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Etymologically, the word “gastronomy” is derived from ancient Greek word «γαστήρ» (gaster) meaning stomach, and «νόμος» (nomos) meaning “laws that govern”, and therefore literally means “the art or law of regulating the stomach”. Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating.
Etymologically, the word “symposion” is derived from Ancient Greek «συμπόσιον» (symposion) from «συμπίνειν» (sympinein) meaning “to drink together”. • It was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was accompanied by music, dancing, recitals, or conversation on philosophy. • A scientific gathering of experts on a subject.
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A journey of gastronomy and imagination... This blessed land that we live in, was and still is, creative inspiration, breath, loyal love and passion for me. Pure raw materials, nutritional value, fresh products of the land and sea, all these motivate me to continue fully devoted, to cook driven by my imagination, in this magnificent journey. I would like to thank with all my heart my colleagues, with whose valuable assistance we continue to create all we dreamt together in this journey of gastronomy. We cook for you with extra virgin olive oil, using only fresh meat, fish and seafood of the Cretan sea, fresh eggs, vegetable in season, chosen cheese and smoked cured meat, wines, sea salt, herbs and spices, thyme honey, legumes and all other seeds of the earth, supporting in this way local production, as we buy all our products from certified Cretan producers. Petros Kosmadakis
Executive chef
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Recipe Icons Vegeterian
Vegan
Organic
Original Recipe
Signature Dish
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ORGANIC PRODUCTS The authentic flavours, antioxidant properties and high vitamin content makes organic products a basic nutrition, repositioning them on the Greek table. Organic products of high nutritional value, favourites among them red arugula, mustard greens with their intense, spicy, explosive, salty yet cool taste, iron rich baby spinach butter, nutritious kale, myrrh with its excellent aroma and watercress with its distinctive taste. The Karalakis family, who is ardent in their organic farming of rare aromatic plants and edible flowers over the last 25, supply of organic products. HAROUPOMELO (CAROB SYRUP) “Chocolate of the poor” or “Egyptian fig” as it was known to the Ancient Greeks. This is what is now known as carob, a “treasure” of high nutritional value and a source of natural nutrients. Apart from the fruit that kept many Cretans alive during the war, carob was used to produce haroupomelo. The carob tree was used for its medicinal purposes (known as “remedio”) but also as a natural sweetener. It is an excellent source of antioxidants and contains tannins which contribute to the proper functioning of the digestive system. AGOURELAIO (GREEN OLIVE OIL) In ancient Greece, they were referred to as «omotrives» or «omfakikon». It is the natural oil from olives which still retains its green (unripe) colour. The olives for the oil are harvested before they mature. This process gives the oil a bright green colour, an intensely bitter and slightly spicy flavour as well as a complex fragrance. It has antioxidant properties as it contains all the vitamins and provitamins of olive oil minerals and polyphenols which protect our cells from oxidative stress, active oxygen and free radicals. GALENI Galeni, in its final form as Cretan cream cheese, came from a combination of experience and luck. During the process of producing cheese products, the mother of the Zervou family made it, and because of its exceptional taste and special characteristics she insisted on giving it as a gift to her customers – who instantly started to order it and ask for more! Nowdays, Galeni of the Zervou Bros. Company is a creamy white cheese of sheep and goat milk, with a strong aromatic flavor, leaving a balanced after-taste (such as ksinotiri) with a very low fat content.
