The first thing you see when you walk into the new Hatzis Restaurant is the steak – cut thick on the bone – proudly showcased in a refrigerated display case.

There are many different cuts, from t-bone, to rib eye, to porterhouse, to sirloin steak-for-two, three, four or more. But they all have one thing in common.

"All our beef is imported Argentinean-style beef and we purchase the entire animal, roughly about 80 kilos," said Yiannis Fragiathakis, the creator of the new eatery in Kokkini Hani. "Then we hang it under controlled humidity, temperature, and airflow in a professional grade refrigerator and age it for at least another 20 days and then we cut it into the different types of steak. Or, for special orders we cut it by the kilo."

As Yiannis explained it, the tenderness of beef decreases immediately after slaughter, and it's only through the aging process under controlled conditions that the meat becomes more tender and flavourful. The process enhances beef by two means. First, moisture is evaporated from the muscle. This creates a greater concentration of beef flavour and taste. Second, the beef’s natural enzymes break down the connective tissue in the muscle, which leads to more tender beef.

"What makes our steaks even tenderer is the fact that it's milk-fed beef, like veal, and is lighter in colour than regular beef," Yiannis said. "To accommodate all steak orders, regardless of size, we've installed charcoal barbeque which is five and a half metres long."

While extra tender steaks are the specialty of the house, the new Hatzis has a comprehensive menu, actually several menus, featuring casseroles and in-the-pan foods are the specialties de jour.  The main menu offers a wide variety of ethnic cuisine, including traditional Cretan dishes. In addition, there are breakfast and lunch items, and a café area with a taste-tempting listing of sweets.

In total, there is over 1,000 square metres of dining area, with enough table space to handle up to 200 diners at any one time. With a combination of sliding glass windows to connect the front and rear terraces to the main room, Hatzis can open for a seating of more than 700 people for special occasions. Also, there is an indoor play area for the kids.

Although Yiannis is well known as the proprietor of Hatzis Super Market, adjoining the restaurant, what is not known is that he has a wealth of experience in the restaurant business as well.

"I graduated from tourism school in Kokkini Hani with a degree in restaurant management, and worked in the industry at different levels before taking over Hatzis Super Market," he said. "Then when the opportunity arose, I decided to open the restaurant, too. Both Hatzis restaurant and supermarket have a rich history in the area."

 Yiannis said his original plan was to join the restaurant with the super market to develop "a spacious and contemporary area where one can do their shopping, buy the newspaper and enjoy breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a leisurely coffee. 

"In the interim, I really got into a restaurant frame of mind and I realized that by making it the best way I knew how, the restaurant could work as a separate entity if I could just find something unique that no one else had on Crete, like the steaks," he explained.  "And so the restaurant took on a life of its own – a shop for all hours, for all ages and for all tastes." 

To meet the demand for "all tastes," Yiannis set up his kitchen with a five-person team, including his mother who makes all daily specials "just like she makes them at home."

(Editor's note: While we were there, his mother, who had a "day off" from the kitchen, came in carrying a huge plastic bag full of fresh greens just picked in the fields of her village.)

"We just didn’t take a chef and go with what he or she has been making for years," he said. "We tried to tie in the restaurant’s history together with some of the old clientele and we do try to create and taste a few new things daily. We keep what we think our customers will like and keep going. Our menu must be accessible to everyone."

While the roots of the Hatzis Taverna date back for more than 70 years, there is no question that through the nurturing of a man named Yiannis Fragiathakis, it will continue to flourish for many more years to come.