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Join us in this exciting episode of the Expat Experts Podcast as we dive into Athens' best kept food secrets with Gol Ebrahimpour! If you’re an expat or thinking about embracing the expat life in Greece, this interview is packed with invaluable insights and tips. Discover hidden culinary gems and the best restaurants in Athens that will tantalize your taste buds.
Gol shares her firsthand experiences about navigating the local food scene, essential expat tips, and the unique aspects of living in Athens that every food explorer should know. Whether you're a remote worker, a content creator, or simply someone looking to explore Athens’ vibrant food culture, this episode is for you!
Don't miss this chance to learn about Greece's delicious cuisine, food prices, and how to make the most of your expat lifestyle. Tune in for a delightful conversation that will inspire your next culinary adventure in Athens!
Subscribe for more expat interviews, expert advice, and tips on thriving in your new home!
*Episode parts:*
0:00 - Intro
1:34 - The expat: Gol Ebrahimpour
7:08 - Cultural Differences and the Sense of Belonging
18:10 - The Importance of Networking as an Expat
27:23 - The expert: Food lover content creator
27:55 - Transition from Hobby to Career in Food Blogging
33:08 - The Importance of Organic Growth and Authenticity
55:12 - Outro
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*About Expat Experts:*
Expats Experts is an interview video-podcast where guests from around the world who are currently living or used to live outside of their home land share their experiences as foreigners. On top of that, we discuss and analyse a topics that the guest has experience with and if living abroad changed it.
Episode Transcript:
0:00
recording from food Paradise Athens this episode will for sure spark your
0:05
appetite so grab and a snack before we start today we will talk with go ibraim
0:11
po a passionate food lover and explorer who has made it her mission to enover the best culinary germs in Athens and
0:19
cologne born in Germany cologne from an Iranian family go has been living in
0:26
Athens for over one year bringing her unique perspective and
0:32
love for the food that this city can offer Jonas as we dive into Go's
0:39
fascinating Journey favorite dining Sports and the cultural differences
0:45
between food and experiences that has happened in her
0:53
life this is expat experts the podcast that dives into the fascinating lives of
0:58
those who've lived and worked across borders exploring the challenges experiences and insights they've gained along the
1:06
way but as always before we dive into today's episode I want to remind to all
1:11
of our listeners that the best way to stay tuned with the latest episodes is to subscribe to the YouTube channel and
1:17
also in your favorite audio platform for extra insights and Exclusive Calls
1:23
one-onone on creating your own podcast YouTube channel or navigating the expert live please check our website expat
1:30
exprs podcast.com or check the link in the description the expat go
1:38
abraa first also thank you for the for the space it's amazing so um how how was
1:45
it for you like what when it comes the the decision of moving to Greece why why did you decide to come here uh I was
1:52
always a big fan of Greece um I was living in Barcelona actually um
1:57
200 2006 actually yeah was living in Barcelona for half a year but uh I
2:02
really enjoyed living there I really like the Mediterranean flare and but I was really young and everything was exciting of course so um Greece was
2:10
always for me and my family also since I'm a little child it was U our favorite
2:15
travel destination and I had always good memories of Greece so um I never had it
2:23
in mind that was different from Spain or Italy I always thought okay it's all the same South on Europe it's more or less
2:30
uh the same Vibe and stuff but uh somehow in August 2022 I was doing a little island hopping Tour by myself and
2:38
uh for some reasons I I didn't uh do it on on purpose I came here the moment
2:43
when everything was shut down everything was closed all the restaurants and stuff and I was um I didn't realize no one
2:51
told me about it some people said U it's closed or something for this day but I didn't understand was a whole entire
2:57
period of time while I was staying in Athens for two weeks it was after all this islands and but I enjoyed the silence
3:04
because I had this Island Vibes I was in kefalonia and saking TOs and then I was
3:09
here in Athens and I wanted to have food and go for coffee go for restaurants and check them out but everything was closed
3:16
on Google Maps nothing um was right I I walked it's still not right no no they
3:23
didn't manage to put it uh offline or to to write we are on holidays or temporary
3:28
clothes so I basically walked the entire day with 35 Dees outside I was almost
3:34
dying but it was um at least it was quiet no cars on the street so I was basically walking and looking for
3:41
restaurants where I could have lunch or drink a coffee somewhere and um yeah I
3:47
it was a little bit frustrating so I I after a while I had a big list of restaurants that I want to check out
3:54
because I was looking on Google Maps uh and then I saw ah this restaurant is rated good this one is good and I looked
4:00
it up on Instagram Etc so after a few days I had already I don't know 50 spots
4:06
on my list which are all U closed or yeah gone for summer holidays and um I
4:15
thought hm I was here in essence already a few years ago in winter and it was super nice it was like spring Sun was
4:21
shining so maybe not why not moving here for a few months maybe in Winter I could
4:27
just stay here for four months so I don't get depressed in Germany with all the rain and clouds um and I told my
4:34
friends about my idea and they said yeah we are actually leaving to Africa we want to travel so you can stay in our
4:41
apartment and there are these kind of people like backpacking and um um yeah
4:47
alternative people and they were super easy with that they said oh yeah our apartment is in petala and during that
4:53
time I wasn't an Airbnb in P okay and I didn't know the area before because before when I was in Athens a few times
4:59
for um I was always an exarchia so it was such a coincidence for me um to be
5:05
in one area and I was like okay this is crazy that they are living 10 minutes from my Airbnb so I just stepped there
5:12
and I looked at the apartment I really liked it and they gave me the key so in August
5:17
