While more traditionally recognized for olive oil and beverages such as ouzo, raki, retsina and wine, Greece is starting to make a name for itself with its line-up of craft beers.  And while there are some good breweries popping up on the mainland, some of the better craft beers appearing in Greece today are found on Santorini.

On our visit to Santorini, aside from a wonderful meal at Assyrtico Wine Restaurant and a visit to the town of Oia, one of the biggest scores for me was finding a collection of beers from not one, but two different local breweries!

Volkan Beer

Volkan Beer is the first beer from Santorini, brewing since 2011.  While the beer itself is final brewed in Argos currently, there are plans to move the brewing operations onto the island in an environmentally friendly footprint in the near future.  In the meantime, some of the key ingredients of Volkan’s beers are local to Santorini; Santorini Rare Honey and their trademark Volkan Lavarock Filter. This filter is used to make the brewing water taste like Santorini’s groundwater may have tasted thousands of years ago, around the time of the island’s volcanic eruption.

Volkan has had two regular beers in their lineup from their start, Santorini Blonde and Santorini Black, and when I visited, they also had their new Volkan White available.

The Santorini Blonde (5%) is their flagship pilsner made with Santorini honey and citrus medica. A very standard pilsner, with a hint of citrus.

The Santorini Black (5%) is a Black Wheat Greek Lager, inspired by the black cliffs of Santorini.  Beautiful chocolate color and coffee-colored head. Interesting hints of dark grain flavors.

The Santorini White (4%) is a Belgian-style Greek Wheat Beer, and was one of the best wheat beers I’ve had in a while.  By far my favorite of the three!

Santorini Brewing Company

More easily identifiable as the Donkey beers, so named for the donkeys who can carry you up from the port to the village of Fira. Santorini Brewing Company brews their beers on the island in Meso Gonia, not far from the top of the road leading up from the new port and not too far from Santorini’s airport. The working brewery can be visited Monday through Saturday between 12 noon and 5PM.

Santorini Brewing Company brews three different “Hip Hoppy Kick-Ass Ales.” Unfortunately, I was only able to pick up and try two of them, with the one I most wanted to try being only available in a 750ml bottle which I wasn’t able to take back to the ship with me that day.

Yellow Donkey (5%) – A blonde ale, made with a mix of old- and new-world hops, providing a slightly citrus taste.

Red Donkey (5.5%) – An amber ale, with a mix of malts to give it a chestnut hue.

Crazy Donkey ( 5.8%) – The first IPA to be brewed in Greece. Unfortunately, this was the one only available in larger format, so I wasn’t able to try this one yet, but I hope to do so when back in Greece in October.

While I enjoyed both the Yellow Donkey and the Red Donkey, I have to give the nod to the Red Donkey on this due, but again, will hold out my final vote until I’ve had the chance to try the Crazy Donkey.

Upon arriving in the Vieux Port district of Marseille, we started to wander along the quai looking at all of the cafes and restaurants lining the street.  Nestled in between the cafes were the occasional souvenir shops, many of which sported a similar sign outside, and pictured on much of the merchandise inside the shop.  A bright yellow background catches the eye, and draws you towards the image of a striking French woman holding a beer on a tray.  How can anyone turn away from such beauty…a beer on a tray!

La Cagole is a local word from the Marseille region to describe a beautiful woman who, well, based on one French definition run through Google translate, “is led to bed without problems.”  This would explain the branding, and why the La Cagole logo can be seen so prominently around the city.

On our visit to Marseille, I came across three different beer offerings from La Cagole:

La Bière du Cabanon  – La Cagole de Marseille (5.5%)

This is the flagship beer of La Cagole. A standard Czech-style pilsner.

La Bière de Légende – Recette Antique (6.5%)

Made from an ancient recipe from herbalist monks that gives it its unique color.

Bière Blanche – À l’ancienne (4.5%)

A white beer made in the traditional way. Fresh and sweet.

The Recette Antique was my favorite of the three La Cagole offerings, followed by the Bière Blanche.  The standard pilsner was OK, but nothing special.  Definitely worthwhile  as a souvenir though!

Have you tried these, or any of the other beers from La Cagole?  What did you think?  Feel free to let us know in the comments how you liked any of these.

Returning to Santorini after seven years, I was determined to locate a restaurant that not only offered good food with a view, but also one whose menu featured a number of local Santorini specialties. We found this in Assyrtico Wine Restaurant. You might recognize the name Assyrtiko, as it’s one of Santorini’s best-known wines; however, the restaurant is actually spelled Assyrtico.

The masterminds behind this innovative venture are two of the best chefs on Santorini. Nikos Pouliasis from Koukomavlos and Vasilis Zaharakis from Nichteri joined forces to create Assyrtico Wine Restaurant, offering a creative take on some traditional Santorini dishes.

