A façade splashed with ultramarine blue and tangerine-orange athletic figures, emblazoned with a winged mermaid sign… This is how the Taverna burst onto the scene, seemingly sprung from the thigh of Zeus, tucked into a Cours Julien back alley, exactly a year ago. Longtime pals Guillaume Dumas (a former Athens resident) and half-Greek Fiola Lecuyer (ex-Brutal wine bar, Les Deux Gares and Le Goncourt, all in Paris) have gone full Hellenic, embracing the whitewashed walls of traditional Greek taverns, to create a warm, sun-bleached atmosphere. And here, it’s definitely not all Greek to them. The short, seasonal menu leans into simple yet generous meze: silky taramasalata (none of that the radioactive pink nonsense) for a drachma; a Cretan salad anchored by a hunk of paximadi barley bread, seared feta and a balsamic-honey drizzle that leaves you blissfully dippy; zucchini fritters with a minty yogurt sauce that makes you wonder who’s accompanying whom; and perfectly flash-seared octopus with a smear of fava bean purée, caramelized onions and pickles. Seal the deal with a slab of baklava sidled up to a scoop of fior di latte ice cream. Olympian stuff! · Jessica Fletcher

FEELING THIRSTY? 100% natural wines from Greece and beyond: a red Mavro Kalavrytino from Domaine Tetramythos in the Pelponnese (€36 a bottle) or Évolution d’Octobre, a pinot gris, blanc and noir blend from Lambert Spielmann in Alsace (€36). Mythos beer (€4 for 330 ml), Zéma kombucha (€5 for 330 ml), plus ouzo (Plomari at €3.50 or Giannatsis at €4.50 for 40 ml) and raki (single-varietal Tsikoudia at €6 for 40 ml). Need we say more?

PRICE: Meze €8 to €15, desserts €7