Arcadiani

Arcadiani is perched on the mountains of Gortynia, not far from Tripoli, in the most beautiful part of the village of Psari between Vytina, Stemnitsa, and Karytaena, with a view towards Mt Lykaeo and picturesque Karytaena.
It is a large, beautiful place with terraces and spectacular views and hosts the “Grandma’s Treats” restaurant, where homemade food is served using pure ingredients according to the seasons from the fields and vegetable garden of Arkadiani, a large garden surrounded by trees and flower beds.
Arkadiani is a small company producing fresh spoon sweets using fresh fruits, kourabie, skaltsounia, dried figs with walnuts, koulourakia, trahana, pasta, herbs, herbal teas, and roughly fifty other different kinds of excellent and pure products of the region’s producers, based on traditional recipes.
At the same time and in a specially designed space, a library was set with 650 rare books on cooking dating from the 19th century, along with hundreds of related documents of interest to researchers, as well as an exhibition of utensils and kitchenware from 1900.
In an outdoor space, we created a 300-seat theatre where cultural events, theatrical performances, and art exhibitions take place, enhancing the region’s cultural life and inviting visitors to become familiar with the treats of Arkadiani. Arkadiani operates daily and is frequently visited by clubs and schools for educational purposes. Here, children learn to bake bread in wood-fired ovens, prepare hilopites, trahana and koulourakia “from an earlier, but perhaps wiser way of life.” The Arkadiani team conducts environmental tours to bring children in closer contact with nature, while information written on the restaurant-table placemats provide tips about the Mediterranean diet, thus inviting discussions about healthy nutrition.