Island Meals: Bringing Dinner To A New Level

Reached by speedboat or helicopter, Perivolas Hideaway is set on the tiny island of Thirasia, which was cast adrift by the volcanic eruption that blew the heart out of Santorini millennia ago. Unlike the cliff-top properties across the strait, from here the beach never seems out of reach you can almost jump straight out of bed into the sea. It’s also the best place to enjoy the famous caldera view without the crowds. The Hideaway villa, built on the ruins of a pumice mine, was sculpted stone-by-stone by Costis Psychas, who also created Perivolas, the original, much-copied-never-outclassed sister hotel over the water on Santorini.

The roof doubles as a vast terrace where you can welcome dawn or eat under the stars – there are mind-blowing sunrises as well as sunsets. Like the all-white interiors, the seasonal food here is simple but sensational: tomato and courgette fritters, salt-baked sea bream with griddled white aubergines, freshly picked figs stuffed with goat’s cheese and honey. Miraculously, this stark landscape also produces Greece’s finest wines, although the wild rabbits – who outnumber the island’s 260 inhabitants – often get to the grapes first. RACHEL HOWARD Sleeps up to eight From about £8,790 per night.