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Salads Aromatic Organic Salad Red rocket, Watercress, Chervil, Mustard leaves, Valerian, Baked Cherry Tomatoes, Sesame bar & Carob Syrup vinaigrette 8.50€
Green Endives, Spinach and Rocket with sun-dried marinated Figs in Sour Apple juice, Walnuts, “Galomizithra” (Cretan cheese), Pine Honey sauce 8.00€
Cretan with Tomato, Cucumis, boiled Potato, Egg, white sweet Onion, Cretan Wheat Rusk, Purslane, Cretan Βlack Οlives, Pihtogalo (type of soft cheese) of Chania & extra virgin Olive Oil 7.80€
Quinoa with marinated Mushrooms, red Rocket, Avocado, roasted Cashews, mature Cherry Tomatoes, peels of smoked Graviera (Cretan cheese) and Citrus Fruits sauce 9.50€
Smoked Salmon Potato Gnocchi with marinated Cucumber and Carrot, Orange flakes, Cheese & Lemon-Thyme cream 10.50€
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PIHTOGALO Pihtogalo is a fresh, soft cheese, produced exclusively in the area of Chania, Crete. It has creamy texture and rich, full, buttery taste, with a mild sourness, strong enough to give the tension needed. PASTRAMI According to bibliography, pastrami is a type of cured meat (beef) with Hebrew origin. The way to produce it became known to America by the Jewish people of Romania during the 19th century. The word comes from the Turkish word “pastirma”, which also reminds of the Greek word “pastourma”. In Greece, to produce pastrami, pieces of the animal’s legs are used, which are then covered in seeds of pepper, mustard and coriander. Finally, they are altogether smoked and cooked in the stream. The result is a juicy, strong-flavored cured meat, which combines the “pure” taste of beef with the intensity of the spices. APAKI One of the most unique types of cured meat, produced in a very special way, it is particularly tasty and with delightful scent. Apaki is a traditional product of Crete that doesn’t contain any preservatives. Its special taste is due to the good-quality raw materials used, such as vinegar as well as the magnificent aromatic herbs of the Cretan land. It is made of pork tenderloin, which doesn’t contain any fats, and is smoked with aromatic herbs, which give apaki its awesome flavor.
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Starters
traditional-sourdough warm Bread Cretan Wheat Rusk, sea Salt, aromatic extra virgin Olive Oil, small Peppers stuffed with Cheese 3.40€
stuffed Courgette Flowers with Pihtogalo (Cretan soft cheese) Xinomizithra (Cretan cheese) & Spearmint, fried in extra virgin Olive Oil 6.80€
“Katsohiri” of Rethimno with Nut crust & Watermelon sauce with Black Sesame 8.50€
Fried fresh Mushrooms with Smoked Apaki (Cretan cured meat), Thyme & Anthogalo (Cretan soft cheese) sauce 8.00€
Chicken meatballs with sweet red Pepper pesto made of mixed Cretan leaves & Wheat Rusk dust 7.50€
Pastrami (Greek cured meat)-Beef Carpaccio with fried Mushrooms, fresh White Truffle & peels of Graviera (Cretan cheese) with pepper 9.00€
“Garidodolmades” stuffed Vine Leaves with Prawns, in a sauce of white Taramas (fish roe) and Lemon Balm 11.00€
Small crispy Bureks (type of pastry) with Octopus, Leek, Courgette & Celeriac in a sauce of spicy Tomato with Watercress 9.50€
Fresh Salmon Tartare with Jellies made of dry Tomato & Olive Oil scented by Vanilla Sticks 10.00€
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SKIOUFIHTA PASTA “Skioufizo” means “spinning”. Fresh handmade Cretan pasta made and consumed immediately. The preparation of “Skioufihta” or “sioufihta” spaghetti entails a unique and demanding process. They are cylindrical in shape and are delicious however cooked. Here on the island it is customary to cook them in boiled lamb’s broth and and accompany with the same meat. ANTHOTIROS Greek traditional cheese, prepared by adding sheep’s and goat’s milk or cream. Fresh anthotiros (or Cretan “athotiros”) is a soft creamy cheese with exactly the same in appearance and texture as “myzithra” - but with a different taste. It contains relatively low fat content and is consumed fresh as a table top. Dry “anthotiros” has a special flavor and is also low in fat. It is eaten either raw on salads or grated on pasta. ARTIKITES Artikites get their name from the “artikas” plant, because they always grow at their roots. They are the most common species of edible mushrooms (amanita) in Crete. Their colour is white to grey, they look like many other edible artifacts, but their size is much bigger. They are tasty and proteinrich. Ideally, artikites are sprinkled with wheat flour and fried in extra virgin olive oil. PETIMEZI This dark and thick liquid has been sweetening humans for many years so far. It is full-of-energy syrup, made of must. Petimezi contains vitamins A, C, vitamins of the complex B and minerals such as kalium, potassium, magnesium, manganese, iron and calcium. It doesn’t contain any preservatives, colours or sugar. During the years of the Byzantine Empire, petimezi, known then as “epsima”, was widely used for the production of desserts. Those desserts were much similar to the desserts made today in areas of Greece. In Crete, petimezi is often used instead of sugar to add sweetness, in hot drinks and desserts.