2022 uh I decided to move here at least for a few months to Athens it was really
5:23
convenient to reach everything in P of course there's a lot of nice restaurants
5:28
there and um some old taverns it has a nice Vibe you're in two metro stops
5:35
you're in the center um I really enjoyed living there and uh but I didn't want to
5:40
move yet back to Germany I was going forth and back um so yeah I um a friend
5:48
of a friend said um it's a German guy he said uh I have an apartment I was like
5:53
oh my God okay it could be everywhere and I was so in love with patal I was so anxious that it's in the last corner of
6:00
essence I don't know it could be in every part of town and I was I was prepared for the worst I was really like
6:06
mentally I was like well let's let me see it let me have a look I mean I can
6:12
always say no but I was so anxious and then he sent me the pictures I was like okay I take it so this was the and
6:19
that's when you moved here yes so you said before coming to Greece you were already living abroad like you moved
6:26
from from Germany to to Barcelona it was 2006 only for half a year just for an
6:32
internship but it was a memorable times I had the best time I mean I was super
6:37
young and um after um after school and um before my studies so um I picked up
6:45
the language really easy by the way okay I learned Spanish on the streets but I I
6:50
always had the feeling I could do it do the same here in Greece but uh it sounds similar it is not as easy I think yeah
6:58
somehow I thought okay I'm going to pick up some words because I'm really talented with languages but uh it didn't
7:03
work so now I'm doing a course hopefully soon yeah yeah Greek it's another
7:08
recurrent Topic in this podcast it's a very complex language to learn um so
7:14
yeah you move here a little bit like okay I come for some days then I come for some months and you stayed for more
7:20
than one year right now so are you planning to stay or I'm planning to stay uh I really feel comfortable here and I
7:27
realize that the greekman mentality and culture are really similar to um what's
7:33
important to my values and stuff to to be generous to share everything to um
7:39
look for other people to look after some after people being hospital um Hospital
7:46
Hospitality yes Hospitality being um guest friendly and stuff so um these are values that are
7:53
really important to me so I really enjoy being here um in contrast to Germany
7:59
where everything is more U concentrated on yourself and
8:04
um where you always being I was always being told in Germany you have to lower your expectations you should not have
8:11
any expectation on no one but I don't know maybe it was just me or the Persian
8:17
culture that I always thought we are all one Society but uh and I want to be like
8:22
in a society where people take care of each other and um um help each other
8:28
when there's problems of course you can always do everything by yourself if you're strong enough but sometimes like
8:34
for example the mattress if I tell you like can you just give me a hand to put up the mattress I mean I'm strong but
8:39
still sometimes you need someone you have to ask for help so yeah I really like um the mentality and culture and
8:46
the people here nice yes you just said something also very crucial I suppose
8:52
for you in your life and it's that you were raised by another kind of culture
8:57
in a different country how was that like because your parents are from Iran both of them so you have
9:04
like more a Persian approach on life and everything which is not I assume not very similar to the German approach on
9:11
things how how how does that work for you I mean um for my parents it was of
9:16
course not easy um to come from a middle eastern culture to to Germany to a
9:22
complete other culture with another language with other um everything new
9:27
friends new job uh the studies were not accepted there they had to start from the scratch it was really tough times
9:33
and um I think for them it was important that we integrate really well that we
9:39
are not um that we try to be as German as possible of course because if you a
9:45
Foreigner Foreigner in another country with black hair and you look different
9:51
um people treat you differently it's um no matter if on purpose or not but I'm
9:56
Not Lisa I'm not Anna I'm not Mrs Miller Mrs Mrs Schneider um so we were always
10:04
raised um to be as German as possible and to be like
10:09
um to be as our German friends also my mother would always tell me some stuff
10:14
like don't be so generous don't people take advantage of you um she tried to
10:21
just prepare me for um for the world make you fit into a society that was
10:28
different makesense and um I don't know we were raised Iranian at home of course
10:33
with a lot of food with a lot lot of like all my friends were invited to eat with us and uh a table full of food when
10:41
friends came over and um but yeah there were a lot of differences it was difficult for me to um to see why is it
10:49
at home like this outside like outside why is everyone else different why do I
10:55
not get uh the same amount of food why is not every why am I asking to go away when the friends of mine have lunch
11:02
after school when I go to their place they would say okay you have to go now because we are having lunch those kind
11:08
of small things um I think many people can relate to that many cultures but it
11:15
was weird I didn't understand those things um so um you never belong
11:22
somewhere for the Iranians I mean I I've been only once to Iran you are the German and for for the Iranian also so
11:29
the friends of my parents you are too too German to direct you are not so polite because you're not talking with
11:36
those sweet words and um they have a lot of like when they say goodbye it's like 15 minutes of uh yeah and flourishing
11:45
and I was not like this I was like bye and everyone would consider the Iranians
11:50
would consider super roue uh and for the Germans I was never the German no matter
11:56
how how I would um behave my myself how what I would say I would never be the
12:02
German um yeah so it was difficult you never belong somewhere you you for the
12:08
Germans you are not the German for the Iranians you are too German because you I also speak with a with a strong accent
12:14
okay so um they would say oh but you don't look Iranian or ah but you talk
12:20
like an a Afghan person because it sounds more like Daddy okay not not like
12:27
fary yeah it was um difficult but um I I really realized
12:33
since I'm here in Greece that everyone has black hair everyone's a little bit darker that also um um from from my
