You probably haven’t heard of the bougatsan – because 10 months ago it didn’t exist. This fusion pastry was borne of the financial crisis and the Instagram generation. It combines a croissant with the thick custard that usually oozes out of a bougatsa, a layered filo pie from northern Greece.
In 2013, Kostas Kapetanakis and his wife Maria were made redundant from government jobs and chanced their savings on launching a cafe on Pavlou Mela Street in central Thessaloniki. They called it Estrella.
Its success was aided hugely by the invention – by their chef/manager Dimitris Koparanis – of the bougatsan, which as well as tasting good, looks amazing, especially when topped with chocolate or hundreds and thousands. When Koparanis made it, named it and uploaded a picture on Instagram, the bougatsan went viral and sold out immediately.
In keeping with their philosophy of boldness and experimentation, the cafe owners gave Koparanis lots of free time to create other new dishes, including pork-infused gruyère popcorn, salads served in jam jars and pizzas made from koulouri dough, the traditional pretzel-type sesame bread.
His latest innovation is French eclairs made with Greek ingredients such as tahini, mountain tea and mastic in a collaboration with Hatzifotiou, a far more traditional patisserie over the road. They have also done a new take on pouraki (cigar-shaped waffle-rolls).
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