9 Tasty Stops in the Cyclades for Authentic Flavors

Kalamitsi, Kimolos

A tomato and cucumber salad with oregano, a Greek salad with samphire and olives, fava dip with raw onion, fresh greens, boiled octopus, fried calamari and tiny shrimp, golden fried potatoes, okra, fried zucchini, and tables on the sand by the swaying tamarisk. This fish taverna is an homage to timeless simplicity. The owners catch their own fish, usually small fry, and serve locally sourced vegetables and cheeses. Here, the zero-km ethos reigned supreme even before the term was invented. The service is friendly and so are the prices.

O Tsitsanis, Paros

Tsitsanis, one of Paros’ oldest tavernas, has been in continuous operation since 1969 and is now run by the Roussos family’s third generation. Based on one of the most popular islands, they insist on offering simple, filling, and delicious cooking. Their legacy, besides the restaurant, also included the farm and orchards once owned by their grandfather in Lefkes and Molos. Except during the peak tourist season in July and August, the Roussos family claim they are almost entirely self-sufficient. They make their own cheeses and raise their own chickens, which they serve stewed or grilled, while in the summer they produce long green beans and beautiful ripe tomatoes. They also bake small quantities of local chickpeas in their wood oven. 

Rizes, Mykonos

Rizes is housed in a self-contained traditional estate, which includes several outbuildings: dovecotes, a wood-fired oven, a chapel, a stable, a creamery, and a well. It is located in the heart of the island, serving as a reminder to the older generations and a lesson to the younger ones of the authentic Mykonos of old. In the wood oven, they bake migadi bread and onion pie using their own tyrovolia cheese, they fry eggs in lard, which is known locally as lera, and make mostra, barley rusks topped with local kopanisti cheese. They serve pork meatballs made from coarsely minced pork and zucchini leaves stuffed with local cheeses, as well as roast lamb, mutton, and suckling pig, all served at small tables in the courtyard with a view of the farm and garden.

Mikro Karavi, Tinos

This Tinos restaurant serves up lessons in hospitality, delectable vegetables roasted in oil, expertly made risottos, caramelized giouvetsi bakes, substantial stewed meat dishes, and innovation blended with common sense and humility. They only use locally sourced goods, a majority of which are grown in the Tinos Eco Lodge’s organic gardens, and the wines in the cellar are also from the Cyclades. Dishes inspired by local ingredients, such as Tinos melon soup, local beans with oven baked tomatoes and pickled wild barberries, and cod with baked chickpeas, are served in a stunning internal courtyard.

Prekas Local Products, Syros

Kostas Prekas, the owner of this store, is a living gourmet encyclopaedia of Syros, an inquisitive man who never stops discovering, reviving, and innovating. His grocery has been operating since 1993 in the central market of Ermoupoli, on the site of a traditional grocery that had been there since before WWII, specialising in imported foodstuffs. Around 80% of the products on the shelves today are produced in the Cyclades, while the owner has written a book of recipes from Syros and makes some products himself, including pastellaria (dried figs with juniper, cinnamon and sesame) and wild fennel paté. He also works with local producers to grow capers, samphire, herbs, tomatoes, and sesame, as well as to make cheeses, “guaranteeing the absolute quality of ingredients and supporting local farming,” as he says.

Axiotissa, Naxos

Beautifully presented local recipes without fussy techniques, using local ingredients and served with Cycladic wines. Axiotissa is worth the journey for anyone visiting Naxos. The taverna run by Yiannis Vassilas and Sophia Papadopoulou became known through word of mouth. They are known for their passion for quality local ingredients and the joy they put into producing many of the products they use in the kitchen, including oil from specific olive varieties (throumboelies, askoudes, and koroneikes), and wine from local varietals such as Fokiano, Potamisi, Aïdani, Karabraïmi, and Monemvasia. They also serve specialties like fried green tomatoes, purslane salad, cockerell with okra, and pork baked with red sauce and pasta, known as rosto.

Kafeneio Parva and Café-Bar-Restaurant Naftilia Nikou Preka, Amorgos 

The famed crispy meatballs stored at Parva, one of the town’s oldest kafeneia, which has been open since 1966, are accompanied by anecdotes told by the older citizens of Hora, Amorgos’ capital, who spend their time there. This is where the island’s first telephone was installed, where the fishmonger and greengrocer sold their wares, and where summer visitors were welcomed. The golden fried potatoes topped with runny eggs, savoro (marinated fried fish), and freshly cooked steaming fava dip are prepared in a small kitchen and served on an equally small terrace with a few tables, utilizing local produce and careful, home-style cooking.

Visitors are greeted in a same manner at the island’s other historic café, Naftilia Nikou Preka, which has been operating since 1950. This brilliant time capsule, a café-bar-restaurant that simultaneously functions as a ticket agent, is decorated with vibrant, weathered mosaics that have changed little over time “This kafeneio has known great times,” the owners reminisce. They talk about their part of the world while serving pan-fried octopus with vinegar, herring salad, local xinomizithra and Amorgian kopanisti cheeses, as well as honey-aged cheese, kavourmas (a kind of seasoned preserved meat) with oregano and lashings of local sweetened raki, known as psimmeni.

Araklia, Iraklia

After various culinary adventures, chef Yiannis Gavalas returned to his home island, founded a restaurant in his ancestral home, transforming his part of the world into a gastronomic destination. In addition to the menu, he leaves a list of his suppliers on the table. Yiannis is proud of his partners and promotes them at every opportunity, because he feels that their quality ingredients, from Syros, Tinos, Naxos, Iraklia and other islands, elevate his recipes. Yiannis himself forages for ingredients that he uses with care and love to make recipes such as pickled barberries and cheese donuts using local cheeses, kid stuffed with rice, liver and fennel, a typical Iraklia Easter dish.