12:42
appearence I fit here better and I I'm not like ah among all these blondes I'm
12:48
not the one who's like pointing out and um being different because sometimes you
12:53
don't want to be in the center of attention but you are because you look different you know you are in a group of germ
12:59
you have the darker skin the darker hair of course you are like ah she's a foreigner yeah so here is the imigrant
13:06
all here is the like but I suppose like here in Greece you're finding something if you're willing to stay here it's like
13:13
okay you didn't feel like fully Iranian fully German but in here suddenly in a third country that you wouldn't mind you
13:20
didn't ever think about it you're starting to feel like it's also curious like it's also nice for you I mean it's
13:26
good that you find a place but um is it influenced also by the by the
13:31
lifestyle here it's not only about your appearance I suppose you feel comfortable like come on you have an
13:37
account of food and drinks if something is Athens and gree it's food and drinks
13:43
yes um can you repeat the question if if you feel like that your lifestyle also
13:48
fits very well with gree in that sense like um yes maybe um for the Germans I
13:54
was maybe sometimes a little bit too chaotic or something and too spontan
13:59
or um yeah maybe this fits good to the Greek lifestyle but I don't like I like
14:06
to be on time at some point like 15 minutes is the max that I'm late it's always those 15 minutes maybe this is
14:12
the German en me but um I like the way of Greeks enjoying life no matter if
14:18
it's food drinks um I mean I always say the day has 24 hours and only eight
14:24
hours if you have only one job of course um only eight hours of work so what are
14:29
you doing with the rest of your day and the Greeks they are not living to work
14:35
they are really living and enjoying their life no matter how hard they're working and uh coming to another Point
14:42
actually the Greeks are working more hard than Germans and it's really sad to hear and see how the image of Greeks is
14:49
um in outside of G Greece it's like being lazy and um not working much just
14:56
because you see them after work maybe having a coffee because they don't go home and live only
15:02
to work for someone else you know um I really like uh this about Greece and the
15:08
Greek people that they're really fully enjoying every day I have the feeling no matter how hard their life might be they
15:16
really enjoy the day with a coffee with a with food with friends everyone is
15:21
invited on the table you see all the big groups and maybe not everyone knows each other but it's not like one to one it's
15:27
the cousins and the girlfriend of the cousin and maybe the neighbor and everyone is gathering on the table and
15:34
sharing stuff stories food a sense of community I really like it what was the
15:41
thing that shocked you the most when you arrived here though like besides everything being
15:46
closed um how pedestrians uh how they really
15:51
don't give a about pest how how how you are in danger
15:57
everywhere like not only watch on the street but if you're on the sidewalk you're in danger there as well because
16:03
the motorbike would just go through the and uh it's crazy for me that
16:10
traffic light um it's like dark dark red and the cars would still go it still
16:15
surprised me how how less they look after you like some days of course I'm not always like turning my head like
16:22
this but some days I'm like on Google Maps and I'm just passing a street which I should not do of course but of course
16:28
it happens once in a while that I'm not paying attention and uh I'm really
16:33
shocked every day almost every day how the taxis and every other car is like
16:39
almost hitting me and I'm happy that I'm living and I'm still alive and there's
16:44
no accident yeah traffic it's a nightmare especially in Athens I would say like it's always this kind of thing
16:51
like even like you have a green light and if you pass and then a car is passing it's your fault that you're
16:57
Crossing and it's just like no it's I have a green light what are you telling me like it's It's Curious the whole
17:04
traffic uh thing in here what about language you said that you were planning
17:10
to start learning I wanted to um do it now actually at the moment in a school
17:15
here nearby in Nets but unfortunately I'm going on holiday so I would miss uh
17:21
one week I will start right after the um holidays so at the 22nd of August I will
17:27
do an intensive course because I'm too impatient to um wait long term yeah I
17:33
don't want to go once a week I want to see the progress right away it's going to be tough times but I'm going to U I
17:39
want to do one course after another so um hopefully in inshah as we say Iran in
17:46
half a year I will uh speak much better than now nice because I realized that um
17:54
after one and a half years here uh I really want to make some stronger connections with for the people and um I
18:00
realize that the English level is not always um given and it's frustrating for
18:06
both sides because um the Greeks feel sorry that they don't they feel sometimes really ashamed and I don't
18:11
want to give the feeling to someone that they have to feel ashamed because they don't speak English because I'm the
18:17
guest here and I'm living here and I'm planning to stay I'm not actually a guest I'm uh living here so I have to
18:24
learn the language yeah makes makes a lot of sense although not a lot of people see it like this I totally agree
18:30
with that um now that you were saying I mean I think also Greeks very much appreciate
18:36
when you are able to say some words in Greek and that changes the whole perspective on how they see you that's
18:42
true and it's it's very cool when when you do um what about Greek uh Community
18:48
you have majority of friends who are experts also or do you already have like
18:54
some Greek friends around I was trying to make Greek friends I have a few yes
18:59
but it's really difficult um to um to get a connection with them because um
19:06
most of the times they are really busy they're working a lot they have their own friend Circle I really appreciate
19:13
when they try to squeeze me in somehow they invite me to their birthdays and stuff um but it's difficult to be always
19:20
behind you know it's I have the feeling with my Greek friends I always have to run behind them and um say hey can we
19:27
meet this week can next week and it's not that they don't want to see you but