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Pasta Yiouvetsi-wheat Orzo with Porcini, Artikes, Morels & White Mushrooms & bites of smoked Graviera (Cretan cheese) 7.50€
Ravioli stuffed with Veal fried mixed Leavers & Galeni (Cretan soft cheese) in vegetable broth, with grated Anthotiros (Cretan soft cheese) 11.50€
Goat with Petimezi & Thyme in a sauce of spicy Tomato and Skioufihta (Cretan pasta) 13.00€
Black Tagliatelle with Prawns in a sauce of pink Pepper, Estragon leaves, Brandy & fresh Cream 14.00€
“Rofokritharada” Grouper with Orzo, with mature Tomato, wild thyme & grated Ladotyri (Greek cheese) 19.80€
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STAMNAGATHI Stamnagathi derives its name from its use. Its thorny (“agathi”) stem was used on pots (“stamna”) to protect against insects. It’s a type of chicory, with the scientific name of Cichorium Spinosum. It is an uncultivated, wild plant, with bitter-sweet taste, which we find in mountainous areas but also on rocks near the sea, in which case it gains a slightly salty taste. Collecting stamnagtahti from those places can be hard, and for this reason it is an expensive product. Stamnagathi is a magnificent plant with unique taste and high nutritional value, that can be consumed raw but also boiled. BLACK ANGUS A special breed of calves originally bred in Scotland and later in the USA, Australia and other countries as Greece. The excellent skeletal construction of the Black Angus allows muscles to develop large amounts of intramuscular fat. This results in intense formation of “marbling” (“fibers” of fat) in their meat thus, making it more tender and very tasty. RIBEYE The “heart” of the spatula or the “front fillet” as it is known. The steaks are 7 in number, from the 6th to the 12th rib bone. If the bone is removed, there remains a clean, oval piece of lean meat that has more or less intramuscular fat, depending on the calf’s breeding. This is the ribeye for the English, the entrecôte for the French, the “eye” or “heart” for the Greeks. It is considered the tastiest and softest piece of meat because of the intramuscular fat seeping while roasting. This makes it juicy and extremely tender in whatever degree of roasting desired. KATSOHIRI Katsohiri is a less well known but very special cheese of Crete. When the cheese- makers produce “malaka” (the cheese that is created in the first stage of the cheese-making process), they collect the scraps remaining in the serum, ferment them by hand and give them the shape of a small hedgehog. As the hedgehog is called “katsohiros” in the Cretan dialect, this little cheese is called “katsohiri”. The shepherds used to offer this cheese as a special gift to their friends and their close ones. Katsotiri is also used in pies and calitsounia (it is said to make the best calitsounia). Although in its raw form it is not very tasty, its elastic texture makes it one of the finest cheeses, to make saganaki.
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Main Dishes Turkey Meatballs with boiled Stamnagathi & sauce of Lemon, Olive Oil and baked Tomato 9.50€
Stuffed Chicken Leg with Katsohiri (Cretan cheese) & baked sweet Peppers, Hilofta (pasta made in Messara, area of south Crete) in Chicken broth 10.50€
Pork Steak “tomahawk” with glazed Potatoes baked in aromatic Olive Oil, mixed leaves of marinated Rocket 16.00€
Veal steak 400gr with Meat sauce & spicy wedged potatoes 19.00€
Beef Rib Eye-Black Angus 300gr with sea salt & ground pepper, organic mixed Leaves & marinated Mushrooms 32.00€
Beef Cheeks slow-cooked in Celery, Carrot & red Wine juice, with mashed Celeriac & Carrot 19.50€
Ossobuco-Beef shank cooked in the casserole with Vegetables, Spices, Mustard seeds & Moshofilero Wine, mashed potato with sun-dried Tomato and Graviera (Cretan cheese) 19.00€
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OSSOBUCO Ossobuco is considered one of the tastiest parts of the beef. It is also known as beef shank. The bone in the middle, along with the bone marrow, is surrounded by soft pieces of meat, full of jelly. When cut crosswise, we can see the dark muscles surrounding the white bone, with a full-of-marrow hole in the middle. This is where it takes its name from, osso=bone, buco=hole, meaning “bone with a hole”. The result is wonderful, both aesthetically and in taste. It requires long hours of cooking, but the result is worth the time. PICANHA The Portuguese word “picanha” describes a Brazilian-origin triangular cut of the beef, which is used at the back of the animal’s spine. It is part of the rum steak, which can be found in the last parts of the rump and the sirloin. Picanha, along with the soft fat that covers its outer part, is always cut reversely to the turn of the fibers. The fat melts while the meat is being cooked, allowing it to remain juicy and tasty. SALMON Salmon has high nutritional value and does positively contribute to the skin, the immune system, the heart and the brain. It is a natural source of nutrients, especially proteins, but it also has an important amount of vitamins, minerals as well as the valuable for the body omega-3 fatty acids. Salmon is low in calories and saturated fats, doesn’t contain any carbohydrates and salt; nevertheless, it requires attention from those suffering from high cholesterol. Overall, salmon has high nutritional value, as it is rich in the “good” fats, which are used for the reduction of blood clotting, reduction of cholesterol (raising the “good” HDL cholesterol and reducing the “bad” LDL), prevention of strokes as well as heart arrhythmia.
