A Slow Food journey across Greece and Bulgaria

Your Slow Food journey begins in Athens, the capital of Greece. Home to thousands of restaurants, we recommend travelers to Athens seek out regional specialties, prepared with seasonal, local ingredients — and, when in doubt, don't be afraid to ask a local to recommend their favorite restaurants. 

• Start with a stop at Mokka, a specialty coffee shop where you can boost your energy with traditional Greek coffee brewed over hot sand.  
• Then, head next door to Varvakios Agora (also known as the Athens Central Market). With vendors selling vegetables, meats, soups and other foods, the historic food hall is an essential stop on any culinary tour of Athens.  
• Get an up-close look at your meal getting cooked to perfection by dining at Akra, a restaurant where chefs prepare food in an open kitchen. With a frequently changing menu, no visit will be the same – and make sure you save room for Akra’s celebrated pastries and desserts.  

Welcome to Larissa, located in Greece’s green and bountiful Thessaly region. Around the city lies sprawling farmland, where residents cultivate grains, watermelon, wine and beyond. “The growers and the farms – it’s like the lifeblood of everything,” said Sarah.   

• Taste modern Greek fare, with a nod to historic traditions, at Vosporos Restaurant and Bar in the Philippoupolis neighborhood of Larissa.  
• Book a pie-making workshop, a tour, or another activity at Tsiadi Farm, a biodynamic farm accessible by car from Larissa.  
• Take a 20-minute bus ride to Tyrnavos, a nearby town known for its Tsipouro and wine production. Producers such as Domaine D. Migas and Domaine Zafeirakis offer tours of their vineyards, giving travelers an up-close look at Thessalian wine production. 

Greece’s second biggest city may be best known for its White Tower, Byzantine baths and other noteworthy historical sites – but on this visit, take time to explore Thessaloniki’s vast culinary scene. In between meals, relax and catch an Aegean sunset as you stroll along the city's five-kilometer waterfront. 

• Start your time in Thessaloniki with a meal at Sintrofi, a restaurant known for its organic dishes in the city's Ladadika neighborhood.
• After spending time exploring Thessaloniki, take a day trip to Kourtis Winery near Katerini, just an hour away from Thessaloniki by car. In the shadow of Mount Olympus, visitors can sample cheeses and meats from the nearby Fotiadis Farm, a traditional black pig farm. "We met the creators of the food that we were going to eat,” said Belinda. “Everyone wanted to stay there, everyone wanted to move in.” 
• Spend an evening at the landmark waterfront restaurant Olympos Naoussa. The most essential dish to try while in Thessaloniki? Belinda posed this question to the chef at Olympos Naoussa. “He didn’t even hesitate,” Belinda described, thinking back on their conversation. “It was ‘mussels, from out there.’ And by ‘out there,’ he means the sea.”

Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria, is the perfect place to begin sampling the best of Bulgarian cuisine. Dining in Bulgaria feels like “a real celebration,” said Ella. “That’s what makes the food culture [in Sofia] special.”

• Get acquainted with traditional Bulgarian cuisine with a visit to Staria Chinar or Pod Lipite, a restaurant which produces almost all of its ingredients at a nearby farm.  
• Visit one of Sofia’s open-air farmers markets (such as the Roman Wall Market, hosted on Saturday mornings) and get the chance to taste vegetables, fruits and other produce grown near Sofia.  
• Step into the stars with a visit to Cosmos Restaurant, which serves traditional Bulgarian dishes in a futuristic, space-inspired setting. “We work with a lot of products from different farmers, different small producers. We try to provide everything which is in season,” described head chef Vladi Penov.