19:32
they have other plans they have their life buil here yes that's why so I have
19:38
a lot of expert as friends from Germany a few okay most of them actually and uh
19:46
one um from uh one couple from B so uh they're also working here and I
19:53
think one thing that we have in common is of course that we are all experts and um
19:59
our life here in Greece is new so we can exchange our experiences it unites a bit
20:05
yes definitely how did you meet these people through Instagram it's really nice okay all of them or through
20:12
restaurants and cafes okay one friend I met at the airport going to
20:17
Ence um another one was introduced by a common friend in Germany the other one
20:23
is is from Germany um and uh a lot of friends I have on Instagram they texted me and I
20:30
was like okay let's go and have a coffee sounds cool so the project is also
20:36
giving new connections not only I suppose restaurants and bars that you know but also people that's very nice
20:42
not on purpose well but things grow up as it is like I also have met people
20:49
through the podcast for example that now it's just like okay from time to time grab a coffee or whatever or even like
20:55
doing uh I interview this photographer for example she's from Russia and and
21:00
she needed a model I was interviewing her on Wednesday and she needed a couple for modeling in next to the acropo and
21:08
Saturday we were we were doing a photo shooting never did a photo shooting in my life before and I was like okay so it
21:14
opens also some doors that you you don't know um like a romantic shooting or yes
21:20
a little bit like it was more like okay like couple holding hands and kissing
21:25
and whatever it was it was funny it was a fun think why
21:31
not so I would say I do this section
21:36
before going to the second part it's a little bit of recommendations I would skip the question of restaurants and bars because
21:44
if I think you have thousands of them so it will be very difficult to for you to
21:50
choose one so for anyone who is listening if you want recommendations per neighborhood actually uh in Athens
21:57
and restaurant you just need to go to aent Food Explorer the profile of go and
22:03
in the highlights there is all the different neighborhoods in this city like you have thousands of places so if
22:10
you are planning that just go there I will not ask you about that but if you don't find something just let me know
22:17
you can always text me I always answer the questions um I think I really know
22:22
every almost every neighborhood like the central ones I haven't made it up North
22:27
but UHA very good ones halandri marusi has a lot of restaurants yes I
22:35
know see step by step step by step it's good to have some things still because
22:40
otherwise it it gets boring you know it's good to still uh keep on exploring oh you have you have City to
22:47
explore so I would I would say like I would ask you the other recommendations though if you have anything in there
22:54
like the first one would be if you have any I don't know if you are very music
22:59
person uh do you listen to any music Greek music at all unfortunately not no
23:05
sorry don't cancel me now still follow me no I don't like uh I don't like um
23:14
other music than American hip hop oh or American Music okay it's not really true
23:19
of course some it's not about American or not American but um I mainly listen to English speaking okay music um I I'm
23:28
not open for country or folklore folkloristic traditional music
23:34
nice sorry that's okay actually Greece has a lot of hip-hop if you are open to
23:39
that they they the I went to one concert to Pop Con but they would smoke the
23:47
entire all away and I'm not talking about cigarettes so it was I had a
23:52
headache after five minutes but I like hip-hop yeah Greek hip hop is nice but I canot understand what they're rapping
23:58
about but the beats and stuff are good also SE after the Intensive we we talk
24:04
again probably the same uh the same words bad words explicit lyrics like in
24:11
yes 100% uh but maybe coming back to food is
24:18
there any dish that you say okay this is the top for me in the Greek
24:23
cuisine yes I like FAA M and now the season for alir
24:29
it's so healthy I'm a big fan of uh now I have to I told it to every of my
24:35
friends and no matter who's talking with me about food I always said for me Greek food is the best food really you can
24:42
find very good healthy food here that think it's the most healthiest and I'm talking like I'm not saying it as my own
24:48
opinion I really think it's the fact that Greek food is the most healthy one because it has everything and everything
24:55
is locally sourced and uh I mean from avocado to Mango To Nuts to oil to Fish
25:01
seafood everything all these healthy fats and stuff everything is coming from
25:07
Greece and you can taste it it's really it's very aromatic and flavorful tomatoes taste like tomatoes not like
25:14
not like in German um what about drink is there any
25:20
drink that you like from Greece I like Fredo espresso or Fredo capuccino nice
25:26
of course what about you what's your favorite food I would say
25:32
foodwise I really like Bui it's this
25:38
melted cheese with peppers and spicy I had it yesterday um this is incredible
25:45
with f cheese and pepp if it's a very I mean that's that's the days that I'm like very very like
25:53
okay when I'm not healthy at all and I want to have something very very very dirty
25:59
like this I go forast which is this um they also call it P King it's like a
26:04
instead of putting the pasas and roll it up they do levels of p with the meat in between it's like it's a monster it's a
26:13
and you eat it like this like it's like a burger of of gidos but it's crazy okay
26:18
where do you get it it's crazy oish and crazy like I know a couple of good phrases for going that but it's once
26:25
every two months because if you eat it too Reg L it's too much okay I'm going to get those addresses and you will find
26:32
it soon on my page send me credits to him I want to go and try it now it
26:38
sounds really it it is heavy yeah but yeah that's but how do you eat it then
26:44
if it's it's like a p so instead the whole PA they put it like in vertical then they do a layer of the meat and the
26:50
whole thing that they will put in a wrap in a pizza sometimes they put melted cheese in between then they put another
26:55
pizza and then they put another level of things and then another piz so then you cut it in a quarter yeah and you eat it
27:01
like a like a pancakes with things in between but I piz
