{"id":530311,"date":"2026-03-31T11:18:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/?p=530311"},"modified":"2026-03-31T11:39:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:39:46","slug":"kritamos-the-family-run-cretan-spot-in-kallithea-serving-honest-homemade-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/food-drink\/kritamos-the-family-run-cretan-spot-in-kallithea-serving-honest-homemade-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Kritamos: The family-run Cretan spot in Kallithea serving honest, homemade food"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s just after 3 in the afternoon on a Thursday. The sun is shining, spring has made its appearance, although there\u2019s still a slight chill in the air. On Solonos Street, in Kallithea, there aren\u2019t many people around. At number 113 is Kritamos, an authentic Cretan raki spot that fills the entire street with aroma and flavor.<\/p>\n

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Outside, at a table, Stelios Aretakis sits with his wife, Magdalini Kostelidou. They\u2019re having coffee, smoking a cigarette. In the kitchen, pork tsigaristo is slowly cooking. It\u2019s one of the few moments of the day when they manage to rest, as only at this time is it somewhat more relaxed. Although, as Stelios jokes, \u201cit\u2019s a strange kind of place; we might have no work on a Saturday night and be packed on a Wednesday.\u201d \u201cSundays are tough days and you need a reservation,\u201d Magdalini adds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The space is roomy, with several wooden tables covered in red checkered tablecloths that evoke a \u201ctraditional village kafeneio.\u201d On the walls hang photos of some of the most important lyra players of Crete. \u201cThese are masters of Cretan music. Among the first, the best. Only one of them is still alive, Psarantonis, the brother of Xylouris,\u201d they tell me.<\/p>\n

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The place was started by Stelios together with his mother, Evangelia, and his older brother\u2014nine years his senior\u2014Giannis, who is one of the best cooks in Rethymno, where they come from. \u201cThis year we complete 13 years,\u201d Stelios tells NouPou with pride. Giannis \u201ccouldn\u2019t really handle Athens anymore,\u201d so he returned to Crete a few years ago, and in a way, the third spot in the kitchen was taken over by Magdalini, Stelios\u2019 wife.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were friends first, then we became a couple, and then we got married. Because love goes through the stomach\u2026,\u201d Stelios says jokingly, since Magdalini first came to the place as a customer. \u201cI\u2019m Pontic,\u201d she tells me. \u201cI used to come here as a customer. We met through mutual friends.\u201d And that\u2019s how Crete met Pontus.<\/p>\n

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As we talk, everyone who passes by greets them. That\u2019s how small neighborhoods are; everyone knows each other. A young couple on a motorbike parks right outside, two elderly men go for their walk, a woman stops and looks for Stelios\u2019 mother. \u201cMy mother-in-law isn\u2019t here, she\u2019s gone to rest,\u201d Magdalini tells her, as the woman moves to open the front door and step inside. \u201cWhat food do you have today?\u201d she asks. Fried squid with wild greens and potatoes, they tell her, and she asks for a portion to take away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are people who are regular customers and come almost every day,\u201d Stelios explains to me. \u201cMany go on Sundays with their children to Niarchos, which is nearby, and then come here to eat. We don\u2019t do delivery, we do takeaway. But we\u2019re thinking about joining a platform.\u201d<\/p>\n

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When it first opened, the place functioned more like a kafeneio, where they naturally served coffee and raki with small plates. As they realized that the kitchen was their strong point, they gradually leaned more in that direction, especially in recent years after the lockdown, with the aim of eventually focusing exclusively on food. \u201cSince we have a good kitchen, we\u2019d like that to stand out more,\u201d they tell me.<\/p>\n

Everyone works in the kitchen. Everyone cooks, everyone serves. It is, after all, a family business. And each person has their own specialty. \u201cMy mother mainly makes the home-style dishes. We have Cretan cuisine and then home-style dishes. She makes stuffed vegetables, pastitsio, lentils, gigantes beans, peas.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The menu is adjusted based on seasonality and the weather. \u201cWe adapt depending on what ingredients we find at the farmers\u2019 market and the weather. Sometimes people might be in the mood for a soup, a bean soup when it\u2019s cold,\u201d Magdalini explains.<\/p>\n

The rest of the menu is prepared by Stelios and his wife. From pork and goat tsigaristo to gamopilafo, fricassee mushrooms, snails cooked burbouristi, stifado, pork with wild greens from the village. \u201cSome dishes we make almost every day, like the pork. I might also cook something on request. You might call me and say that five of you are coming in the evening and you want pilafi. Since it takes time, I tell them to call me a day in advance so I can be prepared,\u201d Stelios says.<\/p>\n

As they explain the menu, I try a handmade myzithra pie with honey from their aunt, who came from Crete a few days ago to visit them. Whoever comes, always brings something along. \u201cI get the meat from here\u2014I don\u2019t want to lie. If something comes from Crete, I\u2019ll say it. But they send me many products from the island, like apaki, sausages, cheeses. We work with specific producers from Rethymno and Chania.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The olive oil is their own production. The raki too, as well as the red wine. Ros\u00e9 and white wine come in bulk from Heraklion. The pies\u2014myzithra pies, graviera pies, fennel pies\u2014are sourced from a family-run Cretan business in Athens and baked daily, depending on demand. In the summer, \u201cboatloads\u201d of tomatoes, zucchini, eggplants, even zucchini flowers arrive from the village. \u201cThey send me so many that I often share them. How many dishes can I make with eggplant?\u201d he says, laughing.<\/p>\n

The name \u201cKritamos\u201d was an idea from one of their uncles. It\u2019s a seaside plant that grows on rocks, resilient and salty. \u201cWe\u2019re from a coastal village and there\u2019s kritamos down on the beach. We liked the word. It reminds us of Crete.\u201d In the early years, they even made their own homemade pickled kritamos, but it\u2019s not very popular in Athens, people didn\u2019t know it, so they had to remove it from the menu.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Until 2018, they also hosted live music nights. Today, if someone wants to bring an instrument and play with their group, they\u2019re more than welcome. Magdalini often sings as well, and she has an excellent, deep folk voice. \u201cOld folk songs, Pontic songs, and a bit of art-folk\u201d are her strong suit.<\/p>\n

The place is open daily, except Monday, from 8 in the morning, when Mrs. Evangelia opens, until late. On Sundays, they close in the afternoon, around 7. On Tsiknopempti they set up a grill on the sidewalk and barbecue, while on Clean Monday and March 25th they adjust the menu accordingly.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

All ages come to Kritamos: from older guests who will sit for a raki and a meze, to younger ones who prefer more distinctive flavors, like a Greek salad they make with carob honey, balsamic vinegar, xinomyzithra, and barley rusks. Everyone will find something to eat, they tell me.<\/p>\n

Because, in the end, what they are after isn\u2019t anything complicated. It\u2019s for people to come, eat well, drink their raki, feel comfortable. With honest cooking, generous portions, and a family that cooks as they would for their own table. \u201cWe\u2019re in the middle of nowhere. So whoever comes has to come recommended. And you need to have something good for them to come. Word of mouth is the best advertising for us,\u201d they emphasize.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s just after 3 in the afternoon on a Thursday. The sun is shining, spring has made its appearance, although there\u2019s still a slight chill in the air. On Solonos Street, in Kallithea, there aren\u2019t many people around. At number 113 is Kritamos, an authentic Cretan raki spot that fills the entire street with aroma […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":526730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6165],"tags":[],"real_estate_agency":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530311"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530311"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":530328,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530311\/revisions\/530328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530311"},{"taxonomy":"real_estate_agency","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/real_estate_agency?post=530311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}