Hellenic Dance Company
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summer 2008 A guide to the summer’s best performances and exhibitions
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Moonspel, Pain of Salvation will rock the stage at Lykavittos in the first-ever festival held on the hilltop theater.
Renee Fleming
Leonard Cohen
July 3, 9 p.m., Irodio Reneé Fleming, the fêted soprano from Pennsylvania, gave us such a singular rendition of Jules Massenet’s provocative Thaïs and voice to André Previn’s inspiration in his opera A Streetcar Named Desire. She performs a recital of selections from Bizet’s Carmen, Massenet, Mascagni, Puccini, and Rossini.
July 30, Terra Vibe Park Leonard Cohen marked not one but several generations, either directly or by his impact on other singer-songwriters. The Canadian artists who straddles rock, pop, and folk comes to Athens for a single–and certain-to-be-memorable–concert.
Nikos Portokaloglou July 6, 8, 9 p.m., Irodio Nikos Portokaloglou is joined on stage by Haris Alexiou, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Orfeas Peridis, Odysseas Tsakalos, Nikos Ziogalas, Haig Yazdjian, Andriana Babali, Vassiliki Karakosta.
Festival of the Aegean July 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, Apollo Theater “Great Music in a Great Place” is the theme of the fourth annual Festival of the Aegean, directed and conducted by Peter Tiboris. Tiboris and guest conductor James Bingham lead members of the Manhattan Philharmonia of New York and the Columbia Collegiate Chorale of Maryland in works by Mozart, Vivaldi, and Mascagni. In addition, the Aquila Theatre Company will be staging Book I of Homer’s Iliad under the direction of Peter Meineck. The finale of the Festival will be a performance by Taximi, a Greek rebetika group based in Sweden. Tickets and program information is available from www.festivaloftheaegean.com.
Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonica
Nikos Portoka
loglou
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July 11, 12, 9:30 p.m., Little Theater of Epidaurus Authentic and pure, Savina Yannatou’s voice steers a confident course through the labyrinths of that most fragile art: vocal performance. Her lyricism opens a portal onto a world which, however similar it may seem, is different. With her, the superb musicians of Primavera en Salonica, a band as close-knit as it is long-standing, summarize their
Apollo Theater impressions of the musical journeys they have embarked on over the years in search of songs that call many lands home, some engraved on the collective memory of the Mediterranean, others which have traveled mouth to mouth far from the place of their birth.
The Bolshoi Orchestra and Chorus July 14, 9 p.m., Irodio The Bolshoi Orchestra and Chorus performs a selection of works by Sergei Prokofiev, including the lyrical Violin Concert No. 2, with Thessaloniki’s Simos Papanas as the soloist, the cantata based on the score composed for Sergei Eisenstein’s film, Alexander Nevsky with its unique choral themes, and the Waltz suite for orchestra, which was written a few years before Prokofiev’s death.
Trio Balkaniko
Dialogues with World Music July 23, 9 p.m., Scholio Clarinetist Manos Ahalinotopoulos, pianist and drummer Stavros Lantsias, and cellist Yorgos Kalloudis along with the groups Trio Balkaniko and Imam Baildi add their voices to contemporary Europe’s multicultural sound.
Rock’em All July 20, Lykavittos Theater Venom, Iced Earth, Lacuna Coil, Meshiggah,
u
Savina Yannato
Bolshoi Orchestra and Chorus
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Performances Dora Stratou Dance Theater Pain of
n
Salvatio
Through September 30, Dora Stratou Theater Seventy-five dancers, singers and folk musicians perform using traditional instruments and wearing authentic costumes. The costumes come from a collection of over 2,000 village-made costumes, jewelry and other works of folk art. The main troupe is composed of 50 dancers, 25 men and 25 women. In addition, it has dancers from regions with a very particular style such as Crete or Pontos, who perform only their local dances, as well as invited dancers from various villages in Greece. The program changes every two weeks.
Theatre of Silence: Seeking Oedipus July 1-5, 9 p.m., Scholeion, Stage B Aspasia Kralli studied mime at the Marcel Marceau Paris International School of Mimodrama. She has written, directs, and performs in this interesting interpretation of the Oedipus myth in “the language of silence”. Six actors play the mythic heroes linked to the cursed house of the Labdacides on a “dangerously inclined plane”. Picking up the tale from the family’s original sin – the “guilty passion” Laius, the son of Labdacus and father of Oedipus, nursed for Chrysippus, which leads to the youth’s suicide – the cast attempt a new reading of Oedipus’ patricide and incest.
Athens International Dance Festival July 1-15, Technopolis at Kerameikos France is the guest of honor at the Athens International Dance Festival taking place at Pireos 100 in the Greek capital.
