the entrees they offered in 2004 to visiting Jewish athletes and their fans.

The Sephardic flavor “was primarily for travelers, but it’s also what the local community is all about and has to offer,” comments Nechama Hendel. “The food is more interesting than what they can find elsewhere.”

Vidal, who is a frequent guest of the Hendels’ Friday night and holiday meals, says the food reminds her of her mother’s cooking.

“If a Jew comes to Athens and visits Chabad, then he doesn’t feel alone,” she says “He has a home.”

An Eye-Opener

The Hendels, who run a combination of prayer services, Torah classes, children’s programs, and a series of courses sponsored by the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, had been planning a restaurant for a while, but couldn’t find the right location. Not too long ago, they came across a space that used to be a nightclub. It was centrally located near the metro, other public transportation, and the synagogue, and with a few touch-ups, it would make the perfect establishment, they reasoned.

Nechama Hendel, who hails from France, says that the new project has been an eye-opener.

“When it comes to running a restaurant, I still have a lot to learn,” she chuckles. “I want to learn more about the restaurant industry, but you learn while practicing.”

Gilles Attias has lived in Athens for six years, and has spent many holidays with the Hendel family. The rabbi even organized his son’s Bar Mitzvah.

“The Hendels are really taking care of the community here,” he says. “They have a special touch, and make people feel very comfortable. They really are an asset here, for the Chabad House and for Athens in general.

“The idea of having some traditional Sephardic food is exciting,” he continues. In addition, “the restaurant is in the center of the city. It’s a really nice area.”

For Nechama Hendel, Gostijo fits into their overarching goal of strengthening Judaism in Athens.

“We’re sharing food,” she says, “a culture, history, and a way of life.”