Ask anyone who has visited Crete and they’ll tell you that gastronomy plays an oversized role in both the island’s culture and lifestyle. So it makes sense that when artist Alexandra Manousakis was looking for a new creative space in Chania a few years ago she ended up opening a brasserie that also functions as an artist studio. Alexandra herself is no stranger to bold moves—born and raised in Washington, D.C., she left a successful marketing career in Manhattan in 2007 to take over the family winery in the village of Vatolakkos, her ancestral home in Crete. A winemaker as well as a painter and ceramist, her diverse interests converge in Maiami, a hybrid space where guests can eat, drink and be merry as well browse her latest ceramic works and, if they’re lucky, see the artist at work.
Taking over a 1950s building in Koum Kapi, a charming, less touristy neighbourhood near Chania’s Venetian Harbor, the all-day venue is awash in vibrant pops of colour in reflection of the artist’s colourful, abstract art, serving an unpretentious, soulful menu with Persian, Greek, Italian and Jamaican influences that embody Alexandra’s experience of growing up in an international world. With an emphasis on local ingredients, plus wines from the family’s winery, the art-filled brasserie is as much a paean to the Cretan way of life as a portrait of the artist’s inner life.