Mikhali Baryshnikov: Three Duets July 5-10, 9 p.m., Pireos 260, Stage D Mikhail Baryshnikov has no equal in the world of dance. Brimming over with passion for dance, he has been accepting the challenge of the stage and riveting audiences for forty years now. Although his virtuosity in the classical ballet repertoire was unmatched, he turned to contemporary dance in search of new experiences. For Three Duets, he joins forces with two other giants of the stage: the Swedish choreographer Mats Ek, whose reinterpretations of the great works of the classical repertoire have made history with the audacity of their concepts and movement, and Ana Laguna, Ek’s Muse and the consummate performer of his choreographies. They are
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Mikhail Baryshnikov
joined by a newer American voice, dancer and choreographer, David Neumann, in a meeting which elevates the art of the duet to the heights.
National Theater of Great Britain July 4, 5, 9 p.m., Ancient Theater of Epidaurus Deborah Warner directs Fiona Shaw in Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days–a play who’s heroine has been compared to a modern Prometheus. Shaw’s magnificent, funny, tragic Winnie is centre-stage in the ancient orchestra. Balancing immobility and corporeality, the modern-day woman and old-school actress sinks into the “monumentally arid set”. l Opera
Lyon Nationa
Happy
Days
Lyon National Opera July 7, 9, 8 p.m., Athens Concert Hall This operatic version of Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream r-etains little of the rarefied feel of Shakespeare’s mythic Athens. Instead, with the strings launching into hypnotic glissandi in the very first bars, the work plunges headfirst into dream-like fantasy, sexual fluidity and the bittersweet taste of vulnerable innocence which was the hallmark of the British composer who was also one of the 20th century’s finest dramaturgists. With its intense physical humour, this production by the Canadian director, Robert Carsen, premiered at Aixen-Provence in 1991 and is now considered a classic. It is conducted by the talented Konstantinos Karydis.
phanes “the wreath wrought from the foliage of the sacred olive that grows upon the Acropolis”. But of what possible interest could Dionysus’ descent to Hades in search of the worthy Euripides, his rowing across Lake Acheron to the riveting accompaniment of a frogs’ chorus and the dramatic contest between Aeschylus and Euripides in Pluto’s palace be to audiences today? This is precisely what Yannis Houvardas and the Greek National Theatre asked Dimitris Lignades when they invited him to direct The Frogs.
Trisha Brown Dance Company July 12, 13, 9 p.m., Pireos 260, Stage D For over forty years now, the contemporary dance scene has born the imprint of Trisha Brown’s choreographic spirit.
Trisha Brown
Aristophanes’ Frogs July 11, 12, 9 p.m. Ancient Theater of Epidaurus Aristophanes turns his unbridled imagination to mercilessly ridiculing the democratic and modern-minded Euripides the day after his death. The play won AristoAristophanes’ Frogs
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events Euripides’ Phoenician Women
July 18, 9 p.m., Irodio “In praise of talents, drums, and dancing” pays tribute to percussion instruments which, since the dawn of time, have fascinated humans, both as symbols and instruments. The beat of these humble objects provides the simple or complex rhythmical context for the poetic word of the folk song and the special tunes of each particular region, thus contributing to the wealth of the Greek folk dance. At the same time, conventional percussion instruments, such as the daouli, the défi, or the daharés, in the hands of gifted players are transformed into the “magical tools” that create the mystical atmosphere of an initiation ritual in which we are invited to participate.
July 25, 26, 9 p.m., Ancient Theater of Epidaurus The Amphi-Theatre returns to Epidaurus with a tragedy only rarely performed at the ancient theatre of Epidaurus. Director Spyros Evangelatos treats the work as “a portrait gallery featuring every character from the Theban cycle”. The fate of the royal house of the Labdacids is sealed when the duel between Eteocles and Polyneices ends in both dying by their brother’s hand. Written at the height of the Peloponnesian War, the work cries out against civil strife.
Sophocles’s Oedipus August 8, 9, 9 p.m., Ancient Theater of Epidaurus Roula Pateraki, an outstanding artist who never settles for a conventional approach, directs Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus in a single production featuring a hand-picked cast with Michail Marmarinos in the title role.
summer 2008
Lykeion Ellinidon
Euripides’ Medea August 15, 16, 9 p.m., Ancient Theater of Epidaurus What exactly is the act of the betrayed ‘barbarian’ witch who kills her children, and in so doing condemns male infidelity and the unequal treatment meted out to woman, “that most wretched of creatures? The first answer that springs to mind is revenge,” says Valérie Dreville, who played Müller’s heroine. But Vasiliev replaces ‘revenge’ with ‘sacrifice’. And the Russian master tackles a second issue: delivering a poetic text without resorting to verbal and emotional stereotypes.
