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Who’s around this time of year?
Traditionally, Chania benefited from the presence of foreigners, even before it became touristy. It’s very urban, with more than 100,000 permanent residents, so you have everyone from hipsters and freaks to lefties living here—not the expected Greek island crowd. It’s always very lively, and what sets it apart from some other towns in Crete is that the locals are a driving force with a very loud voice. They are not here to serve the foreigners.
Where would we find you eating during this time?
My all-time favorite local is Evgonia Tavern. Only a very simple tavern, it has fish and meat in a non-fish environment. I love Periplous Restaurant for its unbeatable location at the beautiful Tanneries Hotel. It’s one of the old buildings by the water where they used to process leather.
In spring we go to the villages, because it’s still very mild and there aren’t too many people. I always go to Ntounias, a very old, well-known rural taverna in the middle of nowhere near Drakona in the mountains. There’s a crazy guy there, Stelios Trilyrakis, who has been involved with slow food for 30 years. You don’t know what you’ll eat or when you’ll eat it. It’s very inexpensive, and he cultivates everything himself. In Greece, we love French fries. And Stelios makes amazing chips by cooking them in olive oil in a ceramic pot.
What’s the seasonal dish to order at this time of year?
We’re famous for doing a traditional Tsoureki Easter brioche, a kind of braided bread that’s sweet but not too sweet. Once a year we also eat a special soup called magiritsa made from lamb intestines, lungs, and liver. We normally eat it at home—it’s not so much a restaurant dish—but we do a very good one at Ammos. Also, Nyketerida is famous for it.
Spring is about beans and greens—we have beautiful asparagus and the best artichokes—and goat roasted in the oven with potatoes, zucchini, and tomatoes. We also have a very famous dish called dakos, a barley rusk with tomato sauce and this amazing goat’s cheese called mizithra. One of the best places to eat it is Costas Cafeneion, a family-run cafe in village Maza, which is between Chania and Rethymnon.
