We went, tasted and returned with the best dishes of the «capital» of Crete.
The recent gastronomic safari in the heart of Heraklion proved that it keeps the culinary banner flying high, uniting Crete’s flavorful universe with the rest of the world. On the one hand, dishes that start from the island’s great tradition do not deny evolution and are renewed, gaining new levels of taste, and on the other, recipes guided by innovation and international cuisines allow for a multifaceted, multicultural experience.
We sampled both terrains and put together a top list of dishes that celebrate deliciousness and offer a clear reason to return.
Kouzeineri
In a very central spot in the city, this contemporary, design-forward restaurant does premium carnivory proud. As you step in, state-of-the-art aging cabinets take center stage, while the heavy-wood décor transports you to kindred American haunts. The long-distance journey is also backed by the provenance of the raw materials, focused on the famed American Creekstone farm. From there comes some of the world’s best Black Angus, showcased even more by chef Nikos Kourinos’s impeccable grilling techniques.
Nikos, with an impressive culinary trajectory, has meat and the Josper at his fingertips, serving juicy cuts with shielded-in aromas and flavors. He’s treated the ragout that stars in the dish that stole our hearts with the same finesse. While the menu praises modernity, it doesn’t abandon ties to slow-cooked dishes rooted in tradition. In Crete they love ragout with pasta. Here we can enjoy it «tweaked» with slow-braised veal, fresh, very successful gnocchi, and a terrific sauce with tomato, galomyzithra, and truffle. Each bite is distinctive, so balanced and generous that you don’t forget it. Agiou Titou and Evropis, Heraklion
7 Thalasses
Since 2005, Alikarnassos’s buzz-worthy restaurant has been serving nonstop freshness. The sea is on the menu and asserts itself in many worthy forms. With lovingly fried calamari and shrimp, well-prepared grilled fish and shellfish, thoughtful stews, creative raw dishes, and a successful sushi offering. Awarded chef Giorgos Michelakis has given his best to every section, with examples like oil-free, ultra-crispy fried calamari, luscious grilled shrimp, velvety fava, and an utterly charming tartare of red mullet, cucumber, avocado, goji berries, and bottarga powder.
Among the cooked dishes is the one that stole our noses and made the list of Heraklion’s must-taste plates. It’s mylokopi on potato purée with truffle. The fish is cooked so beautifully that it stands juicy above the airy purée. If I wanted something to change, it would be the quantity - the succulent mylokopi isn’t enough; you want more to enjoy on its own and together with the tasty mashed potato. Iraklitou, Nea Alikarnassos, Heraklion
Apiri
Talented chef Stefanos Lavrenidis, after his stint in Michelin-starred kitchens like the legendary Fat Duck, returned home to bring his dream to life. A restaurant dedicated to his two great loves, Cretan cuisine and wine. At welcoming Apiri, the two combine in ideal proportion. His dishes open a new chapter in local gastronomy, as they drink in tradition, distill it properly, and return it to the present with imagination and masterful craft. In the role of maestro, he marries classic eggs with staka to langoustines and turns local rabbit into best-selling nuggets.
This is a small sample, because his small, well-rounded menu changes with the seasons and with fresh ingredients sourced only from local producers. One such new addition, based on gilt-head bream and inspired by traditional plaki, delights the stomach and the heart with every bite. I don’t know what brings the greatest pleasure: the clever variation on plaki, the juicy fish, or the stunning tomato cream with capers and olives? Probably the answer is all of these together, which make a remarkable dish. Agion Deka 5, Heraklion
Peskesi
You can’t go to Heraklion and not make a stop at the beacon restaurant of the Cretan diet. The tireless Panagiotis Magganas transformed Captain Polyxingis’s historic mansion into a friendly place that revives Cretan hospitality and serves forgotten recipes and ingredients once prevalent in local households. Only there will you find manarolia, a type of pea from the 14th century, fava from papoula, azazyres, or beans, as well as dishes cooked inside a karoupi, the old clay vessel that slow-bakes and elevates every ingredient. Everything that arrives on the plate is grounded in the past but revived with love, passion, and products that come straight from Panagiotis’s farm.
Today the impressive farm hosts more than 240 varieties of vegetables, fruits, herbs, olives, seeds, beehives, and domesticated animals. The dish closest to our heart is made only from the farm’s goodies and recalls every nostalgic gastronomic memory. We’re talking about palikaria, the historic recipe that marries together all kinds of legumes. Chickpeas, beans, giant beans, and azazyres are uniquely mellowed and bathed in magical olive oil, sprinkled with fresh spring onion. Dishes like this should exist everywhere. Kapetan Charalambi 6, Heraklion
Source: Reader.gr