Damage
Aeschylus’ Agamemnon Lykeion Ellinidon
Orpheus and Eurydice July 19, 20, 9 p.m., Ancient Theater of Epidaurus Pina Bausch’s opera dansé, Orpheus and Eurydice, is representative of the choreographer’s early work and reflects her grounding in the German expressionist dance tradition whose heir she is. Rendering Gluck’s dramatic landscape vibrantly three-dimensional, Bausch’s direction assigns equal weight to dance and song in a dialogue which quickens all our senses. Inspired by the tragic tale of Orpheus, the choreography is not afraid to summon fear, depression, desperation and pain onto the stage from the very start. Alternating mournful ensemble frescos of great plastic power with solos and duets exuding a dense energy, her choreography produces dance that is vibrant and expressive and communicates the truth and purity of movement that draws on the inner self.
Damage July 21, 22, 9 p.m., Pireos 260, Stage H Josephine Hart’s novel, Damage, which Louis Malle brought to the large screen, now makes the leap to the operatic stage in a reading by the young Greek composer Khara’lampos Goyo’s. His cutting, sarcastic adaptation reveals what the Greek American composer Giorgos Tsontakis has described as his “genuine talent for opera composition”. The quality of this new production is guaranteed by its conductor, Vassilis Christopoulos (music director of the Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra), its director Marianna Calbari, and the experience of its lead, the bass Tassos Apostolou.
Director Spyros Evangelatos
Euripides’ Orestes
August 1,2, 9 p.m., Ancient Theater of Epidaurus Euripides begins his Orestes plot (408 BC) after Clytemnestra’s murder, approaching the hero’s matricide and guilt in human terms, demystifying the gods and mocking demagogues. The dramatist employs elements reminiscent of parody, psychological drama and black comedy in this, one of his last comments on Athenian democracy. Though popular in antiquity, the play is now rarely performed, and this is the first production of the work by the State Theatre of Northern Greece. The Theatre has entrusted its direction to Slobodan Unkovski, who teaches Theatre Direction at Skopje’s Academy of the Dramatic Arts and is well-known to Greek audiences from his collaborations with the Greek National Theatre.
Sophocles’s Oedipaus
August 22, 23, 9 p.m., Ancient Theater of Epidaurus The 2008 Epidaurus Festival closes with Agamemnon, the first tragedy in Aeschylus’ Oresteia, which was first performed in 458 BC. Agamemnon, the conqueror of Troy, returns to Argos in his chariot with the spoils of war: his slave and concubine, the princess Cassandra. Each step he takes upon the purple carpet leads him ritualistically closer to Clytemnestra and to death, in this first play of the highly significant trilogy of revenge, usurpation and discord. Angela Brouskou has a background in alternative theatre. However, though this is her directorial debut at Epidaurus, ancient tragedy – related dialectically to the present day – has long formed a core axis of her research. Amalia Moutousi plays the matriarch, Clytemnestra.
Exhibitions
Orpheus and Eurydice
Angela Br ouskou
dea
Euripides’ Me
Contemporary Monuments, 1981-2008 Through July 27, Benaki Museum This exhibition features works from Collezione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo–29 contemporary sculptures by 23 key players on the international art scene. Unforgettable works commenting on social transformations like Maurizio Cattelan’s suicidal squirrel and Thomas Hirschhorn’s antiwar monument contrast with the refined, reflective formality of Tobias Rehberger’s vases, while the delicate works wrought by the young Bojan Sarcevic enter into a dialogue with Sarah Lucas’ ironic representation of sexuality on an outsize egg and Yinka Shonibare’s dummies and their insights into the absurdities of racial stereotypes.
Maurizio
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Through August 31, Byzantine Museum The painter Omiros offers a slightly different look at Byzantine art with his work–exhibited in Greece for the first time. Themes reference Byzantine form but the technique and style borrow from El Greco but also play on the abstract.
Mark Hadjipateras: A Retrospective Through August 31, Athens Municipal Gallery Mark Hadjipateras’s work is characterized by his endless enthusiasm for creating images, his sense of irony, his research and use of unconventional materials and, the social character of his work. The ease with which the artist uses a variety of mediums and techniques, without restricting himself to a recognizable style, is noteworthy. This survey of his work compels us to conclude that even though the cohesion of his different periods is indisputable, Hadjipateras will always arrive at the next stage by drawing on his past experience and accomplishments in order to generate new creative prospects.
Omiros
Exploring Greece Mark Hadjipateras
Through August 31, Benaki Museum Collection of stunning images of Greece by Hubert Pernot, the first professor at the Modern Greek Studies Institute of the Sorbonne University who traveled throughout Greece from 1898 to 1913.
Hubert
immersed himself in its nightlife. He wanted to show life as it is, not as it should be, but this objectivity was not without empathy or humor. The exhibit features 85 original works on paper plus fourteen newly acquired works and draws the parallel between Lautrec’s world and the Belle Epoque in Athens.
