Ex Machina wows with limitless creativity
Pangrati has now firmly established itself as the destination for creative chefs, and Adam Kontovas’ culinary lab Ex Machina on Empedokleous street is a celebration of fusion food done right. Audacious cuisine, great value-for-money, and attentive service.
Chef Adam Kontovas demonstrates his culinary prowess combining unlikely flavours and textures to craft a memorable dining experience, thankfully minus the pretentiousness of a stuffy haute gastronomy restaurant. The décor here is industrial, with an open kitchen where Kontovas and his team concoct Ex Machina’s inventive cuisine. Konstantina Korda, with her distinctive headgear, is the restaurant manager, and her knack of making guests feel welcome is as responsible for wanting us to revisit as Kontovas’ cooking skills. Adam Kontovas credits his restaurant launch down to a series of unlikely cosmic coincidences – a chance encounter with a group of diners culminated in an offer to run a restaurant in Cairo, a city he hadn’t visited since his parents had separated when he was still a young child.(Adam’s father is Egyptian, mother Greek). His stint in Cairo motivated him to set up his own restaurant and at Ex Machina, he pays homage to his dual heritage, experimenting with Levantine flavours and Greek produce.
Ex Machina serves as a culinary playground for Kontovas’s unapologetic vision of fusion cuisine, showcasing a bold amalgam of improbable flavours. Standout dishes on the menu include the crunchy eggplant tart, blue crab omelette with bottarga from Messolonghi, crispy cauliflower dusted with espresso, seared Egyptian taameya with green fava and soy mayonnaise. Other highlights include tender grilled octopus with citrus sauce and udon with a smoky XO sauce.
Empedokleous 34, Pangrati. Tel: 210 7560362. for reservations, book here
