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Apiri recently expanded with an adjacent wine-tasting and events space, Ferment Artisan Lab, where oenophiles can get to know the island’s limestone-rich elevations through a taste of some of the best local producers. Whether on the leafy patio with stylish Cretans, in the moodily lit dining room, or next door in the bottle room, it’s a perfect spot to taste the Moschofileros (whites and rosés), Mavrotaganos (reds), and Vidianos (skin-contact orange wine made from indigenous Cretan grapes) of the island without a car.
But there’s almost no mistaking Cretan food as ‘health’ food in the stereotypical sense. That is, bare, restrictive, a list of what your diet doesn’t include rather than what it does. Even when gorging on fresh produce, wild fish, and fermented breads, it’s easy to forget that the treasures of this land are nutritious because they are richly delicious, and usually chased with decadent galaktoboureko (custard pie), which lands on tables soaked in syrup and showered in sugary cinnamon—both late night and in the green-juice-accented breakfast line at places like Acro Wellness Suites in Agia Pelagia.
On Crete, even if you try to skip dessert, as I often did when meals left me full beyond belief, your server is likely to emerge instead with a shot of raki—the Greek brandy made from grape must, a leftover byproduct of winemaking—and a spiel about how it’s “good for digestion.” One server, who poured both me and himself a shot of the clear liquid one evening, shared that his yia yia lived to be 100 by drinking raki with her mountain tea each morning, before heading to the olive grove to work. “Several shots,” he clarified. “She was strong as an ox.”
That’s one thing about nourishment that I learned growing up around this culture. And it was reinforced when I brought my changing body to Crete: Everything must be enjoyed in moderation including moderation itself. It’s both a piece of wisdom many nutrition experts will tell you, and a sentiment many a Cretan will share as they serve you a shot of raki alongside a thick, dairy-laden dessert.
How to plan a food-as-wellness trip to Crete
Getting there: Fly into the International Airport of Heraklion, the largest city on Crete which sits on the island’s northern coast, for easy access to the village-style resorts of Agia Pelagia. To visit the hinterlands of central Crete, Charaso is one hour by car from Heraklion or nearby Agia Pelagia; roads are switchbacking and turn to dust for the final few kilometers, so it’s best to hire a roundtrip driver (a reasonable endeavor in Greece for not much more than a rental-car price, and one that will save you lots of time and stress) for a half-day; hotels typically have hirable drivers they can connect you with, as ride-share options are not permitted on the island.