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Beef Ribs in a crust of sweet Spices & Herbs, Corn Polenta with gravy broth & grated mature Cheese 14.50€
Beef Picanha-Black Angus 300 gr grilled with coarse aromatic Salt, green Leaves with Pineapple and baked red Pepper 20.00€
Tuna Fillet in sauce of Xinomavro Wine, Crayfish broth & Marjoram leaves 14.50€
Salmon with Fennel, crispy Vegetables & Turmeric, cooked on wax paper with spicy Olive Oil and Lemon sauce 15.00€
Fish of the day brought from local fishermen... ...for more information, please ask one of the waiters/waitresses... 6.50€/100gr
Pre Order... ...tell us “what whets your appetite” and try us!!!
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Desserts Mille-feuille with Puff Pastry, Cream, Mastic & Toffee sauce 5.00€
Fresh Lime Cream Tart in a crispy base of Butter Biscuits 7.00€
Crème of single-variety Chocolate with ganache of crispy Berries & Madagascar Vanilla ice-cream 8.00€
Dark Chocolate Soufflé with Coffee scent and Mint ice-cream 8.00€
Rakomelo (alcoholic drink made of raki & honey) Jelly caramelized Peanuts & sweet Spices syrup with Linden tea 5.00€
Clotted cream ice-cream
covered in crispy Kataifi with green Peanuts & Bergamot spoon sweet 7.50€
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Dear visitor I f a n y o f t h e i n g r e d i e n t s l i s t e d b e l o w, a r e c a u s i n g a n y allergic symptoms,please inform us in advance. We would like to inform you that in all foods and food preparations in this menu there may be a possible presence or traces of cereals containing gluten, crustaceans or m o l l u s c s , e g g , f i s h , p e a n u t , s o y, m i l k , a l m o n d s , c e l e r y, mustard, sesame, sulphite and lupine.
ALLERGENS
Responsible for the market: Ilias Pakidis If you wish an invoice, p l e a s e l e t u s k n o w i n a d v a n c e . The Restaurant has "Complaint Sheets" in a special case, in a prominent position at the exit of the store. The Consumer is not obliged to pay, if the notice of payment is not received (receipt-invoice).
NtorĂŠ With a history of a century, NTORE is an emblematic stamping ground of urban Heraklion. Reinvented on the same grounds where for years it was a meeting place, a place of entertainment and culture. NTORE Gastronomy & Symposia dominates one of the highest venues in the heart of Heraklion. It constitutes a space of high architectural aesthetics, gastronomy, culture and events, creation and expression, entertainment and delight. NTORE GASTRONOMY Restaurant, capacity to accommodate up to 120 people, is the place for a mystical journey to Greek flavors. In view of the emergence of the wealth of the Greek land, it hosts raw materials from small local producers, organic products and selected Greek varieties, restoring to the table all the truth of taste. Through our gastronomic proposals, food, wine and taste become rituals. On this journey of search, pleasure is absolute and creatively exploratory. Our mission is to highlight tradition; Greece and its flavors, through your personal experience. Enjoy your special moments!