27:08
style I can send you a couple of places to go cool um now that we are talking about
27:16
food I would say if it's okay for you we can go directly to the second part and talk about your project yes please the
27:23
expert food lover content creator so welcome to the second part of
27:30
the episode um we already talked a little bit how did you end in gree but
27:35
now let's talk about your projects uh in plural because it's not only one so
27:41
maybe we start from the beginning um you started this project in Cologne I suppose back in the day uh with the
27:48
cologne food Explorer account how did that happen what what was the moment in
27:53
your life that you decide I want to become an instagrammer or I don't know if you're calling your Instagram influ I
28:00
know I hate it actually so um when I was uh younger like 11 years ago I started
28:05
so at the first hours of Instagram uh I was I was there and I posted pictures
28:12
back then it was pictures with his hip static filters yellowish blue colorful
28:18
filters and um 30 hashtags and stuff um I'm getting nostalgic but I started it
28:26
was easier also very and voice overs and all the uh
28:32
things that you have to do like was one picture but now it's uh the how do you
28:38
say the tasks got more and more yeah so yeah I started uh to show just my
28:43
friends and family where I'm going because my hobby is since I'm 16 my hobby is to um check out coffee places
28:50
and spots when I was younger it was only coffee places because mom would cook at
28:55
home of course or I would cook by myself I love cooking fun fact I love to cook everyone thinks
29:01
that I'm I'm a bad chef but I'm actually a really good one I I just don't I'm I'm
29:07
alone so I don't cook uh for myself I don't enjoy it to read by myself and eat
29:12
by myself so I enjoyed the company so I was um blogging about coffee places in
29:18
Cologne and um at some point the German the cologne newspaper the local
29:24
newspaper after a few years they did a big article like one page about me and then I got like a few thousand
29:31
more followers and uh finally I I I reached 10K I always wanted to have 10K
29:38
for the swipe ups but uh unfortunately swipe ups were uh gone by then anyways I
29:44
had 10,000 followers and this was like a big step for me and after that it was growing really fast and um I was always
29:51
doing it aside while working in restaurants okay I was working a lot in the Gastronomy oh okay um I really enjoy
29:59
people that are in the Gastronomy they're always special they're always um
30:04
a bit chaotic maybe but um if you decide to work in a restaurant or if you decide
30:09
to open a restaurant you're definitely not doing it for earning money because
30:15
um you don't get rich from a restaurant you get rich from from a snack bar maybe
30:20
with selling fries but you don't get rich in a restaurant so um people that
30:26
work there or that have restaurant they're really nice and hospital and um generous and they like to serve people
30:32
they are a certain kind of person they like to chat they like to get to know people so um I always enjoyed working
30:40
restaurants and my mother and my father they always thought she's going to end up in a restaurant she's going to be a
30:46
service person for her the rest of her life and I was studying design oh okay
30:52
yes in Cologne and um I was always working in restaurants I was in the
30:58
University I was doing the caterings when they had some events I was cooking I was organizing everything so food was
31:04
always a big topic even my bachelor was about food okay so um design and food so
31:11
um all my life is uh around food I don't know this is my biggest passion and um
31:18
when I go to bed I'm thinking what should I eat tomorrow so my my whole life is around food and food spots so
31:25
somehow I I was sharing all these experiences from my travels also from cologne and um yeah it it grew there in
31:34
Cologne so for me it was natural to start it here in essence because I didn't want to mix because I I don't
31:40
think the people from Germany necessarily need some recommendations for Ence in this amount so I just
31:47
started for myself to see how it's going C sea I didn't have any pressure because
31:53
um now I'm already um doing cologne food EXP as a job it's my fulltime job beside
32:01
content creation for restaurants so my job is um doing videos and photos and
32:06
content for restaurants okay no matter if it's for my own page or for them okay
32:12
um so if you if you restaurant owner here in Athens just hit me up I'm GNA help you and support you um I'm looking
32:19
for a client actually in Greece but um I'm building up my connections slowly
32:25
I'm not forcing anything I think if you um grow organically it's um better I
32:31
don't know I don't like this many people do like um giveaways or ads and stuff um
32:38
I'm not a big fan U it's going really well here in asence I really I can't believe my eyes when I look on my
32:44
follower reach in one year it's like I'm really really happy how the people like
32:49
my content and how how they are engaging how many messages I get I don't want to break about it or something I don't want
32:55
to be like oh my God people love my content but but they really do like I really um I'm really thankful for
33:01
everyone writing me a message um hey uh we really enjoy your content thanks a lot lot they just text me like this keep
33:08
up the good work and I really get almost daily a message from someone and they're so kind and
33:14
thankful also different than in Germany um before they ask me something I get many messages of course where can I eat
33:21
in PTI where can I eat in Kip where can I eat or do you have a recommendation
33:26
for seafood or something um but they always they don't say give me a name of a restaurant of seafood in
33:32
Germany they would ask more like this style but they say hey how are you
33:38
thanks a lot for your work if you have time could you be so kind and like really sweet messages um I really enjoy
33:45
doing content here yeah that's really cool like um it's a reflect I mean at the end if
33:52
you do good content this comes out so don't don't BR about it but be proud
33:58
about it so that's for sure like I mean I contacted you because I saw your profile and at the end it's also a matter of like how many people it's
34:05
reaching you and how many people it's following you at the end and I if you wouldn't be having the amount of
34:12
followers and amount of people maybe believe your profile will not have appeared under my brother and it's a
