Nikos in Lagada

Η Dingle is its most beautiful village Amorgos after Chora. A central paved pedestrian street winds its way from East to West of the settlement, and around there are beautiful traditional houses, cafes, shops and taverns. On the west side of the road, next to “tavern Nikos", Is the only bakery in the village, which also belongs to Vassal family.

The tavern of Nikos Vassalos has been operating since 1950 by grandfather Vangelis Synodinos. For the last 30 years the person in charge of the tavern is his grandson, o Nikos Vassalos, who grew up at the feet of his grandfather and in fact, as it is said, was born in a boat next to the wood oven. The years passed, the wood-fired oven became modern and from the basements it was moved next to the tavern, to a spacious room and in addition to breads and pastries it makes barley and wholemeal rusks, oil bread and raisin bread, pies and sweets.

The "tavern Nikos" uses the goodies of Nikos's oven and the fresh vegetables and fruits from his small farm. Every day one enjoys cooked Greek food and local traditional recipes, such as zucchini meatballs, tomato meatballs, Amorgian fava, free range rooster, goat cooked in a pot, baked aubergines, dry melt and other handmade sweets made daily by Ioanna, accompanied of course by rakomelo and baked raki. The tavern has a spectacular view of Lagada and is open all year round in winter and summer, from morning - serving breakfast - until night.

The second brother, o Vangelis Vassalos, a passionate botanist, has directly opposite the bakery, the tavern and the cafe, the shop "Psama - aromatic plants and Amorgian herbs". Informs us about:

"The collection of wild native herbs is done manually by trained personnel who, with proper pruning, avoid the weakening of plants and achieve the renewal and revitalization of their populations. Where possible (eg in sage), the drug is collected after flowering, giving the bees the opportunity to harvest the flower and the seed to mature, thus allowing the plant to reproduce naturally. Herbs - native and cultivated - that are collected or dried, packaged and made available for use (herbal medicine, cooking, beverages, etc.) or sent directly to the laboratory for processing.

The third brother, o George Vassalos, is a beekeeper and produces honey.

The hotel of the Vassalos family utilizes all the above activities and thus has been oriented towards a special alternative clientele, to which it offers a series of additionally interesting and creative activities and actions such as:

Participation in agricultural activities of the farm (vintage, liomazoma), hiking in the walking routes of the island, in monasteries, churches, archeological sites, traditional villages, but also in more difficult routes such as the road to Mount Krikelos, to the old mine and of Amorgos.

The Vassalos family is as a whole the ideal model of an Alternative Tourism, which could greatly help the image and the reality of our country.