Delicious food and generosity

We had a week in Crete at the beginning of July and it was hot! Luckily we were staying in the hills above Agios Nikolaos, where the Summer breeze was perfect for cooling down. The villa was at the top of a dirt track, in the middle of nowhere with stunning views of the hills and valley. The nearest village was a 10 minute drive away with a tiny taverna, no tourists in sight. A round of drinks came to about 10 Euros and as we discovered was the norm, we were were given dips and bread along with Raki, all free.  Everywhere we went, we were made to feel very welcome and were given drinks and fruit or snacks on the house.  There is was real feeling of generosity there.

We ate in Agios a couple of times – absolutely highlight was Piato, a very cool upstairs town house restaurant overlooking the sea. Really beautifully created dishes and the best wine we had for the whole holiday (Moschofilero was a definite favourite). Memorable dishes were Spinach and mint feta filos pastries,  meatballs, Seafood spaghetti, tuna and lentils.They have a very lovely bar and superb cave / wine cellar which is worth a visit. Loved it here.

We also visited Kristas and ate at the  nearby village’s neighbourhood restaurant, Xatheri.  The owner again was super friendly talking us through all the dishes and wines. We had my absolute favourite, fave bean puree, Greek salad, the most delicious dolmades made with courgette flowers instead of vine leaves and served warm.  An intriguing dish we had to try was ‘wedding rice’. It look a little like a very runny rice pudding and tasted of quite strong mutton stock.  Not our favourites dish but apparently very popular.  We were then given on the house, a deconstructed cheesecake and watermelon.  So lovely.

We were near to Spinalonga, an island which was home to people with leprosy and location of Victoria Hislop’s The Island, so took the boar over. An extremely hot day, with huge queues to get onto the island. You can visit the village shops and church, which I imagine is pretty atmospheric when not so overcrowded. It also felt a little strange that this place where ill people were sent and not supported well has become a tourist attraction.

From here we had lunch at Kanali near Elounda. It’s right on the sea, out on it’s own and it’s absolutely beautiful! The food was great too.  We had a whole sea bass cooked in salt, the most delicious beetroot (described as a medicine of the earth), crab salad, seafood linguine and a bottle of Moschofilero. Really, really good.  Then we swam in the clearest of seas. A gorgeous day.

This is just a snapshot of what we ate – our holidays, as you might expect revolve around food and we weren’t disappointed in Crete.