When Alexandre and Grégory - two French guys with roots from the South of France - came to Greece for work purposes, it didn’t take long for them to fall in love with the country: its inspirational way of living, one-of-a-kind terroir, and of course, its filoxenia - Greece’s world-famous hospitality.
Still, they were nostalgic for their childhood, especially their grandmothers’ delicious cooking, showcasing all the delights of French Provence. One day in Athens, inspiration struck: why not bring their grandmothers’ secret Provençal home cooking to Greece, but with a twist, incorporating the generous ingredients of the Greek terroir? La Cigale, where French Provence meets Greece’s terroir.
Named after the cicada that fills French Provence with its song every summer, the name also references the most famous fable written by Esop the Greek, effortlessly merging the two countries and their myths.
The venue, located in Timotheou 1-3, Pagrati, is a wine bar/mezze place inspired by the old bistros you come across in Nice, Marseille, or Aix-en-Provence, but with a modern twist. Everything has been designed with careful attention to detail.
From the colorful tiles mixed with wood, the bar filled with plants, to a variety of colors and materials inspired by the South of France, La Cigale seeks to transport patrons to the golden age of French Provence, in a contemporary and minimal way.
More than a bar, La Cigale is an experience: with an “at-home” atmosphere, it’s a place where you gather with your family and friends for a Signature Cocktail, a typical mezze from the South of France, including a selection of French and Greek wines to take home with you.
As days get longer, a beautiful outdoor space situated in a pedestrian street, under the shade of trees, becomes the pièce de résistance of the venue. It’s the perfect place to relax while sipping a glass of wine, giving the impression of being the lead character of a book by Marcel Pagnol.
A true gateway to Provence in the heart of Athens.
Named after the cicada that fills French Provence with its song every summer, the name also references the most famous fable written by Esop the Greek, effortlessly merging the two countries and their myths.
The venue, located in Timotheou 1-3, Pagrati, is a wine bar/mezze place inspired by the old bistros you come across in Nice, Marseille, or Aix-en-Provence, but with a modern twist.
Everything has been designed with careful attention to detail. From the colorful tiles mixed with wood, the bar filled with plants, to a variety of colors and materials inspired by the South of France, La Cigale seeks to transport patrons to the golden age of French Provence, in a contemporary and minimal way. More than a bar, La Cigale is an experience: with an “at-home” atmosphere, it’s a place where you gather with your family and friends for a Signature Cocktail, a typical mezze from the South of France, including a selection of French and Greek wines to take home with you.
As days get longer, a beautiful outdoor space situated in a pedestrian street, under the shade of trees, becomes the pièce de résistance of the venue. It’s the perfect place to relax while sipping a glass of wine, giving the impression of being the lead character of a book by Marcel Pagnol.
La Cigale’s menu is inspired by Alexandre’s and Grégory’s grandmothers. All the mezze proposed on the menu draw their origins from the South of France and are translated using Greek ingredients.
From the socca to the pissaladière, not forgetting the tapenade or tomatade, all these childhood recipes have been twisted and modernized by Dominique Perrot: the famous French Chef who was managing the kitchen of the Palais de l’Elysée when François Mitterand was President (from 1983 to 1986).
He is now the Food Consultant of La Cigale and has trained a local Chef to carefully choose and create Provençal recipes with the most generous flavors Greece offers.
La Cigale offers locally sourced organic & fresh products. In addition, the place offers platters of cheeses and cold cuts carefully selected and imported from France.
The bar proposes low ABV Signature Cocktails, made of wine, mixing French & Greek inspirations, and named after French icons, such as Grace Kelly, Brigitte Bardot and Marcel Pagnol.
Spirits imported from France such as Ricard and Pastis are also available. The owners from La Cigale have paid particular attention to the wine menu.
They spent a year searching, tasting, and carefully selecting wines from professional winemakers in France and in Greece with small and quality-oriented production.
They created a menu of high-quality wines (some of them are PGI and/or biological wines), at decent prices, where all the aromas and flavors complete each other and could match each of the mezzes of the menu.
The two owners say: “La Cigale is a dream come true. We met each other in Athens and discovered we had a lot in common.
We are both from the South of France, we are proud of our origins, family is the most important thing to us and we both wanted to open a bar. After 4 years of being best friends and falling in love with Greece, we decided it was about time to build this project.
La Cigale is a tribute to our friendship, our origins, and our family who inspire us every day and above all, a love letter to Greece.”
