By Four Seasons Magazine
Chef Adam Kodovas’s two-year-old Ex Machina, located on a steep street in Pangrati, is equally rooted in Greek produce, peppered with influences and ingredients drawn from his Greek-Egyptian background and experience working in restaurants overseas. Kodovas’s food is reflective of his multicultural heritage, made with around 95 percent Greek products complemented by spices from Cairo’s Khān al-Khalīli bazaar, miso from Japan, and curry from Thailand and India. Many dishes evolve with the changing seasons, while those that don’t rely on seasonality stay true to their original form all year. The eggplant tartlet with miso, aged cheese, and feteer (a type of layered pastry) takes its inspiration from an Egyptian chef’s recipe and the markets of Cairo. Zero-waste gyoza are based on kitchen trimmings made into a rich ragu. No Man’s Pasta is a permanent favourite on the menu, inspired by a dish Kodovas’s mother called “orphan’s pasta.” “She used to make it when we couldn’t afford to have pasta with meat, and instead we’d just have it with butter and cheese,” he says. “I turn it into a kind of Japanese tsukemen dipping noodle dish, with a thick broth from fish trimmings smoked over fire in the bottom of the bowl.” On the surface it looks like plain pasta. Mix it all up, and it’s a delicious discovery.
Kodovas—whose many tattoos include the phrase “Hold Fast” inked across his fingers—feels that his background brings something different to the Athens food scene. His parents split up when he was nine years old, and he spent much of his life ignoring his Egyptian heritage. But a chance encounter with some customers from Cairo during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a chain of events that included a return to Egypt after 30 years, a family reunion, and the opening of Ex Machina with his new Egyptian friends as co-investors. “The name of the restaurant, from the phrase deus ex machina, refers to solving an unsolvable problem,” he says. “I made a lot of mistakes on the way, but I’m now at the stage in my life where I have this experience, and I can offer something unique. I developed a style of food that can’t easily be replicated, and I think it’s exciting.”