Meet the souvlaki wrapper who’s served Athens for over 20 years

He’s been some grill antheral and assembler, but successful caller years he’s focused connected wrapping – a humble, specialized and often overlooked craft. Regulars astatine Lefteris O Politis cognize Christos Patestos, possibly not by name, but arsenic the acquainted fig who, for much than twenty years, has stood by the small window astatine the acold extremity of the stainless-steel counter, his hands moving so accelerated they’re astir a blur arsenic helium rolls incredibly juicy beef patties into pita-wrapped treats. (In Greek, his relation adjacent has its ain name: tylichtis.)

“Two without tomato. Four with everything. Five with everything, two separately. Ten. One without onion.” Orders rainfall down successful a torrent of numbers and preferences, but Christos stays calm, steady and unflappable. “This 1 I’ve wrapped the different way round,” helium says with a smile – his trick to marque the spicy patty version distinguishable from Lefteris’ classical beef patty. Watching him fold and manus implicit bundles of pita to bare hands astatine midday is capable to assistance your mood.

Beside him, the grill antheral presses the flatbreads firmly, letting them soak up the meat’s juices. It’s a perfectly tuned instrumentality that’s been moving since 1951, this instauration called Lefteris O Politis, employing lone radical who cognize their trade and work with care, close successful the bosom of Omonia.

[Angelos Giotopoulos]

“When I archetypal came here, each I knew astir souvlaki was however to devour it,” Christos recalls, his hands moving with magician’s speed arsenic helium works. “Back then, the precocious Lefteris was here, and I was fortunate capable to autumn successful with two existent masters who taught maine things I’ve held connected to ever since. I cognize some the grilling and the wrapping. Lefteris ever said that everyone successful the store should cognize however to bash everything.

“With souvlaki, the concealed is successful the pressing of the pita connected top of the patty. That’s where each the spirit comes from. In astir different souvlaki joints, they conscionable dunk the pita successful lipid – it’s a wholly antithetic thing. And of course, there’s the patty itself. Just 5 ingredients, that’s all, but axenic and caller each day.

“And the different happening that matters,” helium adds, “is to ever spot the lawsuit arsenic if they were you.”

[Angelos Giotopoulos]

The reflector successful beforehand of him is an indispensable tool. Christos spends astir of his displacement with his backmost to the crowd, particularly when things get hectic and helium needs to capable pitas and wrap nonstop. Through the reflector helium keeps an oculus connected customers, exchanging speedy nods, while his hands determination connected autopilot. “I could bash it with my eyes closed,” helium says. Pita, patty, tomato, finely chopped bulb mixed with parsley, a pinch of salt, a sprinkle of reddish pepper, a deft spin of the paper, fold astatine the basal – and backmost to the start. Every so often, helium sweeps the station cleanable of stray salt, peppers and onions. If helium finds two spare minutes, he’ll drawback his enactment and refill the saltshaker from a large jug. “Three pending. Four with everything?” – and the wrapping resumes.

“Mr. Lefteris and present Tasos (the founder’s son, who has since taken over) are the benignant of bosses everyone wishes they had. I retrieve Lefteris coming successful early, having his coffee, sitting astatine the corner, watching us work. He enjoyed it all, helium truly did. If you made a mistake, he’d ne'er scold you. He’d jot it down connected a slip of insubstantial and astatine the extremity of the displacement he’d say, ‘At a 4th to twelve, you made this mistake,’ ever calmly, kindly,” Christos recalls.

“At first, my souvlaki would autumn apart; I didn’t cognize what I was doing. But I wanted to learn. One greeting Lefteris said, ‘You’ll spell up front.’ I told him, ‘I can’t.’ He said, ‘You’ll bash it.’ So I took a breath, stepped up, and when I looked up there was a enactment down me… Oh boy! The bully happening is that I didn’t freeze.”

As helium speaks, helium dusts 1 souvlaki generously with reddish capsicum for a lawsuit who wanted it other spicy. On a abstracted support sits a small instrumentality with rings of horn pepper, reserved for those who inquire for the extra-hot version – known, half-jokingly, arsenic “the man’s souvlaki.”

“There are so galore people. One lawsuit mightiness bid 40 souvlakia, the adjacent 17, the third conscionable two. If you’re not speedy and the enactment is waiting, the grumbling starts, then the shouting. The different day, the Hondos Center staff ordered 250 souvlakia during inventory – and we still had a store afloat of radical to serve! Sometimes we start astatine eleven successful the greeting and support going straight done until 5 without stopping for a single second. That’s when you enactment your caput down and work.”

“You person to beryllium organized, clean, and person a bully memory,” helium adds. And indeed, Christos remembers faces, preferences and small details. He and the grill antheral tease each other, but they work successful cleanable sync. “That’s the concealed – 1 completes the other. We’re similar household here.”

[Angelos Giotopoulos]

As helium wraps mine, we negociate a fewer much speedy words:

What’s the strangest bid you’ve heard?
“Someone erstwhile called capsicum ‘cinnamon.’ And different asked maine to permission retired the bulb and grate successful a small cucumber instead!”

How galore souvlakia bash you think you’ve wrapped?
“Too many… countless.”

And bash you still devour souvlaki, oregon are you sick of it?
“Can’t you tell?! After each these years, there isn’t a single time I don’t devour astatine slightest one.”

[Editor’s note: In Athens and the surrounding region, the term “souvlaki” refers to immoderate pita-wrapped cooked meat, alternatively than conscionable the skewered cubes of grilled pork, chickenhearted oregon lamb known by this sanction elsewhere.]

This portion archetypal appeared successful Gastronomos, Kathimerini’s nutrient magazine.