34:17
whole ball that it goes and follows of course like I didn't know you were like doing content for also for restaurants
34:24
and that's that's also an interesting part I think um you also said something
34:29
very interesting before and it's that you cook yes by yourself you you are a good Chef I think that's also important
34:35
because it doesn't disconnect you from the restaurant real life uh I also worked in restaurants and bars for some
34:42
time I'm also designer oh nice you have anything you also lived in Spain right yes you have many things in common yeah
34:49
yeah I've I've I am from a Town Club like 20 kilometers away from [Music]
34:55
Barcelona yeah CL exactly I'm from s it's 20 kilometers
35:04
away from and yeah the good I think the good part is
35:10
that you are able to connect with these people I assume um you're saying that here it's working really really
35:16
straightforward you also said in the first part that you already had a list of the places that were close when you
35:22
first come how do you find the restaurants how how is like your process of like okay I want to go here and there
35:28
um of course a lot of working but um also Instagram helps because they
35:34
recommend you some other restaurants or you um or you see it from other bloggers or something of course um then friends
35:42
that tell me ah they live in marusi for example they say ah this restaurant is
35:48
nice let's go and check it out um but mainly Google I would say um and
35:55
Instagram okay I always as I said I always listen to friends of course when when I know they have a good taste I
36:02
take recommendations but um I'm like a hyper Focus if I once start to look for
36:09
something like seafood restaurant or something I'm going through all the restaurants I'm reading the reviews I
36:14
look parallel on Instagram if if the pictures of the food look appealing it's
36:20
also really important that's why content creation is important because if the
36:25
pictures look nice and tasty and I want to have it you go first to the to places that have a good promotion places that
36:32
don't of course yeah that show the food like if the food looks nice and most of
36:38
the time it should be also tasting nice then I would rather go to a place where the food looks appealing then U to a
36:45
place where I don't see how it looks like yeah don't I don't I'm not going to go to
36:51
peros without having any idea of uh how the food could be so um yeah that's
36:58
for sure part I mean right now part of the restaurant industry and Hospitality it's marketing I love how the
37:04
restaurants in assens do uh they do a really good job with for Instagram and marketing they're better than in Germany
37:11
to be honest it's not only they invest more money I think so it's and it's not only like the the presence on social
37:17
media or Internet they put a lot of effort on their interior also the design of the places it's crazy here it's it's
37:26
the contrast I always said the same you go out to the street and it's everything like why is everything falling apart you
37:31
you look back you enter to the restaurant and everything it's perfectly positioned everything the napkins and the glasses and everything
37:38
yeah the dress code of the service people like it's very very well
37:43
created they really pay a lot of attention attention uh I suppose that also makes your job a little bit easier
37:50
here than in Germany it's so easy to take a nice picture because everything looks so nice true also the people with
37:56
a smile on their face and being friendly and how is it though when you go there
38:01
because I suppose some of the restaurants you also go for having yourself a foot like you are not going
38:07
only to create content for them you're having dinner there you're having lunch there how is it because you're right
38:13
there with a camera uh no no I have my iPhone and um my everyone that comes
38:19
with me on on a dinner date um they appreciate of course that I'm suggesting
38:24
some good places always and I'm always in charge of uh where's the best spots in town in my circle of friends but uh
38:33
they have to be a little bit more patient because uh the camera eats first for sure like five minutes at least I
38:39
need for doing the content no matter if I'm there uh like there is no private and uh job like everything is mixed is
38:47
mixed there there's no um uh content Creation Day or only I'm going there
38:54
private without camera I always have my camera with me I always always carry my light with me and I take um every shot
39:01
of every dish so either I do something out of it afterwards or not but most of
39:06
the times if I can if I can recommend it I do a nice reel out of it at some point
39:12
the good thing is that I don't have the pressure like 99% of the spots I go are unpaid and it's uh I just go by myself
39:20
and U here it's not um it's starting to get a job some restaurants hire me but
39:26
um but the good thing is that I pay everything by myself almost everything so um I don't have the pressure to post
39:34
something I don't have the pressure um yeah to to say oh it was
39:39
really tasty although it was maybe not tasty but did it happen to you this never never to be honest the quality and
39:46
standard here in Greece and also my good as we say in Germany my good nose because I'm uh I I would never go to a
39:54
bad spot but because I choose of course beforehand spots I never got
39:59
disappointed so far only once when someone took me on a date to be honest
40:05
it took me to a place that was not really good but um yeah because I didn't choose
40:10
it I don't want to say it was the fault of him but um I would have probably not showed in this place if I would have
40:16
known the name before and if I made some research but yeah it's okay it's good to
40:22
experience sometimes something bad so you can enjoy the the other rest restur
40:27
better what about high standard High topnotch restaurants itself you try to
40:34
keep your content as far as i s pretty much affordable for everyone so you are
40:39
not promoting restaurants with three Michelin stars menus of 300 that's
40:45
that's true because uh I'm curious to check them out but to be honest um the
40:52
food quality and the basic or average range is so good um
40:58
that I don't see the purpose of going to find like on a really high level I
41:04
really like it sometimes but it has to be a special occasion or something um sometimes I find it too stiff I don't
41:10
like the atmosphere if it's like you always think you make something wrong I like a snack bar I would always prefer a
