Amanita in Tsagarada

At Tsagarada , on the orgiastic slopes of East Pelion, in a privileged position on the mountain of Centaurs, with endless views of the Aegean Sea is the Amanita hostel.

Work of two people, a couple of the city, his Filaretou Psimmenos and Mariannas Zacharatou, who at the beginning of their relationship were enchanted and loved it Pelion as a vacation spot, then they bought an estate with a ruined mansion, and much later turned it into a hostel, where nowadays one can feel what is called impressive experiential experience of a place.

Nowadays the Amanita guest house is surrounded by one organic orchard of 3,5 acres, which includes an herb garden, orchard and a box with seasonal vegetables. Guests of the hostel can tour the orchard, and experience some of the area’s most representative herbs, plants and fruits, while they can take part in nature-themed activities such as hiking, walks, fruit and wild herb picking, mushroom hunting. which always result in gastronomic tastings or lessons of traditional Pelion cooking.

It is worth getting to know this exemplary model better, the way in which both of its creators evolved. Filaretos, a high-ranking sales executive, before taking his new path, tells us:

«We met Pelion in the mid 80's, then after my studies in economics, when I was doing my military service in the Air Force, at the military airport of Nea Anchialos. On the weekends when I was on leave, Marianna would come to see me and we would go on trips to Pelion. Since then we continued to visit Pelion often as tourists and in 1992 we bought the area that is today Amanita. We had no clear idea of ​​what we wanted to do, rather build a small cottage to rest.

After a decade, in 2002 we decided to revive the ruins of the old mansion and share it with visiting friends, turning it into a hostel that first opened in October. 2006. The need to enrich the stay of the visitors of our hostel with experiences, and the exuberant nature of East Pelion, led me to create food walks. Depending on the season, we collected hawthorns, asparagus, fern shoots, blueberries, mushrooms and "looted" whatever abandoned tree was in Eastern Pelion, janerias, wild apples and wild pears, survies, plums, kari, candles».

Year by year the bond of Filaretos with Pelion grew. While at first he went up the mountain on Fridays and weekends, in the process he left his job in Athens, to dedicate himself to the estate. Because meditation - the first phase of humanity's diet - is easy, and Filaretos, mature, with more knowledge gained day by day, and more combative, moved on to the next phase, agriculture and cultivation. At the same time, it partially expanded the hostel, creating a whole 11 rooms, while in 2018 Marianna closed her law office and went into action with everything.

«The three acre area that surrounded the hostel was a jungle of cotton, ferns, abandoned apple trees, wild junipers, etc. It had to be tamed in some way. First we planted the trees, around eighty different fruit trees. Then I made the orchards with tomatoes, potatoes, broad beans, beans, zucchini, pumpkins, okra, various vegetables and strawberries. At the same time in different parts of the estate I planted the whole flora of Pelion, herbs, herbs such as lavender, marjoram, oregano, sage, mint, mint, oats. Guests are in a botanical garden. But also the gastronomic concept of the food collection was transformed into farm-to-table. We cook what we collect but mainly what we produce. This year my garden is completed with an outdoor tasting area in the heart of the orchard».

In 2018, Filaretos issued a very informative guide to Pelion gastronomy with very interesting recipes, thoughts and reflections. The breakfast which he offers is always based on the products of his garden, since he even has 10 beehives with honey on his estate and around (the beekeeping has been undertaken by his son), while Amanita was one of the first hotels to join Greek breakfast, program of the Hotel Chamber of Greece.

In Filaretos, his marketing, his love for the nature of Pelion and his gastronomy - locally, but also internationally - led him to an ideal situation, work and hobbies to coincide and, after successive adaptations, to reach a high personal and creative maturity, while Marianna, the calm and peaceful force, to shoulder the most important part of the kitchen and the hostel, also participating catalytically in its configuration. so successful holistic gastronomic experience.