Few hotels in Greece can be proud of their history, cosmopolitan profile and course over time, their distinguished guests and VIP guests, as much as the legendary Rhodes Palace, the emblematic hotel of the City of the Knights.  During its 45 years of operation (1974-2019) the magnificent work of the pioneer Vassilios Kampourakis,  he was visited by great names of politics, art and science and associated his name with historical meetings, such as the historical European Union Summit of 1988 - with the participation of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, of the French President François Mitterrand, of the German Chancellor Helmut Coll, of the Greek Prime Minister Andrea Papandreou and the President of the Hellenic Republic, Konstantinou Karamanlis-, as well as with the most beautiful memories of ordinary visitors from all over the world.

At the accommodation level, the Rhodes Palace has nothing to envy compared to similar hotels of famous tourist destinations. Large and luxurious reception areas, lounges worthy of its history, bar, decoration with works of art and of course open spaces necessary for summer, cool, green with a strong presence of running water that crosses the exotic gardens.

In recent years, the Rhodes Palace gives special weight to "Impressive experiences". With protagonist and protagonist Mary Kambouraki -whose personality perfectly reflects the soul and dynamism of the historic hotel (especially now that her brother Antonis Kampourakis elected mayor of Rhodes) - has the innovative, at least for hoteliers, philosophy, that the knowledge of a place and its registration in the memories of the traveler is not only done with the services offered in each hotel - no matter how impressive they are - but experienced mainly through impressive experiences caused by authenticity of destination. By this logic, each hotel is not the final destination of the foreign visitor but the springboard to get to know the authentic experiences of the place, whose each hotelier becomes the ambassador.

In this logic, in collaboration with Eleni Psychouli, in 2018 a program was created that included a sample "Travel experiences" from 12 separate discovery packages, for every taste, for those who want to experience it "Authentic Rhodes".

Great emphasis is given by Mary Kambouraki in the part of gastronomy, which considers it not just a gastronomic pleasure and another weapon that enhances the value of its hotel, but an occasion for the visitor of Rhodes to know and experience the gastronomy of the place, and with it, the nature, the people and the authentic life of the island.

In her gastronomic journey, Mary Kampouraki has next to her two young chefs, two young diamonds, the Lefteri Kambouraki and Michalis Stala, characterized by their technical knowledge, their international experience, but mainly by their passion to highlight the local cuisine of Rhodes and the Dodecanese. Executive chefs of all food departments - and Rodos Palace has a lot - did their best to create a Galaxy of flavors, covering all modern gastronomic trends. Four (4) of its brightest stars, the 12 islands, the Tasty traces of Alexander the Great, Greek restaurant Snack, and From the orchard to the plate, an experience in the gardens of Rodos Palace.

 

12 islands

This year (2019) in the popular fine dining restaurant of the hotel "12 Islands", the menu is inspired by cuisine of the Dodecanese, combining local materials with modern techniques.

The 2019 the Mary Kambouraki dared to trust her vision for the promotion of Rhodesian cuisine at a level fine dining presented in an innovative way, to two local chefs, who were already partners at the hotel.

Result: oi Lefteris Kampourakis from Rhodes and Michalas Stalas from Kalymnos, the two modest, highly ethical and extremely talented executive chefs, began to write a unique story in 12 Islands.

And it is no coincidence that this year, it nestled in its magnificent gardens Rhodes Palace -with the streams running through them- restaurant, with the impressive delicacies and the great mood of the two chefs, to explain and support their work, made the overall experience unique, offering the guests enjoyment, joy and knowledge.

From the food we singled out: grinder fillet with Rhodesian spinach, marathon and louiza perfume, the octopus carpaccio with organic pasta, the pickled buckwheat with mustard, tomato textures and roe (Glass), marinated cod with onion pickles, parsley powder and lemon (Kalymnos), pork with spicy jam loquat and chips from village bread with herbs (inspired by the gel of Koskinos village).

The dish Beef cheeks simmered with cartilage textures is its creative expression basin (clay utensil), one of the most typical recipes of Lindos and Rhodes in general. In its traditional execution, the beef, the coarse (the broken wheat), the tomato and the spices (cumin and cinnamon) are simmered all night in the wood oven. Excellent creative execution of -in my opinion- most interesting delicacyof the island.

The dish  bun with parfait melekouni and cinnamon biscuit is a reference to bunch, the most widespread pasta of Rhodes, and the bunch refers to rice milk. Here it is presented as a dessert and is combined with melekouni in the form of parfait and is perhaps the Signature Dish of the restaurant for 2019.

 

In the delicious footsteps of Alexander the Great

Inspired by "Paths of the course" of Of Alexander the Great, is the restaurant that opened its doors in 2019 at Rodos Palace. Behind the idea is travel and taste as an integral part of experience and memory.

A project on how an ethnic restaurant acquires one narrative with a focus and connecting link of the various kitchens a historical personality, Greek and at the same time diachronic and supra-local, the Alexander the Great.

Dishes, inspired by his passage Of Alexander the Great from 3 different continents and 30 different countries today, which can meet the taste preferences of many different nationalities, starting with "ancient Greek" dishes and continuing with dishes from Egypt, Kazakhstan, India and other countries, through which the great recruiter passed.

