Vibo: All about the good life and good wine!

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Vibo Bistro in Glyfada ©Giannis Serefos

The bustling bar at Vibo Bistro in Glyfada ©Yiannis Seferos

Vibo, we are told, is short for Vita Buona or the Good Life and we’re heartily recommending this new boho-chic arrival, just off Grigoriou Lambrakis Ave, full of painted ceilings and tasteful decor.

You will want to know what eating here is like. Tables have been set on the pavement to enforce the necessary social distancing and the horse-shoe bar is designed for well-spaced counter dining. 

So what’s new, you ask? Wine bars claiming to revolutionise the approach to wine to make it accessible and democratic and fun aren’t exactly novel. But few have succeeded to appeal to wine-fetishists and rookies alike. Vibo somehow manages to make its choice of  100 labels extremely personal and eccentric with an extraordinarily large range available by the glass. Expect regular themed nights, tastings and inventive mood and food pairings. You can buy what you taste, and even concoct your own cocktail!

Vibo Bistro in Glyfada: A station for light, gourmet meals and after-work drinks ©Yiannis Seferos

Open all day, the food is a selection of refined starters to heartier fare. There is something sublime for every hyphenated diet, morning to night, and it is a delicious, nourishing mouthful! Think light, cleverly recreated,  flavour-packed bites with Greek star ingredients.  For those of you who have already enjoyed a fine meal at any of the award-winning restaurants Skrebos has been associated with, you know that its all about a subtle play of textures and flavours, designed to surprise. The menu at Vibo reflects that same mix of high-quality ingredients in unexpected combinations that makes an on-the-go experience a truly refined one. Sate your post-gym hunger pangs with a power breakfast with superfood-enriched oat bars, organic eggs, asparagus,  kale and mortadella. For a more-ish lunch break, try the rib-eye steak sandwich with mustard and graviera or our fave lentils with  orange,  salmon trout and Kritamo greens or the playful sushi dolmades (why didn’t anyone think of that earlier?) with a spumante of grape vine leaves.

Everything from the coffee beans to the cured meats and produce is sourced from small, fair-trade producers, every dish, a conduit for a story.

Panagiotis Frangos brings his years of experience representing fine spirits and distillates to add his own thumbprint to the wine and cocktails list: For special occasions, pop open a Taittinger Brut or a Dom Perignon. Our favourite whites are all available here: Domaine Sigalas’ feted Assyrtiko from Santorini, a stand-out Malagouzia from Kthma Zafeirakis, and if you haven’t tried the extremely rare Vidiano variety, native to Crete, we suggest you opt for Aspros Lagos from the extremely consistent Doloufakis Winery.

Curated coffee at Vibo Bistro in Glyfada ©Yiannis Seferos

Skrebos and Frangos have a reputation in the industry as gourmet nerds and that obsession with their craft comes through in gleaming detail at Vibo. 

Vibo is a terrific outdoorsy solution to our new-normal and definitely an uplifting counterpoint to our ambiguous times.