Elia & Diosmos

New Cretan cuisine

With unique recipes of the famous chef and restaurant owner Argiro Varda, who has been meeting at Elia & Diosmos all food lovers since 2006.

The name of the restaurant “Elia & Diosmos” is translated from Greek as “Olive and Mint”. The main ingredients of Greek and Mediterranean cuisine are olive oil and aromatic herbs. Add to them the many years of Argiro’s experience, and you’ll have an excellent menu, full of Cretan tradition and healthy food. The dishes are simple, but at the same time full of imagination. The following ones deserve special attention:

• “Minoan Lamb”, cooked with rosemary, honey and garlic, served with fried vegetables.
• Domestic rooster from Myrtia, with chilopitaka (a kind of noodle) and goat cheese.
• Savory beef liver with rosemary, served with avocado sauce.
• “Kotsi”, fried pork shank with citrus, honey or wine sauce and mashed potatoes.
• Pasta “Schiouchifta”, traditional recipe from the Mirabello region, that have been passed down through the generations in the Argiro’s family.
• Marathopita, crispy Greek pita stuffed with marafos (fennel).
• Shrimp with pasta and fresh cherry tomatoes sauce.
• "Glystrida" salad from purslane, baked potatoes, grapes and parsley.
• Green salad with goat cheese (optional), maruli, arugula and green apple sauce.
• “Cheese trilogy” — baked Cretan “graviera” cheese flavored with sesame seeds, Messinian cheese “talagani” and Cypriot cheese “halumi”, accompanied by homemade wheat bread and cherry tomatoes.
• Homemade flavored chips that will drive all snack enthusiasts crazy.

Some of the signature sweets of Elia & Diosmos:

• Künefe, kadayifi with syrup, according to the Constantinople recipe brought to Elia & Diosmos by the famous chef Ayhan Ekinci.
• Baklava with coarsely chopped walnuts and almonds, served with ice cream made from fresh milk;
• Cheesecake with figs’ “glyko koutalyu”.
• Traditional Cretan “glyko koutalyu” (spoon sweets) made of grape, bergamot, figs, quince and other fruits.

All the ingredients are carefully selected — seasonal vegetables, fruits and herbs, meat from local farms, fresh fish and seafood. Bread and pies are prepared right here, with home recipes, and baked in a wood oven. There is a good variety of selected local wine labels, and of course the genuine Cretan raki.

Tasty food is perfectly complemented by the warm atmosphere and the restaurant decor. With the open kitchen and fireplace inside the restaurant and the monastery tables and wood oven in the courtyard. Periodically, live Greek music nights with local artists are held here.

Elia & Diosmos is located in the village of Skalani, 10 minutes from the legendary Knossos Palace. Ancient Cretan history and new Cretan cuisine is a perfect combination to have a “tasty” time!