41:17
snack bar with suaki down to earth uh spot more than fine dining sometimes as
41:24
I said if it's a birthday or something I would go for the experience it's about the experience it's not about like having a
41:32
soul food from Grandma or something of course not it's something else it's art and I really appreciate the work um but
41:40
I don't promote those places no because um I try to keep it um simple more on my
41:47
page I think for some people even um find dining places that I recommend are
41:52
already um expensive enough um and my Community is mainly Greece from Greece
42:01
so I don't want to like I don't know I don't see the sense of promoting places
42:06
where you pay like 150 or something per person yeah I mean it's depending on
42:11
your audience of course I love going to this kind of restaurants one two times per year maximum because I cannot afford
42:18
more it's what you're saying it's like about the experience I've tried quite some s Hearing in a there is good
42:26
quality there is some of them that are very good quality for the price so fine
42:31
dining here in a compared to other places compared to Germany especially and to France the prices are much lower
42:37
here so you can afford it if it's a very special occasion and that's good but I'm also a person who local tavernas are
42:45
always preference you know like um what about the coffee part because you said
42:51
you were started the whole process the whole project with the coffee part in Cologne are you doing coffees here in
42:58
Athens because there is coffees here in a oh my God it seems like there's not
43:04
even one shop somewhere the whole street is full of I'm always surprised how these coffee shops um survive I'm always
43:10
shocked one next to the other it's crazy and all of them have their um clients none of them is taking the client of the
43:17
other it's crazy in pagara I don't know if I would count the coffee places like no matter if coffee island or coffee lab
43:23
or uh third wave specialty coffee places it's crazy C I love coffee but uh
43:29
maximum two per day so um otherwise my I'm a nervous person anyways I'm like
43:35
full of energy if I drink more coffee I'm uh getting nervous so um okay there's also Decap
43:42
but um I can drink only two coffees but pagati is full of good places yes so I'm
43:48
really happy to stay here in this neighborhood what about the restaurant itself like for you
43:56
like you choose a restaurant do you need to contact them in advance or you just show up yourself with a camera and a
44:03
light and say hello I don't um take the attention on me I mean these days
44:08
everyone is taking pictures of their food no matter if it's bloggers or not I think um also almost everyone these days
44:15
is a blogger no how many people or a podcaster or YouTuber yes yes so um no
44:21
no I don't uh contact them beforehand sometimes of course if it's an opening or something or
44:27
um if I need something from them I contact them before but um in general
44:32
I'm not that famous here I don't think someone gives a about me to be honest not uh trying to lower my uh um
44:40
importance or something but I think no one knows me here so that's why I'm trying to keep the real contact like um
44:47
sometimes when I see the chef or the owner I talk to them but um I'm not like hi here I am and uh I don't need a
44:55
special treatment or something if they want to to give me something because they recognize me or if they
45:01
um I don't know if they ask me what are doing or something I'm of course I'm going to introduce myself but I'm not um
45:08
I'm not contacting them beforehand sometimes when I went there already and I want to go again and I need something
45:14
from them I ask them but um usually I just go and do my things and afterwards
45:20
they contact me most of the times and they say thanks a lot for coming thanks a lot for your content if you like next
45:27
time please let us know beforehand so we can uh show our appreciation for you and
45:32
your work that's really sweet nice yeah sometimes they do it it's really cute do
45:38
they over ever open the kitchen for you that's a very a like because you're
45:43
filming always kitchen kitchen restaurants are another whole history always like yeah sometimes they open the
45:50
kitchen for yes especially uh I'm trying to be always charming and I think the
45:56
the guys in the kitchen they're always happy to uh to welcome me and show me behind if it's not a disaster yes most
46:02
of the times they're really top notot and clean and spotless so um cool yeah I really like the behind the scenes yeah
46:09
that's it's a whole life yeah yeah that a lot of people doesn't know about it because if you never work in a
46:14
restaurant or a park you don't know that part so it's also very interesting now I think with this bear uh the be Series in
46:22
in Amazon that there was about the chips everyone was like oh that's how a kitchen
46:28
works more less yes or no the cows and the stress
46:34
yes but yeah I don't know if you have content like this it's it's also interesting I would like to actually
46:40
have more content like this because um it's really interesting but I want to
46:46
learn that's why I also want to learn uh Greek because the people in the kit um
46:52
their English skills are mostly not really good so um I try to make
46:58
connections with the people for me the most important is um to have contact to the Gastronomy scene here and I like to
47:05
meet the people that are behind it um I have really like a big interest in
47:10
meeting those people from the Gastronomy nice how much of your work currently
47:16
it's editing like because now in content creation right okay you go to a
47:22
restaurant you film the dishes you film yourself maybe entering the restaurant behind the scenes on the whatever you
47:28
can produce how much is afterwards uh I would
47:35
say with with finding a song and um changing maybe the song and editing
47:41
cutting the video to the song and stuff I would say like four hours per real per
47:47
video okay with also maybe uh on top of it the caption and um fine tuning and
47:52
stuff minimum four hours oh wow okay what tools do you use for do cap cut of
47:58
course the premium version I see no and I have also access to the
48:06
fonts and different features automatically correcting the light and stuff I think
48:13
they brought ccat brought a little bit or like harmonize a little bit the the video editing for humanize it a little
48:20
bit before that it was all After Effects Premiere like very complex tools which I
48:26
