Nick Molyviatis spent his profession in a few of London’s most revered kitchens, together with Kiln and Oma, earlier than changing into co-owner of Singburi. For Zylia, he has teamed up with restaurateur Barry Karacostas, whose Cypriot heritage and 20 years in hospitality informs the menu alongside Molyviatis’s Athenian upbringing. The result’s a recent Greek-Cypriot taverna formed by childhood reminiscence, household recipes {and professional} expertise – and a shared obsession with charcoal grills.
Wallpaper* dines at Zylia, London
The temper: Constructed on distinction
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Emma Pharaoh)
The concept for Zylia’s interiors took form over a number of Cypriot beers in Nicosia. Architect and Purple Deer co-founder Lionel Actual de Azúa was being proven round Cyprus by Karacostas when the pair started speaking concerning the distinction between glossy trendy design and the items Karacostas had grown up surrounded by. ‘We needed to deliver collectively the arrogance and magnificence of the London hospitality scene with the heat, generosity and familiarity of your giagiá’s eating desk or native taverna,’ Actual de Azúa says.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Emma Pharaoh)
Delicate Lefkara lace sits in opposition to stainless-steel tables and shelving, handwoven wicker bread baskets sourced from Limassol relaxation in opposition to stripped-back London brick, and a service counter is constructed from stone quarried at Gerolakkos. ‘Nothing is meant to really feel nostalgic,’ Actual de Azúa says, ‘however all the things carries a way of reminiscence and patina.’ His reference level all through was Diporto, the 139-year-old taverna in a basement close to Athens Central Market. ‘The supplies are easy, the proportions are proper, and the sweetness comes from authenticity.’
(Picture credit score: Picture by Emma Pharaoh)
The opposite reference level got here from the menu itself, with Molyviatis’s sheftalia – small, rustic, packing a punch – changing into a sort of metaphor for the design transient. ‘There’s a directness to each the meals and the inside,’ Actual de Azúa says of particulars corresponding to conventional Cypriot tiles and inexperienced leather-based cubicles. ‘Heat comes from texture, craftsmanship and use slightly than embellishment.’
The meals: Dip and blend
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Emma Pharaoh)
These sheftalia seem as 4 chubby caul fat-wrapped pork parcels resting on sliced onion, parsley and sumac – however earlier than that, order some bread, which arrives as a basket of oregano-flecked heat pitta to dredge via creamy-and-crunchy taramasalata with cracked carob rusk or smashed feta and yoghurt adorned with a roasted chilli pepper to mash up for warmth.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Emma Pharaoh)
Then it’s a case of pick-and-mixing your means via a collection of small plates corresponding to Metsovone cheese balls slicked with honey, or a recent spin on spanakopita offered as a pastry stack of crispy hand-stretched filo, earlier than hitting up the charcoal grill for a heap of chops (pork, beef or lamb), or the home particular of milk-fed lamb shoulder kleftiko, a blanket of slow-cooked consolation meals. Both means, a bowl of hand-cut chips is non-negotiable.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Emma Pharaoh)
Wines are Greek, beers Cypriot and the cocktails a mix of cutting-edge mixology and Mediterranean components: as artistic a mix of heritage and here-and-now as the remainder of this place.
Zylia is situated at 6 Bedford Road, London, WC2E 9HZ, United Kingdom
