Can opening a box of pastries transport you instantly to old Athens?

At Bozas, that journey tastes of roasted almonds, whipped cream and glossy glacé cherries.

When I moved to Kypseli a few years ago, I found myself wanting to learn more about a neighborhood that had once lived through its golden age in the middle of the last century. One of the reasons I became so eager to explore it was 89-year-old Eleni, a member of my extended family — one made up not only of relatives but lifelong friends too.

Raised in Kypseli at a time when the district represented the height of Athenian elegance, “with French lessons and piano classes,” as Greeks like to say, Eleni carries within her an endless archive of stories. She vividly describes the homes of scientists and actors, recounts whispered tales about the heirs of prominent families, and remembers in astonishing detail the pastry shops, bars, open-air cinemas and theaters that once overflowed with life.

It was in that Athens — the one many Greeks still nostalgically long for, a city of urban sophistication, grace and refinement — that Bozas pastry shop was born. It first operated at two different locations on Lefkados Street before eventually settling in its current home on Kerkyras Street, the leafy avenue whose lively market has once again begun to pulse with energy.

When pastry shops were the heart of Athens

Pastry shops in old Athens possessed a kind of glamour that is difficult to explain today. For many Athenians, they were a revelation — windows into a more cosmopolitan Europe they often dreamed of but rarely experienced firsthand.

Even those who never traveled abroad wanted to taste the velvety, elegant desserts arriving from Europe, sweets that dusted their imaginations with sugar.

These shops were more than bakeries. They served coffee and soft drinks, becoming social meeting points where tables filled with families and friends, especially on holidays and feast days.

Serrano, chocolate pastries, profiteroles, mille-feuille, nougatine, almond cream cakes and baba au rhum — sold either individually or as large family cakes — became beloved symbols of a changing Greece. They represented modernization, new tastes and colors, and the excitement of discovering different worlds and new habits.

Gradually, during holidays and celebrations, women stopped preparing giant trays of syrup-soaked homemade desserts. Not because they no longer appreciated them, but because if they had the chance to buy a spectacular cake and save themselves the labor, why wouldn’t they?

And so the large cardboard pastry boxes tied with glossy ribbons — hiding every imaginable sweet temptation — became the ultimate gift to bring when visiting someone’s home. Fondants, shiny and irresistible, overflowed from crystal bowls placed across buffets and coffee tables.

Bozas: unchanged through time

Long before retro aesthetics became fashionable again, I crossed the threshold of Bozas because I genuinely wanted to taste something capable of carrying me back in time.

My love affair with the pastry shop began with its ergolavoi — traditional Greek almond cookies. They had never been my favorite sweet growing up, but they were something I distinctly remembered from my childhood home. The moment I bit into one and felt the fragrant almond paste flood my mouth with flavor and memory, I realized this pastry shop had somehow survived untouched by time.

Bozas’ ergolavoi almond cookies — love at first bite. Photo: Giorgos Kapranos

That could not have been easy.

Since opening in 1967, Bozas has undoubtedly experienced both prosperous and difficult years. There was a long period when nobody cared about retro pastries. At the same time, Kypseli itself had lost much of its prestige, as many residents abandoned central Athens for the suburbs.

But in recent years, the neighborhood has begun to resemble its former self once again.

To understand why Bozas matters so much, one must first honor its founder, master pastry chef Xenophon Bozas, who passed away five years ago.

The story of Xenophon Bozas

Xenophon’s story did not begin in elegant salons or among dreams made of pastry cream.

His father was a refugee from Constantinople — modern-day Istanbul — who struggled to build a new life in Athens after the upheavals that followed the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the turbulent decades that followed. During the years of the Greek Civil War, life became even harder.

Xenophon entered the pastry trade at just 12 years old, when his godfather brought him to work at the legendary Zonar’s, one of Athens’ most iconic cafés and confectioneries. He worked mornings and attended school at night.

At the time, Zonar’s never stopped moving. For those who truly loved the craft, there was an opportunity not only to survive but to thrive.

That proved true for Xenophon. His talent quickly distinguished him from the others, and eventually Zonar’s sent him to Paris for further training.

Panagiotis Bozas has been running the pastry shop since 1996, preserving his father’s recipes. Photo: Giorgos Kapranos

Paris transformed him. He learned new techniques, deepened his love for pastry-making and returned to Athens determined to create something of his own. He opened his own workshop, and from 1996 onward the pastry shop was largely taken over by his son Panagiotis, who continues to preserve his father’s recipes with near-sacred devotion. To this day, they remain unchanged.

The legendary almond cake

It is white, elegant and meticulously crafted — a cake capable of awakening memories of birthdays and celebrations, especially for those who grew up in Greece during the 1990s.

Bozas’ almond cake is not made only for passionate dessert lovers or devoted chocolate addicts. It is the cake chosen by those seeking something restrained, airy and refined — something sweet enough to enchant without overwhelming.

The almond cake is a lady. It dislikes excess and knows exactly how to command attention in its own quiet way.

And Bozas’ version is unmatched.

Unmatched and celebration-ready, Bozas’ signature almond cake. Photo: Giorgos Kapranos

Its pastry cream and whipped cream exist in perfect harmony, though the whipped cream slightly dominates, while thin layers of sponge cake provide structure and balance between the fillings.

But then come the roasted almonds. Scattered generously across the surface between glacé cherries or strawberries, they elevate the cake.

The almonds still come from Sesklo, a village in the region of Magnesia in central Greece, exactly where Xenophon sourced them decades ago. That detail matters because it ensures the cake tastes exactly as generations of Athenians remember it.

This is the cake you are proud to place at the center of a festive table. The one you bring to friends’ homes. The dessert you hope younger generations will learn to love.

Modern pastry-making may have evolved dramatically, and today’s avant-garde pastry shops may create exceptional desserts, but this almond cake remains something else entirely.

Pastries, chocolates and an exceptional tsoureki

Of course, Bozas offers many other sweets from another era, all as irresistible and visually unchanged as ever.

Bozas’ tsoureki sweet bread is considered one of the best in Athens. Photo: Giorgos Kapranos

Its chocolate pastries and serrano are outstanding, alongside tiramisu, ekmek kataifi, revani syrup cake, truffles and fruit tarts. There are also miniature pastries wrapped in shiny paper for gifting, cream puffs coated in dark or white chocolate, éclairs, Florentines and handcrafted chocolates.

The biscuits and butter cookies are excellent too. And then there is the tsoureki — the traditional Greek sweet bread, especially associated with Easter — which is undoubtedly among the best in Athens.

Chocolates and Florentines — some of the classic treats proudly displayed in Bozas’ shop windows. Photo: Giorgos Kapranos

Chewy and aromatic with mahleb and mastiha, airy yet satisfyingly rich, it contains exactly the right amount of sweetness. It is the perfect breakfast or mid-morning snack, no matter the season.

Bozas is the kind of pastry shop Kypseli residents should feel proud of.

Every time I visit, I enjoy talking with Panagiotis, who remains humble, sincere and deeply devoted to his craft.

Mrs. Mary was — and still remains — the heart and soul of the pastry shop. Photo: Giorgos Kapranos

But the true queen of warmth and hospitality inside the shop is his mother, Mary, who has spent her entire life there.

Full of energy and joy, she seems to carry all the sweetness of sugar within her personality.

After all, the women of old Kypseli always knew how to leave an impression.

Just like the almond cake.