Giannis Manios’s table
A Cretan breakfast every morning in the shade of the olive trees, and dinner with a Cretan set menu on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, by reservation. Giannis cooks every meal served in the house.
The chef
Giannis Manios, your host and the cook of the house
Giannis was born in Heraklion. He learned the trade in Athens — four years of school, studying pastry and cookery side by side — then trained in Mediterranean cooking in several Greek establishments. In Lyon he rounded off his craft: after a spell at the Institut Paul Bocuse, he worked at the brasserie Le Nord, and ran his own restaurant, Resto Halle, in the Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse for three and a half years. He now cooks every meal served at Maison Meltem, from the morning buffet to the evening menu.
His knowledge of Crete also enriches conversations at the table: it is his native island, and he knows which cove, which ruin or which taverna to point you towards, depending on the season and the hour.
Mornings
Breakfast, included every morning
Breakfast is included in the price of every room. It is served each morning in the shade of the olive trees, facing the sea: a Cretan and continental buffet, with a few à la carte options alongside it.
It sets the pace for the day, and guests tend to linger. Nobody hurries anybody along — the coffee stretches out, the bay brightens, and the day gets planned right there at the table.
Evenings
Dinner, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
Three evenings a week — Monday, Wednesday and Friday only — Giannis serves a single Cretan set menu from 7:30 pm to 9 pm, by reservation. Local produce takes centre stage, cooked in the house’s own olive oil. There is no menu to choose from in the evening: you sit down and eat what the chef has cooked that day.
You can dine either at your hosts’ long communal table, where conversation crosses the room and tomorrow’s recommendations get passed around, or more quietly at a table for two on the terrace facing the Aegean.
On the other evenings, no dinner is served. Book it with your hosts, and book it ahead.
In 2027 the table is not held for four weeks: 7–13 June, 19–25 July, 30 August – 5 September and 11–17 October. Giannis and Olivier are away; Romain and Kallia welcome guests in their place, and breakfast is still served every morning.
The villa
When the weather rules out the terrace
The villa is the showpiece of the house. It is not for rent: it is where dinner is served on the evenings when the weather outside is not good enough.
The rest of the time, the table stays on the terrace, facing the Aegean.
Midday
There is no lunch service
Maison Meltem does not serve lunch: it is a guesthouse, not a restaurant. The pool bar stays open through the middle of the day, and the village of Agia Pelagia, with its tavernas and its restaurant-lined bay, is a few minutes away by car.
So the day turns around two meals: the morning one, and the evening one three times a week. In between there is the pool, the sea, the beaches below and the village.
Aperitif
A glass on the terrace, before the table comes alive
Dusk has its own quiet ritual: a plate of green olives and grilled herbed flatbread, a glass of white wine on the terrace, facing the olive tree, the cactuses and the hills silhouetted against the sunset sky.
Booking a place at the table
Breakfast comes with every room; dinner is booked on site with Giannis and Olivier, for the evenings it is served. The questions we are asked most often — meals, opening times, arrival and departure — are gathered in our practical information.
The button below opens the room calendar. Only stays can be booked online; dinner cannot.