Port of Piraeus

The pristine white tiles that engulf you inside the Port of Piraeus Market have their desired effect—they remind you of the sunny, carefree architecture of the Greek coast. Or maybe they just remind you of Zaytinya. Whatever, once you step foot in this downtown market, you can’t help but feel transported to a better place. The service is part of it. The folks behind the counter are uncommonly friendly, particularly for a bargain sandwich shop, as if the staff has gone through some sort of deli-employee deprogramming. The menu itself borrows from a number of cultures, from Cuba (a Cubano with an added surprise species: turkey) to American (barbecue chicken on, ahem, French bread) to Italy (a handful of fresh mozzarella sammies) and, of course, Greece. The Greek specialties run the gamet from spanakopita to gyros to a line of pizzas served on baked pita flatbread. The care that the kitchen staff puts into each plates is obvious, down to the house-roasted meats for its carving board sandwiches. But personally, I don’t visit Port of Piraeus for any of these reasons. I visit the place for virtually one reason alone: Twice a week, the market gets a shipment of frozen bagels from H&H in New York City, arguably the world’s most famous bagelry. The bagels sit there, rather unceremoniously, in a basket at the end of the glass counter, looking stale and tasteless. But go ahead and order one—or a dozen. The crunch and chewiness are still there, and the flavor is perfect, at once yeasty and malty and ever so sweet. They’re reminders of the poor state of the bagel in this town.
—Tim Carman, September 24, 2008