still use from them to time of course like I studied them in universities being a designer in
48:33
Barcelona oh nice two of my friends um studied there too as a exchange student
48:39
okay or I think they didn't did their Master there okay when did you graduate so I left
48:46
elava in 201 16 I think it was graduation oh okay
48:54
no no it's U I think they where ear yes but yes I mean I learned tools Adobe
49:01
but I think G now no no that's uh that one it's a FX I
49:07
think no no I was in elizab I studied product design yes Furniture Design
49:13
mainly but here I am like not doing anything about furniture now I do websites and
49:19
applications Co um you said also that right now your full-time job it's
49:26
cologne how how do you deal with that you're living here yes no my phot job is uh my
49:32
client still in Cologne yes I go forth and back every two months um I go to Germany and create content but I also
49:38
have an employee so if there's events or new openings I my employee is going
49:43
there I have some support and uh she's covering it there but I try to squeeze
49:49
in everything when I'm in Germany okay and I also know all the restaurants like if it's not a new opening I know all the
49:56
restaurants so I don't need to go there to test it so I just sent my employee
50:01
there and I know everything about the food and I don't need to eat again there
50:07
and I trust my employee of course she's um um she's having the same taste and a
50:12
good taste so ni um so she basically records for you she records and sent me
50:18
the content content and I'm cutting it here from gree briting the catch and and
50:24
um whatever I need uh will send it to me I need some information so luckily I
50:30
don't have to fly all the time yeah um it's really exhausting to go forth and
50:36
back to be honest um I really enjoy my time here makes sense but um yeah I six
50:43
to eight weeks I'm in Germany I would say for one or two weeks nice and I'm creating as much content as
50:50
possible Co yes also for my clients from the restaurant they need some they have
50:55
a new menu or new dishes and stuff yeah it's something that normally renovates
51:01
from time to time now I assume like how many days per week do you have
51:07
lunch or dinner outside to be able to create content right now like do you cook a lot at home do you not at all
51:13
like I do salad for lunch often if I can um afford it not um financially wise but
51:20
also time wise like if I can give the time and money to go out I go I try to
51:26
go out every day okay like I enjoy it because it's my hobby it's um it's my um how do you
51:34
say luxury stuff some people buy uh I don't know a car or expensive um clothes
51:42
or something I do both I'm just kidding have I have my bicycle and nothing yeah
51:49
perfect yeah yeah another adventure trying to keep it more exciting in my life every day I thought
51:56
I'm going to get killed anyways you know as a pedestrian so why not go be on the bike at least so I'm quicker at the I
52:03
always think okay if if the time that I'm getting to my destination is only 10 minutes by bike maybe the risk is lower
52:11
than I don't know if it works like that but yes sure do you see my point actually because everything is so
52:19
chaotic I have really seriously I'm maybe it's girl math or something but I have the feeling that uh it's less
52:24
dangerous here than in Germany because people are uh the motorbikes are so chaotic that the cars have to pay more
52:31
attention to the motorbikes so that's why I feel even more safe because
52:36
actually the cars don't depend on in Germany the cars think ah there's a bike lane and they don't pay any attention if
52:42
something happen but here I have the feeling the people are stressed anyways and they look around so I know luckily
52:49
so farun they are always with the phone on their hands and the FR press on the
52:54
other always see it yes what having a cigarette and driving with their knees
53:00
like you wish they I wanted to make a series of uh
53:06
pictures of videos what people do on the motorbik eating suaki drinking Fredo
53:12
smoking they do everything on their motor bike it's so funny it is it is like crazy if they
53:18
wouldn't be so quick I would really like to take a picture yeah you need to be a very good photographer to Capt or spend
53:26
a lot of time in front of a big road and you will have them coming yeah with the
53:31
in the but what was the question before no
53:37
it's just like if you were like um how many days per week yeah going out like
53:42
almost every day okay but just because I'm curious and uh I enjoy being outside
53:48
and it doesn't accumulate a lot of content to create because if you're needing four hours per each re that you
53:54
generate you're going out nearly every day like I don't know when are you creating the content like it piles up in a back yeah
54:01
it piles up yeah maybe now in August because the restaurants are closed yes I
54:06
can finally manage to um yeah to edit all the stuff but uh it's a lot of Po so
54:13
there is content for a long time in this account so it's worth it to follow me
54:19
because there's a lot coming yes I have a I keep I have a long list and I keep track of everything so makes sense yeah
54:27
well saying follow you I would ask the last question I think we repeated your
54:32
text multiple times but where can the listeners follow follow you see you um
54:38
give you recommendations maybe where where it's the Instagram accounts mainly
54:44
Instagram Tik Tok sea at some point Tik Tok as well but now only um Instagram
54:50
but because I really lost my uh access to Tik Tok I don't know what the password is and stuff I can't log in
54:57
it's a uh it's also on my to-do list to fix it but that's why I cannot upload anything on Tik Tok but you will find
55:04
everything on Instagram yes okay cool either colog food Explorer or probably
55:10
more interesting as in food Explorer well if you are in colog or Germany check cologne food Explorer if you are
55:17
in Athens or coming to Athens to visit Athens uh check as some food Explorer you have of course as always the links
55:24
on the description and yeah follow us follow go
55:29
and if you have any recommendations uh either for the podcast or for go
55:34
restaurants bars wise uh just sent a message thank you so much for your time
55:40
for the space and for the experience and for explaining your your projects was a
55:45
pleasure thank you s and
55:51
canana you've been listening to expat experts the podcast that takes you
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