14°C
The Restaurant Velani welcomes everybody who wants to experience the local healthy Cretan diet or Greek cuisine. The Restaurant Velani in Crete serves home cooking with fresh ingredients and local products.
The restaurant has its own vegetable, herb and fruit gardens which provide us daily with new seasonable ingredients. Ripened under the Cretan sun and grown organically they have a rich and delicious taste.
Food is prepared with extra virgin olive oil from our own olive grove. After we press the olives only the highest extra virgin quality is kept for use in our restaurant.
Some of the local produce used in the restaurant includes meat from the free ranging goats and sheep of our neighbours, cheese made by the local shepherd, homemade raki and honey from a local beekeeper.
All served with good Cretan wines, made with grape varieties that have been used since Minoan times.
The chef Manolis takes you on a culinary journey to delight your taste-buds and stimulate the olfactory senses! With care for the local environment and its traditions, he prepares the healthy Cretan dishes with a personal touch.
Every Sunday afternoon he heats up the outdoor oven by burning wood from our olive trees. When the oven reaches the right temperature the wood is removed, the food trays are placed inside and the door is closed with a past of ash and water. Now the food can slowly cook for hours making the food soft, juicy and melt-in-the-mouth.
The Velani restaurant is open all day to serve you breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Breakfast 7.30 – 11.00.
Kitchen is open for lunch and diner from 13.00 to 21.00.
Drinks and snacks are served all day from 7.30 – 23.00.
For vegetarians the Cretan kitchen offers a wide range of possibilities.
The Rural Greece is an online portal that connects travellers with unique destinations and local businesses in the countryside, offering authentic experiences through activities that highlight nature, traditions and culture.
For the Rural Greece accessibility is fundamental to enhancing an inclusive tourism experience. Following the principles of inclusion and equality, the epaithros Rural Tourism Network and its member businesses are constantly working to enhance the tourism services provided, ensuring that all visitors have the opportunity to experience the authentic beauty of the Greek countryside.
Sustainability in tourism refers to a way of developing tourism that respects and protects the environment while strengthening the local economy and preserving cultural traditions. The aim of sustainable tourism is to provide unique and authentic experiences for visitors without harming the natural and social environment, while ensuring that local communities benefit from tourism activity.
This type of tourism is based on three pillars:
With sustainable tourism, visitors can have authentic experiences, knowing that the impact of tourism on the region is positive and lasting for future generations.
For Rural Greece, localism is one of the most important factors for the development of sustainable tourism, as it promotes a strong link between the tourism product and the local society, economy and culture. Through localism, visitors get the opportunity to explore authentic elements of the destination, such as local products, traditions and culture. This not only boosts the local economy, but also helps to sustain and strengthen local businesses, creating new jobs and supporting the development of local communities.
Furthermore, localism contributes to the sustainability of the tourism sector, as it reduces the use of resources from other regions and encourages the use of local goods and services, reducing the ecological footprint of tourism activities. Thus, integrating localism into tourism practices enhances sustainability awareness, both among visitors and local businesses, creating a more responsible and sustainable tourism destination.