And the view is pretty amazing. Assyrtico is located up a set of stairs where you are met with a beautiful arched balcony that looks directly back to the caldera of Santorini. It was pretty windy the day we were there, but we braved the less than ideal weather to sit at one of the best tables.

Assyrtico offers an excellent Greek and International wine list. If you are interested in trying some of the best local varietals, the staff is quite knowledgeable. We opted with a P.D.O Assyrtiko from Hatzidakis Winery as recommended by our server.

Normally, I have trouble choosing between appetizers to try and this was my worst challenge yet. Assyrtico’s six different starters made it so hard to choose – we opted to forgo an entrée and try all six since they represented some of the best in local Santorini dishes.

Amuse Bouche – Homemade Breads and Hummus

We started off with a basket of homemade breads and hummus. The bread had local Santorini capers baked inside and the hummus was one of the best I’ve had in Greece.

Tomato Ball Pancake

Made with sundried tomatoes, spearmint and watermelon chutney with lime and feta cheese from Tripoli. Light in texture, the tomato ball pancakes were well balanced and the watermelon chutney with feta was a nice way to cut the richness from the pancake.

“Like” Zucchini Fritters

These are giant beans from Prespes and zucchini from Santorini, mixed with a sesame crust and served atop a curry avocado yogurt sauce. I was worried the sesame crust was going to overpower the delicate bean and zucchini flavors, but they worked well together. The curry sauce added some cool spice and a subtle hint of sweetness that was a nice finish.

Fava

If you try only one thing in Santorini, it should be fava. Fava beans are locally grown on the island and absolutely delicious. Typically served as a puree, Assyrtico’s version is served with pickled onions in forest fruits, mousse of smoked pork from Mani, capers and sage scented olive oil. This was easily my favorite dish – the fava puree was divine and the pickled onions were so flavorful, but not overpowering in the slightest. I could’ve eaten two, maybe three of these myself!

“Saganaki”

The saganaki appetizer at Assyrtico features Gruyere cheese from Mytilini Island aged in olive oil. It’s wrapped in a pastry crust and served with a chutney of Greek dry fruits marinated in Vinsanto wine. The chutney on this dish was a clear winner with both of us. The Gruyere was mild and the pastry crust not soggy in the least.

Kataifi Fillo

The kataifi fillo was one of the most stunning dishes we had that afternoon. It’s made with four types of Greek cheese, scented with mastic, mandarin sauce, and rose petals confit. It’s hard to argue with this dish just looking at it. It’s delicate – both in presentation and flavor. If you’ve never heard of mastic, it’s a Greek specialty product. Mastic is a “gum” found only in the mastic tree, which is grown in only one part of the world – the Greek island of Chios. Mastic is used in a variety of products, from culinary specialties to skin and beauty products made in Greece.

“Santorini” Bruschetta

The last dish featured several Santorini products as well – sautéed squid, smoked mouse of white Santorinian eggplant, topped with an aioli sauce with cuttlefish ink and seaweeds. At first glance, the seaweed and the thick cuttlefish ink may be a turn off to some, but don’t skip this one. The squid was perfectly prepared and the white eggplant mousse was sublime. The seaweed and cuttlefish ink were perfect accompaniments for this appetizer and had we still been hungry, I would’ve been tempted to order another Santorini Bruschetta.

Due to Santorini’s landscape of volcanic ash, there are no natural trees and very few plants, making local food products somewhat of a rarity. Items like fava beans, tomatoes, and certain grape varietals thrive in volcanic soil, helping earn the island an excellent reputation within the gastronomic community. Santorini’s fava bean production is so respected, it has been granted P.D.O. (Protected Designation of Origin) status.

Prices at Assyrtico are reasonable, especially as compared to similar restaurants along the “waterfront”. Appetizers range from 8 euros to the most expensive at 11.50 euros (as of May 2014). Assyrtico’s main courses looked amazing as well but we obviously didn’t have near enough room to try one nor the desserts sadly. We definitely plan to return again and try the chefs’ individual restaurants as well.

Assyrtico Restaurant

Φηρά, Σαντορίνη (Fira, Santorini)
84700, Ελλάδα  (84700, Greece)
Phone: +30 22860 22463,
+30 22860 34255

Email: info@assyrtico-restaurant.com

This is the first in a series of upcoming posts from Our Tasty Travel’s 23 day tour of the Mediterranean on Holland America’s MS Noordam. Follow the hashtag #OTTMED14 on Twitter and Instagram for more yummy photos and social media recaps from our incredible adventure of the local culinary culture in many parts of the region.