Long after I first visited Naxos, I discovered a series of mountainous settlements beyond the typical must-see spots of Apiranthos, Halki and Filoti. In Kinidaros, a tiny village in the north of Naxos you will find a typical meat taverna that also dubs as a butcher shop run by the Klouvatos family that has recently attracted more and more food connoisseurs.
The taverna, which was more of the local coffee and butcher shop, first opened back in 1931 by Vasilis Klouvatos. A few years later around the 1970s, Vasilis’ son George (aka Vasilarakios), repurposed the place and converted the coffee shop into a proper taverna setting offering the best meat around. This is where we landed a few days back, on a hot summer afternoon after numerous attempts to get here on previous visits to Naxos when prompted by a dear friend and avid Naxos visitor. Stou Vasilarakiou is a typical meat taverna offering only simple dishes with the best quality of meat (and other local produce) as the epicentre of their making.
Country sausages with fried potatoes
We had only a couple of starters as we didn’t want to spoil our appetite for the real thing: the meat. We ordered their homemade country sausages dish and their prime rib steak – both were very tender and juicy, just enough to give us a taste of the quality in this place. A friend of mine later recommended that we should have sat at the back end of the taverna near the grill to catch all the action. Till next time!
