Join George and IKON5, the Greek food and travel creator he trusts over any guidebook, for a crawl through the souvlaki spots that have earned their place in Athens' food culture. IKON5 guides the group from counter to counter, with a bus between the stops, and George is with them the whole way. The crawl includes a stop at Kapsa, Christoforos Peskias's own souvlaki shop, built on the same instincts that run his kitchen at Dopios, just charcoal, cut down to the basics, and better for it. George's real answer to "best souvlaki in Athens" has never been the stand with the queue out front or the sign printed in English for tourists. "Every year that I go, I hit him up like, mate, where have you eaten lately? What's good?" says George. He works the group from stop to stop the way he'd take his own mates, debating what actually makes one souvlaki better than another: the meat, the pita, the sauce, the char, and the all-important question of what belongs inside. Two of the three counters have no seats, so lunch is eaten standing up, in the order the stops come.

The Clumsies opened in 2012 inside a neoclassical mansion built in 1919, in the historic centre of Athens. Nikos Bakoulis and Vasilis Kyritsis, both World Class-winning bartenders, rebuilt the space around a philosophy that treats cocktails the way serious kitchens treat food: sourced with intention, constructed with precision, and finished with something that surprises. By 2020 the bar had reached third on the World's 50 Best Bars list, and it currently holds the title of number one in Europe. George has known Nikos and Vasilis for years, and the evening is less a bar visit than a conversation between old friends that the group is invited into. "I can't wait for you to meet these boys," George has said of them. "They have the number one bar in Europe right now. And you get to come inside with me." The cocktails move between the worldly and the playful, drawing on techniques most bars would find too exacting to attempt, but here the craft is worn lightly.

Varvakeios has anchored Athens' food supply since 1886, a covered market where the fish hall, meat section and spice vendors each occupy their own territory, laid out for the cooks and traders who shop here every day. The noise, the cold air from the fish counters, the particular smell of oregano and cured pork: these are the working conditions of the people who cook Athens. George returns with Christoforos Peskias, who George calls "probably the Godfather of modern Greek cuisine, and one of my closest mates." Together, they take you through the market, tasting as they go, not as a programme, but as a consequence of stopping, asking and being known. By the time you reach Dopios for lunch, the meal on the plate has a context that changes what it is.

Join George for a rare look inside the barrel room at METAXA, the Greek spirit house founded by Spyros Metaxa in 1888. The Kifissia cellars aren't open to the public, making this a glimpse inside the house that most visitors never get. Begin with the story of METAXA before heading into the cellars to see how the spirit is crafted and aged. Then, guided by the sixth METAXA Master, you'll create your own blend and discover the art behind its distinctive character. Finish with a tasting of METAXA spirits, led by the Master himself.

Sweet Alchemy opened in Kolonaki in 1982, the year Stelios Parliaros stopped working for other people and started working on a question: what would Greek pastry look like if it began with Greek ingredients rather than a French syllabus? The shop became the answer, and then it became the reference point. Four decades on, the counter still runs on the same logic, honey and walnuts and mastic sitting alongside technique that would read at home in any serious pâtisserie in Paris, but rooted here, in this neighbourhood, on this street. George has known Stelios' work long enough to have an opinion about which of the signature pieces marks the real turning point, and today you walk through the door with him. "He is not only a close friend, but the number one Greek pastry chef in the world. He is phenomenal. He is a genius". Stelios will take you into his world, and explore the techniques, ingredients and ideas behind some of his signature creations.