Feast by the Coast in Greece
With an abundance of photogenic coastline, marked by aquamarine coves and pin-up beaches, Greece is a paradise for waterside dining.
PERIPLOUS, CRETE
Even if the food wasn’t great, you’d come for the sunsets: lavishly pink and sky filling, casting warm glow over the slick modern restaurant tables. But the food at Periplous, set on a former industrial stretch of seafront in Chania, is tasty indeed. Dishes echo classic Greek island flavours – catch of the day or ravioli with rabbit – but with an added city cool that’s miles from the cliché. periplousrestaurant.gr
PELAGOS, ATHENS
Pelagos means ‘sea’ in Greek, and it’s a fitting name for this Michelin-starred spot in the Four Seasons Astir Palace. The swish indoor-outdoor space looks right over the waves, a theatrical stage for decadent dishes that reference the sea while simultaneously thinking outside the box. Don’t expect souvlaki or spanakopita here – rather, caviar pasta with clam emulsion or dry-aged wild sea bass with kumquat.
fourseasons.com/athens
SPILIA, MYKONOS
Restaurant settings don’t get more romantic than at Spilia, an open-air waterside platform spilling from atmospheric Agia Anna cave. Visitors to Mykonos have been coming with their nearest and dearest for more than 30 years to feast on Aegean sea urchins, mussels and crayfish under the arch of a pergola. Order a round of zingy cocktails to wash everything down, building up to an evening enjoying Mykonos’s legendary party scene.
spiliarestaurant.gr
DON’T MISS
The Greek islands are packed with architectural treasures, and Crete is no exception. Break up the feasting with visits to the epic ruins of the Palace of Knossos outside Heraklion or the underrated Minoan Palace of Phaistos.