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Papillon: Channelling the Flair of Parisian Bistros in the Athenian Suburbs

Words by Eric David

Athens, Greece

Located in the Northern Athenian suburb of Neo Psychiko, Papillon is an all-day bar & restaurant that embodies the bistro culture of Paris and New York in both spirit and aesthetics. Designed by the architecture studio Minas Kosmidis Architects through a retrospective study of European and American bistros, Papillon reflects on the past, from the Belle Époque to the Jazz Age, through a filter of contemporary sensibility and casual elegance.

Entering the establishment, you are welcomed by the bar area, a tall space of hardwood floors, floral wallpaper and coffered ceilings that immediately seduces you with its charm and elegance, pretty much like a butterfly whose french word the establishment takes its name from. Small, round tables with iron bases, bentwood chairs and a long, maroon, leather booth evince a French bistro ambiance while an eclectic selection of paintings, quirkily aligned high up, just below the ceiling on the wall opposite the bar, provide a more playful note. Meanwhile, the use of white marble, walnut wood and brass provide a sense of luxury.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Image

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

The restaurant area is a more orderly arranged space, housed under a glass pitched roof, which, along with the plants that flow off the pendant lights and the herbaceous wallpaper reverberating through mirrored walls, references the botanical glasshouses of 19th century Europe. In the back, a deli bar alludes to the food markets of the same era, while on the side, a niche space enveloped by large decorative tiles has an elite Victorian look. Marble-top tables, Thonet Prague chairs with leather upholstery and minimal brass light fittings complete an environment that transport both in a sense of time and place.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Image

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

  • Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

    Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

  • Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

    Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

  • Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

    Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Image

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Image

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Image

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.

Photo by Ioanna Roufopoulou.