Slowly but surely, the sprawling stremmata in the old American base in Gournes are becoming known as the spawning ground for leisure time and special-event activities.

In addition to the CretAquarium, the largest in the Mediterranean, and the International Exhibition Centre, which draws some of the biggest trade shows in the country, there is a taverna worthy of standing beside its most notable neighbours.

Actually, the building which houses the now-popular Krites Taverna was constructed along with the convention centre in 2001 and, together with its surrounding grounds, was designated specifically for that purpose.

However, no one wanted "just another taverna." Knowing the centre would be catering to businesspeople and visitors from throughout Crete, Greece and Europe, it was decided that the taverna adjacent to the centre must be worthy of the task of representing Crete to its fullest.

Finally, in 2005, a young restaurateur named Manolis Paterakis came along and proved he was up to the job, and opened Krites Taverna.

"I named it simply, because I want no confusion – I serve the food of Crete, which is among the best in the world," he said. "Any visitor coming here will leave knowing they have truly tasted Crete – and they will leave with a satisfied smile."

What exactly is the "taste of Crete?"

"Well, it's dishes like lamb with askolibrous or stamnagathi," he explained. Stamnagathi is a kind of coast chicory and askolibros is the Spanish oyster plant and a special Cretan delicacy. Other specialties are the pork with leeks and celery, rabbit in lemon sauce, and snails, also goat in red sauce. And, of course, don't forget the ksilofournos, or food cooked in the wood-burning stone oven."

On a recent Sunday, Manoli fired up the oven at 10 a.m. and, when the smoke finally cleared at the end of the day, he had slow-cooked to perfection more than 50 kilos of meat and additional kilos on the grill in the kitchen as well!

While Manolis is performing his magic with the outside oven, his wife, Alexia, the head chef, is working the kitchen oven and grill and preparing all the other dishes.

In addition to catering to the exhibitors and visitors when trade shows are in town, the Krites Taverna has developed its own clientele of discerning diners from the surrounding towns, as well as customers from Iraklion, who take a drive out to enjoy excellent Cretan cuisine on spacious grounds away from the highway and with a view of the sea.

Manolis started in the taverna business in 1993 when he founded the Nefeli open air taverna just steps away from the surf in Kato Gouves, and, because of its location and the fact that it is only open in the tourist season, its menu is different.

"Well, we also do the wood oven there on Sundays, because a good percentage of our clientele is Greek, but we also feature other things for the visitors, like pizza for something quick, and a gyro or mousaka  that although not Cretan, is still a good Greek dish and well known," he said.

In the past, Manolis has alternated between the two tavernas, working Nefeli in the summer and Krites only in the winter.

"This year we will still operate the Nefeli in season, but with a lighter, more causal menu, and we'll keep Krites open all year for the first time," he said. "After three years, the Krites has developed its regular clientele and we've had many requests to keep it open, so now we will.

While Manolis is proud of both his tavernas, he is especially proud of being awarded a certificate by the Greek Academy of Taste for Krites.

"The purpose of the network is to promote and showcase the Cretan cuisine and nutrition, to develop new programs of special gastronomical interest and to protect the Cretan quality and nutritional wealth on an international level," he said.  "Some of the prerequisites are the exclusive use of virgin olive oil, serving a traditional Greek salad, fresh potatoes fried in olive oil and serving high quality breads and local appetizers, just to name a few. There are frequent unannounced checks by the Greek Taste Academy verifying the use of proper ingredients, cleanliness and, of course, service."

Just how did the Krites perfect the taste of Crete?

"Well, I'm from Lasithi Plateau and my wife is from Hania," he said. "So, between us, we've got this island pretty well covered!