Dirty martini meets Greek salad at High Street’s homely Hellenic hangout Capers

You might not have thought you wanted a drink that tastes like the leftover juices in a salad bowl. But that’s only because you haven’t imbibed a Greek Salad Martini at Capers, a next-generation Greek bar and eatery.

Their twist on the dirty martini is infused with cucumber, olive brine, tomato and
vinegar: it’s the alcoholic version of the flavourful liquid that collects at the bottom of a Greek salad – minus the feta because Thornbury is thick with vegans. It’s a great drink: tart and clean.

The cocktail list – there’s also a Mastic Sour and Karpouzo with ouzo and watermelon – is one way to get a read on this sweet venue. You could also look at the decor: candlelit and lounge-roomy with timber-look tables, vinyl chairs, floral couches and icon paintings, giving way to a backyard forested with bamboo.

Or you might consider the juxtaposition of hip DJs spinning records in the window with the older Greek gentlemen tapping cigarettes into cut-glass ashtrays at pavement tables.

It’s all very fond and cosy, which makes complete sense when you learn the backstory.

It’s the kind of place you can trust to make a tasty drink out of a salad.

Cousins Christian Evripidou and Anastasios Konnari opened Capers in 2019 because they saw a few gaps: the neighbourhood needed a low-key hangout and the Greek dining scene could do with something a little more youthful.

Both Evripidou and Konnari grew up working in Greek restaurants (in fact, the former’s parents own GRK, the traditional tavern next door). They also wanted to pay homage to their grandparents, Yiayia Christina and Papou Vasos, back in Cyprus.

Papou ran a souvlaki joint, but it’s yiayia’s food they’re celebrating here, modest baked dishes and braises, largely vegetarian, that you’d only find at home. Chef Arianthi Maragoudakis has added family recipes from Crete.

Put it all together and the menu gives the feeling of walking into a home where there’s always something in the oven, maybe a couple of dishes on the table, an endless series of bites to stave off the slim possibility of an underfed guest.

You’ll find pastitsio, a pasta bake with tubular pasta, bechamel, and pork and beef ragu scented with cinnamon and nutmeg. It’s a meal on its own but easy to share.

Lentil soup is a simple hug in a bowl, seasoned with lemon for spark.

Spanakorizo is a hearty tumble of spinach and rice, the culinary equivalent of being wrapped in a blanket.

There are meze: feta is grilled and dolloped with housemade chilli jam, olives and pickled octopus make great friends with Greek wine.

Need sweet? The baklava ice-cream is a luscious slab of parfait laced with baklava flavours.

Restaurants are all about feelings and Capers feels great, built with heart and shared with care, the kind of place you can trust to make a tasty drink out of a salad.