Located on the monastery’s square in Ano Mera, Vardaris offers the perfect setting for a relaxing meal as it is verdant and serene. The restaurant aims to fuse traditional cuisine with contemporary by using mostly local ingredients in the offering of traditional main courses and meze. The menu features onion pie with tyrovoli cheese, zucchini pie, and local specialties like louza, mostra, ksinotiro, and sausages. There is also grilled sardines, cod with garlic puree, game, hare, and wild boar. These dishes are complemented by selections from Cycladic and Aegean cuisine like Santorini fava and a selection of wines from Santorini and Paros, both bottled and jug. The proprietors’ origins from the northern Greek region of Epirus is reflected in the selection of cheeses from that mountainous area. Vardaris uses cherry tomatoes and other vegetables from its kitchen garden and ends meals with a shot of a divine home-made sour cherry liqueur. For dessert, there’s loukoumades (deep fried puffs of dough) drizzled with honey and the house tsipouro.