Welcome to traditional Cretan hospitality
1932…2022 nearly a century the history of this place.
A rocky, follow and barren place. Workers from the near and upper villages looking for better life, moved with their families and worked incessantly.
Realize the dream…120 acres of vineyards made with love and care.
The central point od the vineyard is the great opsijas (the structure where the grapes are spread so they can dry and become raisins) and the manor that the foreman lives day and night all year. Slowly but steadily gets flesh and bones, the manor becomes a reference point throughout the area.
Everyone who passed by a worker, a stranger, a passing friend, will always find a glass of cool water from the well, or a tsikoudia or raki( a strong Cretan extract made from grapes) so they can rest. Even at the time of German occupation the first Great battle at Pelekita took place at a bridge 50 meters west of the vineyard.
35 years of vineyards, raisins, joys, sorrows, dreams…!
Gradually the vines are abandoned and replaced by the olive trees. In the summer now we are vacationing on the manor. A swarm of kopelia (children)
fills the room with laughter, play, carefree life and the nights sleeping under the stars.
Athivoles and Thimises
2014 and the youngest of the family, Stella, decides to bring life back to the place she loved as a child and create with the same patience and perseverance of her grandfather and father a special welcoming place that will offer the visitor simple, authentic, delicious Cretan Cuisine.
!!! Like good old times !!!
Athivoles : an idiom from the translation of a well known book by Nikos Kazantzakis and the meaning of is – care, thoughts, thought of you, brink you to my thoughts, discussions….
Thimises : memories
RESTAURANT
Dear friends, my name is Stella Galanaki and I was born in Heraklion of Crete.
Living in Heraklion during my childhood, I enjoyed pleasant breaks in my mother village,
Gouves. The smells of the village, at Christmas, at Easter, during the vintage, in
summer, during the olive harvest, played a decisive role in my journey to the tastes
of our island!
Juvenile memories, as cooking with my grandmother in the kitchen, in the light of a
small candle, while my great grandmother was sitting in the chimney corner near to
the wood-fired oven, were later completed by my gastronomic travels through the
smells and the tastes of other cultures, unrolling to me the skein of labyrinth of taste
and, in that way, leading me to the Cretan traditional cuisine.
Due to its simplicity, contrivance and nutritional excellence, the Cretan
traditional cuisine that touches my heart!
A dietary exemplar, a way of life worthy of the history of Crete and its people!
COOKING LESSONS
THE CRETAN DIET IS NOT JUST A VARIETY OF DISHES LAID ON THE TABLE
It comprises a whole philosophy of life and represents the lifestyle of the Cretan people. The unique Cretan Diet is a healthy and tasty diet with centuries-old recipes and modern creative versions, which are always cooked, of course, with the same top quality pure products of the blessed Cretan earth. This diet is not just a variety of dishes presented on the table;
It embodies a whole philosophy of life, the quality way of life of the Cretan people.
Ιt is not only the unique in taste and quality Cretan products but also their combination, which gives an enormous nutritional value and can be found in every Cretan dish.
Good company completes the pleasure of dinning and the Cretan Life Style
The offer of good cuisine is a pleasure, an experience. Are the cultural identity of a place and therefore an important source of satisfaction for every visitor, whether it has a special interest in gastronomy or not.
Private Chef Services by Stella Galanaki & her team
Contact
Reservations
Call: +306945261891
Email: stellagalanaki@gmail.com
COOKING LESSONS
Cooking with Cretan olive oil
Cooking with mama
Vegetarian Cooking
Wine & Cheese