Our Favorite Meals

Every so often a place reminds us exactly why we do what we do.

On our last trip to Greece, we ate our way from a small Cycladic island to a quiet corner of Athens, the kind of trip where the tomatoes taste like something and good olive oil is just there, poured without ceremony because that's how it should be. We came home a little changed, and a lot hungry.

Here are four tables we're still thinking about.

Cantina

Tucked into the cove at Seralia in Sifnos, just below the ancient hilltop capital of Kastro, Cantina is the kind of place you plan a whole evening around. Stone walls, a handful of tables set against the rocks, the sound of the water below, and a sharing-style tasting menu built almost entirely from the island itself: local fish, island-grown vegetables, wild herbs, handmade pasta. It reminded us why we source the way we do: closest to the ground, closest to the sea, as little as possible between the ingredient and the plate.

Bostani

Bostani takes its name from the Greek word for a vegetable garden, and it means it. The kitchen grows its own herbs and produce just below the tables and sources the rest from farmers across the island, turning it into a contemporary take on Sifnian cooking. It's farm-to-table in the most literal sense, and one of the most beautiful settings we've ever eaten in. This is the philosophy we chase in everything we bring to you: let the ingredient lead.

O Felos

For a proper taste of everyday Sifnian life, this is it. A traditional kafenio up in Ano Petali, near Apollonia. No sea view, no fuss, just the unhurried rhythm of an island cafe and honest, local cooking. The kind of quiet, genuine spot you'd walk past if you didn't know, and remember long after you did.

Taverna ton Filon

Back in the city, tucked into the residential Kolonos neighborhood far from the tourist crowds, this one lives up to its name, "the friends' tavern." A taverna whose roots trace to 1958, lovingly revived by a chef and sommelier into something that honors tradition while quietly elevating it: seasonal Greek cooking, thoughtful little twists, a wine list worth lingering over, and one of the loveliest courtyards in Athens. Warm, genuine, and a thousand miles from the beaten track. One of the best places I have eaten in Athens.