This was the reason why the executive chefs of the hotel "traveled" culinaryly to the places visited by Alexander the Great and made menus, celebration of multicultural flavors.

Macedonia, Mesopotamia (Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan) Caucasus and other stations were the starting point for  delicious pies,  hummus,  tanzin, chickpea falafel, lamb shank with chickpeas, tabouleh and "Cigarette" with fresh herbs, are some of the dishes that create an unforgettable taste experience, which is complemented by the atmosphere created by the decoration of the space.

Authentic utensils, bright colors, hookahs, large pillows strewn on sofas and Arabic rugs give the feeling that you travel with Alexander the Great without moving from your chair, while outside between the Mediterranean vegetation and "Gardens of Mesopotamia", in scenes you can imagine talking to the story.

 

Mezes, Greek restaurant

White and blue tablecloth, Greek salad, traditional appetizers and a glass of ouzo under the Rhodesian blue sky, and if not on the sea shore, in our case, in the beautiful exotic gardens of Rodos Palace.

Ο Mezes is a Greek restaurant with traditional Greek recipes and grilled suggestions, which makes it an ideal proposal for all those who love the Greek summer and its flavors!

The idea behind the restaurant is to offer an authentic Greek experience for the visitor who is not deprived of anything from the corresponding experience of the Greeks when they decide to drink their ouzo with many snacks.

We will meet typical Greek appetizers, such as feta saganaki, with herbs, Fried squid with tomato and sour honey, beef meatballs flavored with ouzo, mint and lemon.

Due to the love of the two chefs for their places, the Rhodesian pita bread with cool yogurt dip and the myrtle salad from Kalymnos, with barley cookies, tomato, feta and virgin olive oil.

And of course you will not miss the typical Greek grilled meats, o chicken gyros with pies, the χwine skewer flavored with oregano and Rhodesian pies and the combination of lamb chops with rosemary, chicken fillet with coriander marinade and village kebab.

 

From the garden to the plate

Long before the terms “Food miles” and "Farm to table" become the demand of every suspicious traveler, Rodos Palace had its own garden. Not because a global trend wanted it that way, but because it has always been the case on the island.

Every house - and Rodos Palace is one Rhodian house- he had his orchard with his vegetables, fruit trees and olives. Roditis, like every Greek of another era, far from the city, held in his hands the responsibility of his diet, a self-sufficiency literally "cultivated" in the ways of an age-old tradition.

In recent years, the chefs of Esperia but also an audience that is increasingly concerned with what he puts on his plate and how much it hurts the green color of the planet, have become fashionable restaurants that grow their own raw material, the one that is cooked straight from the plant to the pot, fresh and grown without pesticides.

At the same time, the number of orchards that open their doors is increasing, they welcome anyone who wants to see up close how a pure vegetable is produced, they set the table, they cook local recipes and thus high gastronomy acquires a new meaning, becomes humble and touches the ground, soils her hands with dough, sweats in front of wood ovens who bake grandma's sourdough bread, participates in the cheese-making of local cheeses.

The "customer" ceases to be a passive receiver of a dish that looks like an artistic creation. He descends the dirt path of the orchard, becomes a farmer for a while, actively participates in the harvest, learns secrets about food that will never be revealed to him in the city or in an award-winning restaurant, learns different recipes and flavors, experiences another, new truth.

The modern tourist wants to live like a local for a while. The latest statistics prove this. Rodos Palace never spoiled the customer's eyebrow. So from this year, open to anyone who wishes it his hidden, backyard.

Two orchards and a coop welcome the guest to a happy contradiction, just a minute away from the most modern, sophisticated suite, meets the secrets of old, Rhodesian geography, vegetation, trees, vegetables, fruits, herbs.

The visitor will wander, ask and learn, fill his basket with vegetables on the table. A large table and an outdoor kitchen are waiting for him to wash and cut his own salad, to taste the cheeses, olives, olive oil and seafood aperitif, accompanied by an icy suma.

The cooks, Rodites and Kalymnians from origin, passionate about Dodecanese cuisine, will show how the bread that will be baked on the spot is kneaded, they will cook old recipes with the guests, while the wine of the Rhodesian vineyards will be accompanied by a delicious experience with authentic Rhodesian delicacy, a trip to the old time of the island, which still survives in the households of the villages.

One beautiful day in September we also had this experience. We picked slipper, vegetables and vegetables. We took the eggs from the cutlets, washed them and cooked them with shrimp… Other dishes were prepared in front of our eyes by the chefs and included all kinds of appetizers.

Among other things, salads with slipper, fish, seafood and shellfish of all kinds - up to mackerel fillet, of this murky snake fish with the disgusting mouth- pies, cuttlefish with their ink, pies, dolmadas and meatballs of course both with cumin, after her "Long smell" the Rhodians put it in all the dishes. The feast of flavors was completed with doubles, melekounia and muskopougia, the sugary local delicacy.

We had the good fortune to experience this event for good. The sweetness of experience, the sweetness of one embodied but also cooperative act, of contact with nature and the harvest of its fruits, such as its sweet memory Rhodesian hospitality I hope they accompany us for a long time.

Of course we will not easily forget its aftertaste "Long smell", which sums up the emotions we felt traveling to the unrepeatable Gourmet Galaxy of the legendary Rodos Palace.