To Oreino

To Oreino translates as 'The Mountain One' — a name that encapsulates the kitchen's entire philosophy. The restaurant sits on the main square of Dimitsana, a medieval hilltop village in the Arcadia highlands of the central Peloponnese, at an altitude of approximately 950 metres above sea level. The village is perched dramatically above the Lousios Gorge, one of the most striking natural features of the Peloponnese, and the restaurant caters to hikers arriving from the gorge trail and travellers making the scenic mountain drive from Tripoli. The menu is built around the foraged and farmed produce of the Arcadian mountains: wild boar hunted on the surrounding slopes, river trout fished from the Lousios and Alfios rivers, wild greens gathered from the hillsides, and chestnuts collected in autumn from the forests above the village. Slow-roasted wild boar is the restaurant's most celebrated preparation — marinated for 24 hours in red wine and juniper berries and then roasted on low heat until the meat is extraordinarily tender. River trout with toasted almonds, cooked simply in butter and lemon, is the alternative signature that showcases the quality of the cold mountain waterways. Wild greens pie (hortopita), made with a mixture of foraged greens baked in hand-rolled filo, is the vegetarian centrepiece. Chestnut soup, available in autumn, is one of the most distinctive preparations in the Peloponnese. Advance booking is recommended on weekends.