The Clumsies
Consistently serving thousands of bespoke cocktails every week, the internationally renowned Athens bar Clumsies plays with the idea of “perfect imperfection.” “We take everyday occurrences, like spilling drinks and being moderately sloppy, and make these ordinary faults seem totally natural,” says co-owner Vasilis Kyritsis. Currently ranked as number four on The World’s 50 Best Bars list, The Clumsies has maintained its place in the top ten since 2016.
Nestled inside a charming century-old, two-story house in the center of town, this all-day spot is a bastion of genuine and spontaneous Greek hospitality. The day begins with the interior spaces drenched in natural light, evolving as the hours pass into an intimate hideaway ideal for a night out.
Kyritsis and partner Nikos Bakoulis, along with a carefully curated team of bartenders (“our daily heroes”), have developed a formula for bottling the core essences of drinks, enabling them to serve signature creations by mixing only two potions. These have been carefully crafted, taking the process of “pre-batching” to the highest level.
Snacks by chef Athinagoras Kostakos include corky but delicious Chicken Eats
Cornflakes, a house oxtail pastitsio and spicy shrimp taco, while the current cocktail menu, dubbed Feelings, aims to communicate emotions in liquid form. Happiness is embodied in X-Tasis, a sweet-and-sour blend of buttered Zacapa rum, passion fruit, pineapple and fermented milky oolong tea. Excitement is evoked by the Bouncy Highball, a fizzy drink with Tanqueray No. Ten gin, Mancino secco vermouth, apricot vinegar and tamarillo soda. For a little tenderness, try Bee’s Gifts, a sweet cocktail of Bulleit bourbon, mead honey vinegar, hazelnut and Pedro Ximenez. Next up for Bakoulis and Kyritsis? Line, which specializes in grapeless wines and house-fermented spirits. theclumsies.gr