When Konstantina Vasilaki, known by her friends and family as Dina, recently opened the Katafigio Meze House on Anopoli Road in Kokkini Han, it was literally stepping back into family tradition.

"My father ran a wonderful kafenion here for many years," Dina recalled with a nostalgic expression. "Me and my sisters used to help out after school and on summer holidays, serving meze plates, doing other chores around the shop. It was a great learning experience."

Her father, Yiorgos, started the business in 1989, and it immediately became popular with locals and visitors alike. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2000, when Dina was 25, and the kafenion closed.

"I wasn't ready to run the business at that time, but I had it in mind for the future," she recalled.

In 2004, Dina, born in Germany but raised in Anopoli, met Marios Papadakis Hatzigiannakis of Iraklion and they married a short time later. The union has produced two children, Dimitris, 4 and Eleni, 2, who was named for Dina's mother. "Marios and I always planned to open a taverna here and that's why we didn't renovate the building into a home," she explained. "Then, when our economic situation allowed it, we opened."

That was six months ago, and Katafigio, as it was named, became an instant success. But not before the existing concrete building was completely transformed into a warm and cosy log-cabin taverna and meze house.

"Everything in the taverna, design–wise, had to meet with Dina's approval," Marios said. She named it and designed it, based on her memories of woodsy rustic structures from Germany. That's why it is so unique."

Dina and her two sisters, Maria and Penelope, were born in Germany, where their father worked at the time. The family moved back to Anopoli when Dina was five years old.

While the décor of Katafigio is really something special, it's only a hint to the culinary treats that lay inside.

 
After an exhausting search, Dina and Marios found Chef Maria Poursanidou, 40, a native of Thessaloniki. Maria, an experienced chef for 20 years, had her own cafeteria and then taverna in Yianitsa.  

"The menu is mainly her creation with such specialties as the Fox's plate and the Efterpi's plate, which have become very popular dishes with our customers," Dina said. "The Fox's plate is with cream and corn and Efterpi's plate is with mustard sauce and dill, and they both can be made with chicken or pork.

It's called fox's plate because the fox eats the chicken and the chicken eats the corn…The name Efterpi came about because it's a unique name fitting for an unforgettable dish like this one."

"And," Marios added, "even the rest of the dishes, though traditional and can be found in many Cretan kitchens, are so tasty because Maria gives them her own twist with her seasoning techniques, some of which are based on Thessaloniki food."

"We use more spices up north," Maria explained. "And some different spices from those used in traditional Cretan food, probably because many of us from Thessaloniki have a background from Asia Minor."

In all, there are over 60 dishes on the menu at Katafigio, which is open daily until midnight, but it is revised continually, as the chef, together with Dina and Marios, add and experiment with new tastes.

"While Katafigio is seeped in family tradition, we are writing our own history and this is our legacy to our children," Marios said in closing.