What I Ate in Greece

So many Greek salads, for one

Hello!

I came home this week after a 10-day trip to Greece that included stops in Athens, Tinos, a brief afternoon in Mykonos, Naxos, and Santorini.

I had the time of my life and could easily get on board with living on a Greek island where I would swim in the sea, eat olives, and drink wine all day.

However, I came back from my trip with a brutal cold and a cough that’s kept me on the couch most of this week. In that spirit, I don’t have it in me to do a full-on newsletter this week. Instead, I’m sharing my pictures of delicious things I ate, drank, and nibbled on in Greece. I’ll be back next week with a more comprehensive post probably centering around **SHOCKER** some sort of summer produce!

Apolamváno!

Athens

I went to Greece on a group trip and had almost two full days on my own in the city before the tour started. Of course, I maximized that time by eating and drinking. I found the most perfect little tavern, Taverna ton Filon, that had small wooden tables with white tablecloths and a little outdoor dining area with twinkle lights across the street.

It’s exactly the restaurant where everyone wants to become a regular, and I wanted to bring it back to Brooklyn with me.

I ate the most delicious sardines, a small dip, and a grilled watermelon salad.

Also in Athens, I went to Akra and ate a flatbread filled with spinach—a twist on a traditional Greek pie.

I started a daily Coke Zero habit in Athens that lasted the entire trip. Why Coke Zero tastes so perfect in Europe may be one of life’s greatest mysteries.

I also quickly wised up to how Greeks do coffee. Like me, Greeks like iced coffee all year, and I loved ordering freddo espressos and freddo cappuccinos everywhere I went.

Once my group trip started, we ordered plates of pita bread, so much tzatziki, beer, and kebabs.

Tinos

It’s hard for me to pick a favorite stop, but it might be Tinos. Unlike the neighboring islands of Mykonos and Paros, Tinos is surprisingly not a major tourist attraction—although I don’t know why because it has everything going for it. It’s home to the cutest white-washed shops and downtown center that is bustling until late at night, great beaches, and a big agriculture business that makes everything from wine to capers.

We started our stay in Tinos with a food tour led by a local tour guide who took us to bakeries, a cheese shop, and a gyro shop where I had a chicken gyro stuffed with fries.

We also went to a woman-owned winery to do a cheese and wine tasting.

Other Tinos highlights include oregano and tzatziki-flavored Lay’s potato chips (so good!), the first of about ten Greek salads, and an Aperol spritz on the beach. We also had a traditional Greek dinner where everyone split a ton of small plates (or mezze) including moussaka, more Greek salad, potatoes, meatballs, greens, feta, and of course, more sardines.

In Tinos, I bought a small wicker basket that effectively became my personal Coke Zero holder for the rest of the trip.

Naxos

Naxos is also a slightly off-the-radar Greek island but is becoming a bigger tourist attraction. I have never seen more little food stores in one area selling everything from spices to linens and aprons. I was in seventh heaven.

Naxos is known for its olive oil and its potatoes. The potatoes are roasted with a glug of olive oil and served with lemon juice and oregano on top. They’re delicious.

I continued on my Greek salad journey in Naxos. I also ordered two excellent pasta dishes: A shrimp spaghetti and a Mediterranean penne.

For our last night in Naxos, we went to the beach to watch the sunset where I split an order of fish and chips (made with cod) and ordered a passion fruit spritz roughly the size of my head.

Santorini

Our last stop was Santorini, which is truly one of the world’s greatest wonders. The island—or caldera—is formed from a volcanic eruption, resulting in steep cliffs that plunge into the Mediterranean Sea.

For our last dinner as a group, we ate at one of the hundreds of restaurants perched on the cliffs to watch the sunset. I ate kebabs that came on mini pieces of pita bread with couscous on the side.

I ended the trip going all-out with a sunset catamaran tour. The boat served dinner, drinks, and let us off at several beaches to jump into the warm and calm Mediterranean Sea.

That’s it for this week! I’ll be back next week with what I’m eating next!