For bakery owners, the beginning of the year brings a lull. “Everybody goes on a diet for the first few weeks of January, so we always take that time off,” says Essence Bakery owner Eugenia Theodosopoulos. During that time, she and her husband, Gilles Combes, returned to one of their favorite destinations, her family’s homeland. “All four of my grandparents immigrated here from Greece,” she says. Theodosopoulos shares highlights from their trip to Athens, Vergina, Corfu, Kalamata and Thessaloniki, where she met her online Greek language teacher in person for the first time.
Polycentric Museum of Aigai
Theodosopoulos has visited ruins throughout the Mediterranean nation, but the tomb of King Philip II of Macedon (father of Alexander the Great) in Vergina still awed her. “They found his tomb in the ’70s, and it was untouched for 2,500 years,” she says. “You walk underneath ground to the entrance of his tomb and it’s unbelievable. It actually gives you the chills, because it’s so untouched and real.” aigai.gr/en/visit
Xaroupi
“They’re really good at making salads,” Theodosopoulos says of Greek chefs. “They’re really good at vegetables.” That dexterity was on display at this Cretan-owned restaurant in Thessaloniki, where she was enchanted by the village salad with rusks – “it’s like a savory biscotti, for lack of a better term” – and a beet salad with cooked beet greens and Cretan cheese. @xaroupi_cretan_restaurant
Voukakrato
Another Thessaloniki favorite was this restaurant specializing in wood-fired fare, where Theodosopoulos and Combes feasted on smoky octopus, stewy beans and casseroles of vegetables. “Everything was very simple and very flavorful,” she says. “It was fresh and not complicated – simple deliciousness.” @voukakrato
Fishalida
Theodosopoulos encourages travelers to think beyond the popular Aegean Sea islands (Santorini, Rhodes, et al.) when planning Greek vacations and try the less-visited Ionian Sea islands, like Corfu. At this seafood market and eatery, they ordered a whole fish baked with olive oil and lemon, grilled octopus with fava bean purée and a salad of orange segments, pickled onions, feta and olive oil. “I told Gilles, ‘We have to go back to this restaurant, because I just want to eat that salad every day.’” fishalidacorfu.gr
