38 DEPARTURES TRAVEL FRESH EYES ON GREECE “If you have the right story and a deep knowledge about what you do, it’s easier. The music, the drinks, the ambience, decor, everything has a story to tell” ambience in the Greek capital’s bars, and with the arrival of Baba Au Rum, Prunarus switched the focus. It also allowed him to take his customers on a journey into the unfamiliar. “Most people consider rum to be a tropical drink, and that created a happy atmosphere that they brought with them. It felt like a vacation, and that gave us the opportunity to take them wherever we wanted,” he muses. There’s an irresistible sense of fun at Baba Au Rum, with bartenders making cocktails beneath spotlights on a long wooden counter, and redtoned decor staying just on the right side of tropical, without falling for tiki-bar clichés. And there’s a literary quality to the cocktail descriptions, presented in a handsome book. Devil’s Milk is described as a “scandalous potion”, both “luscious and lustful”. Glass Tears has a “crystalline suaveness”, made with a distillation of leaves from the bitter orange trees that line Athens’s streets. Drink coasters entreat guests to “Save the night, support nice bars”. In the tradition of the ancient Greek bards, it feels like everyone in Athens has a story to tell, and Prunarus is no exception. “If you don’t know why you’re doing something, you can’t persuade people to come along and join you,” he says. “If you have the right story and a deep knowledge about what you do, it’s easier. The music we play, the drinks we make, the ambience, decor, everything has a story to tell.” But he also feels that bars have a more important role to play in the city that goes beyond merely offering drinks and fun. “A bar is a place where people gather in the best times and the hardest times to see what’s happening in society and to exchange ideas,” Prunarus says. “For me, this is very important. It’s not just about business, it’s about something much more romantic.” The lively scene at Baba Au Rum; above: the Taco Margarita – a heady blend of tequila, coriander, jalapeños, tomato water, morita and corn salt, at the outdoor-only The Bar in Front of the Bar FROM TOP: STUDIO SKIGO, GIORGOS STATHEAS
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