We just returned from a huge odyssey to Greece. When I say odyssey it’s because to get to Crete (where we spent most of our time), we flew to London, caught a second flight to Santorini, where we spent one night, before taking a delayed ferry to Heraklion.
But Odysseus didn’t get an extra night in Santorini to admire the beautiful caldera views and some local cuisine.
We mostly avoided the mass crowds of tourists (since we weren’t here at sunset) and had a great bonus evening. For our one dinner, we chose a semi-local spot inside a small shopping center.
When we arrived to To Ouzeri with our six-year old, we were greeted immediately by an older woman who took his order and got to work on his spaghetti.
For his more adventurous parents, we had a feast of local Santorini products. The most memorable were the tomato meatballs known as tomatokeftedes.
This is a Santorini specialty, using the native cherry tomatoes to create richly flavored fritters. In New York, I am always amazed by the new work chefs are doing with vegetables. These vegetarian meatballs are old, traditional work and they’re better than any cantaloupe burger back home.
Those special tomatoes are balled up with herbs, like mint and parsley, and delicately battered and fried. Juicy and tender inside with a greaseless salty exterior, they melt in your mouth a bit too easily. For the sauce, a tangy mint yogurt sauce made perfect sense.
These flavors of Santorini are not why most tourists flock here, but it’s a big reason we made the island a stop on our epic Greek vacation. Stay tuned for some more incredible dishes along our voyage.
| TO OUZERI |
| Fabrika, Fira 847 00, Fira Town, Santorini, Greece +30 2286 021566 |
| toouzerisantorini.com |
