Crassopoleio, Velvento, Polifitos, Greece

I visited the tavern in late April, during the Easter holiday.

This is a tavern in the central square of the very pleasant small town of Velvento, near Polifitos, in Greece. Its name in Greek means a place where they sell wine. This is not the only thing they do.They also sell food.

The tavern offers standard Greek cuisine dishes prepared with skill and fresh ingredients. This combined with the excellent selection of local bottled wines (we had a "Voyiatzis 2004 Red") makes the meal a very good experience.




Some highlights of the dishes we tasted follows.











Fried green peppers, served with olive oil vinegar and garlic. A standard taste.





The stuffed vine leafs (Sarmades in the local dialect) were hearty, tasty and appetizing. In other parts of Greece they make them a lot smaller, with the emphasis being on the taste of the leafs, whereas here the emphasis is on the filling.



The pork knuckle was the best dish of the meal. Tender, juicy, tasty meat that was melting in your mouth, no knifes needed here!


The lamb was tender and tasty, but overshadowed by the pork. Under different circumstances, it would have been the star.



Overall, a place I will revisit.

Special thanks to Haris, who after two years in California has returned to his hometown and enjoys the life of the tavern.

Dimatis Tavern, Aghios Dimitrios, West of Mount Olympus

I visited the Dimatis tavern in late April 2008, during the Easter Holiday.

This is a tavern owned and operated by the Dimatis family, who own a farm with animals a few kilometers down the road on the western slopes of mount Olympus in Greece.

The tavern is in the center of the small town of Aghios Dimitrios, and unless you know about it, you may pass by without any suspicion that this sleepy rural place can offer you immense gastronomic pleasures.

The first good sign of the quality of the place is that they only serve bottled wine, and they know a lot about the local production. We had a Merlot from Naoussa, Vaeni 2004, which was outstanding.

The next good sign is that you do need a menu to order food. There is a menu on the table, but if you indicate that you are a guest and willing to try whatever the Host serves you, you do not need to say more.

The dishes start arriving and you shortly enter a world of solid earty pleasures.

The eggplants and diced onions were melting in your mouth, with strong background tomato and garlic taste, complemented by grated salty yellow cheese (kefalotiri) that has melted on top of everything else.

The mushrooms were grilled and sprinkled with coarse sea salt, crushed garlic, parlsey, olive oil and lemon juice. Perfectioin in simplicity.



The lightly sauteed lamb offals (kidney, liver, lung, heart, sweetbreads) were sweet and mildly acid, and seasoned with salt and oregano. I could not recall in my gastronomic memory a better lamb dish anywhere in the world.

The deer ribs were grilled on charcoal and presented with a slice of lemon and fried potatoes. The meat was juicy and very light, with aromas of oregano and thyme.

The value for money is outstanding.

Epilogue: Go and visit the Dimatis tavern, you will enjoy it.