#2803 Adespoto Music Taverna

Sometimes you go to a cafe, a bar, or a restaurant, and you just kind of fall in love with it. It’s happened to me at least twice. One such place is Els 4Gats in Barcelona. The first time I walked in there with Mamacita and Lizzie in 2015, I was hooked. I loved the way the place looked, the food and drink, the history, and the vibe. It was the first place I took MT when we visited Barcelona in April. He dug it, too!

In Chania, the place I fell in love with is Adespoto Music Taverna. Lizzie and I walked past it one evening while we were out for our evening stroll. There was energetic Greek music coming from the open space, and lots of people sitting at black tables with painted green chairs, clapping along to the music and smiling. The entire space was extremely appealing. We paused for a couple of minutes, then continued along our way. I didn’t know if we would happen upon the place again, but for those couple of minutes, the place made me really happy.

As luck would have it, I did get to go back to the place again just a day or two later. Our creativity group had a writing session there one afternoon. The place was even better once I was sitting inside the space. It is an open-air restaurant. There are walls, but there’s no roof other than a tarp that looks to be made of a sail,  and there isn’t glass in the windows or a door in the main entrance. The walls are pink, and there is a tree growing right there by the little stage. Flower-covered branches form a canopy. There are little spaces in the walls that hold candles which are lit in the evenings. Cats roam freely, as they do in Chania, across the stone floor, rubbing themselves on the chairs and table legs. The place is just freaking charming.

Our group spent a couple of hours there. We wrote from prompts, had snacks and drinks, and had a grand afternoon. Toward the end of our session, a young man who was sitting at a nearby table came over to ask what we were doing. One of the women explained what was going on, and the guy seemed pretty delighted by the answer. He was sitting with a couple of women who also exclaimed about the joy they got from seeing a group of women enjoying themselves and having such a great time. So fun!

When our group broke up and went our separate ways, Lizzie and I decided to stay and have dinner. It was very early for dinner by Greek standards, but the server, a pleasant, jolly fellow, was more than happy to accommodate us. Lizzie and I each had a skewer of chicken souvlaki with fries, and it was supremely delicious. The chicken was flavorful and tender - you could cut it with a fork. Of course, the fries were obscenely good. The wine was cold, light and crisp. For dessert, we shared a slab of orange cake that was sublime. 

The musicians came in and started playing. One man was playing an acoustic guitar, and the other was playing a bouzouki. I remember that the instrument had a beautiful inlay on the body. Lizzie and I sat and enjoyed the music for quite awhile before we realized we had been in Adespoto for several hours and decided we’d best be moving on. I think I could have ordered another bottle of wine and hung out for a little longer!

The next night, Lizzie and I were walking back to the hotel after a marvelous dinner at a restaurant on the Old Harbor. We ended up walking past Adespoto. The musicians were playing - the same guy on guitar, but a different guy on the bouzouki. Our server from the previous night spotted us walking by and came out to greet us. He pulled on Lizzie’s arm and invited us to come in for a glass of wine. We almost didn’t do it, but then thought, “What the heck?” The place was pretty busy, so we sat at a table in the section below the stage, ordered a small bottle of wine, and got busy enjoying where we were. Soon enough, a woman from our creativity group, Annie, walked by, saw us sitting there, and came in to sit with us! It was really fun to chat with her because we hadn’t really had a chance to have many one-on-one (or two-on-one, I guess) conversations with our fellow participants. Annie is a professional flute player, and she talked about working as a musician in London. She is a fascinating person. 

Another fun thing that happened that night was that a woman known to the staff and the musicians, came in and started dancing when they started playing. It all felt very magical. One of the servers that we had been joking around with - not the pleasant, jolly fellow who pulled us in that night, but a different one - took the bouzouki player’s place. He was really good! Our server told us that the next night was their final night of the season. The restaurant closes in the winter, so that probably had something to do with the magical atmosphere of the night. 

When our wine was finished, we left Adespoto for the final time. If you ever find yourself in Chania, do yourself a favor and find Adespoto. Have dinner. Drink some Greek wine. Enjoy the music. You won’t be disappointed.

One more thing: a movie was filmed there about 10 years ago called The Two Faces of January. It is currently streaming on HBO Max. I think I’m going to take the time to watch it this weekend!

Can’t leave without a pic of some gatas.