Athens is a surreal and unpredictable city. We need brothels – personal “sanctuaries” that serve as an antidote to the hardships of daily life in the center. Closed for several months for renovation, the cafe of the Benaki Museum has literally changed and is waiting for us like a small oasis opposite the National Garden. The paintings of Antonis Kyriakoulis were removed from the walls and moved to the artworks and documents that once adorned the emblematic “Fofi Restaurant Bar” opened by Fofi Akritakis in Berlin from 1977 to 1997. Among its patrons were Richard Burton, John Le Carré, Francis Bacon, Giannis Cunelli, Heiner Miller, Rebecca Horn, Roberto Benini and Peter Stein.

Who was Fofi? A megalomaniac personality, an Egyptian who speaks several languages, married Alexis Akritakis and gave birth to a daughter, Chloe. In 1969, her husband received a scholarship from the German state and left for West Berlin. When they ran out of that money, she started working in restaurants to make ends meet. At some point, she also opened her own, which became one of the most famous in the city, in an era of freedom and madness, symbolizing precisely this spirit of the times. Incredible festivities were organized in its hall, songs and dances continued until the morning, almost every day they redeemed the entire supply of dishes broken the night before. And the artists, choreographers, philosophers, dancers, actors who were often there left gifts of love, works of art, artistic creations with tablecloths, notes and letters to Fofi.

These documents, collected after her death, have now been given to Compari and will become a permanent decoration of the café. What could be more appropriate to collect all the memories in the museum restaurant in the form of a huge art installation that combines a note in French by Yannis Kounellis with the work of Martin Kippenberger, Konstantinos Xenakis and many others who have experienced the euphoric atmosphere of Fofi’s work? score ; The idea to bring the spirit of Berlin to Athens came about through the collaboration of Chloe Akritakis, curator Alexios Papazacharias and the people of Benakis, who saw an opportunity for a top-notch update with style and aesthetics. As for the menu of Greek flavors, curated by Takis Christofileas’ Diner Sophistrio, it has kept the best-selling dolmadas and meatballs from the past with new additions. The best news is that the Benaki restaurant in Compari is independent of the museum’s opening hours and will be open from 10am. until 1:00 every day except Tuesday. You were in a hurry.