Spiliadis, Corfu

Spiliadis is a well-regarded traditional taverna in Benitses, a fishing village on Corfu's east coast approximately eighteen kilometres south of Corfu Town, at the point where the main east coast road meets the sea after crossing the island's southern interior. Benitses had a reputation as a package tourist resort in the 1980s and 1990s that did it few favours, but the village has largely reverted to its more authentic character as a Corfiot fishing community, and Spiliadis represents this better tendency: a family-run taverna oriented toward the local Sunday lunch trade rather than the transient tourist. The restaurant's Sunday lunchtime service, when Corfiot families from surrounding villages arrive for the braised dishes of the week, is the peak expression of what the kitchen does best. Yiouvetsi — lamb or veal braised in tomato with orzo pasta, then transferred to the oven in an earthenware pot until the pasta absorbs the sauce and forms a golden crust — is perhaps the single dish that best defines the southern Ionian Greek Sunday table. Stuffed zucchini blossoms, filled with herbed rice, are a seasonal summer specialty. Braised lamb with fresh green beans and olive oil exemplifies the slow-cooked vegetable-and-meat preparations of the Corfiot kitchen. Fresh local fish from the Benitses fishing boats round out the menu. House wine from the barrel is inexpensive and correctly calibrated to the food.