Five Seasons of the Russian Avant-garde Through October 20, Museum of Cycladic Art Ninety works from the renowned Costakis Collection in the State Museum of Modern Art in Thessaloniki are displayed in the Museum of Cycladic Art from 14 May to 20 October 2008. These are important items (paintings, drawings, three-dimensional artefacts) representing all the groups and movements of the Russian Avant-Garde (1900s-1930s). The exhibition is entitled Five Seasons of the Russian Avant-garde and includes some of the most significant works of the collection by artists such as Malevich, Popova, Tatlin, Rochenko, Nikritin, and Lissitzky. It is divided into five units devoted to the bold pioneering aesthetic experiments that took place in Russia and, through their dynamism and boldness, transformed the history of 20th-century art.
The Narration of Mythology Through November 2, Alpha Bank Cultural Hall Alpha Bank and its Numismatic Collection Department has organized two parallel exhibits–one exploring themes from mythology in the works of
Pernot
Toulouse Lautrec & Athens Through October 5, Herakleidon, Experience in Visual Arts Henri Toulouse-Lautrec is best known for his works depicting scenes from cabarets, theaters, dance halls, and brothels. These were themes that the artist lived, beginning in 1885 when he moved to Montmartre and
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Gerasimos Steris
Kliun/Five
seasons of
the Russia
n Avant-ga
Gerasimos Steris and a second on myth on ancient coins.
Heroes and Gods in Ancient Drama July 1-August 31, Epidaurus Museum, tel.: 27530 22026 Relive thrilling performances like the legendary Maria Callas on stage at the ancient theater of Epidaurus with a stroll through this unique exhibition of costumes, masks, props, still photographs, and footage. This summer’s exhibition is dedicated to Heroes and Gods in Ancient Drama, and spotlights key moments in the history of the Epidaurus Festival.
The Modern Arab World July 2-September 28, Benaki Museum of Islamic Art A series of stunning photos by the Apeiron agency highlights the Arab world today. The exhibition is organized in cooperation with the VII agency, the Stanley Foundation, and the Beetroot Design Group.
rde
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Michael Manoussalis July 12-August 6, Citronne Gallery Memories, his very own memories of situations, feelings, people, are key in the work of Michalis Manoussakis, who for a long time, Manoussakis has painted on wood instead of canvas. In the exhibition in Poros, Manoussakis presents a group of works on old closet doors. These doors enclosed spaces where clothes were hung and protected. The memories are associated with the bodies that the clothes covered, the smell, the touch, the warmth of these bodies. ussalis
Michael Mano
Cris Giana
kos
Cris Gianakos August 9–September 14, Citronne Gallery Cris Gianakos, the internationally known artist of the Greek diaspora, lives and works in New York City. Since the 1960s he has had a strong presence in the American avantgarde, and his work is part of the collection of numerous museums all over the world. Gianakos’s work moves freely be-
venues guide
tween different media, with his two-dimensional works, his sculptures, and his installations engaging in a continual dialogue. The exhibition in Poros includes stone, wood, and metal sculptures; monochromatic paintings on mylar and parchment, as well as collages and alterations on prints and photographs. The works chronologically span the last three decades,
Alpha Bank Cultural Hall
Benaki Museum-Pireos Annex
Irodion (Herodes Atticus Odeon)
Koletti 4, Nafplio, tel.: 27520 96234
Pireos 138 and Andronikou, tel.: 210 345 3111. Open Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m, Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Dionysiou Areopagitou. Metro: Acropolis or Thisseio.
Ancient Theater of Epidaurus Archaeological Site of the Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidaurus, tel.: 27530 22026.
Apollo Theater
Benaki Museumof Islamic Art Ayion Asomaton 22 at Dipylou 12, Kerameikos, tel.: 210 325 1311
Little Theater of Epidaurus Palea Epidavros, Argolis, tel.: 210 327 2000.
Museum of Cycladic Art
Vas. Sofias 22, tel.: 210 721 1027
Neofytou Douka 4, Kolonaki, tel.: 210 722 8321. Open Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Citronne Gallery
Pireos 260
Poros, tel.: 22980 22401
Pireos 260, Tavros, Athens, tel.: 210 327 2000.
Athens Municipal Gallery
Dora Stratou Theater
Scholeion
Pireos 51, tel.: 210 323 1841
Philopappou Hill, performance on Tuesdays through Saturdays at 9:30 p.m. and Sundays at 8:15 p.m.; tel.: 210 324 4395
Pireos 52, Moschato, tel.: 210 327 2000
Ermoupolis, Syros, tel.: 22810 85192. Performances start at 9 p.m.
Athens Concert Hall Vasilissis Sofias Avenue and Kokkali, tel.: 210 728 2333. Metro: Megaron Musikis
Benaki Museum Koumbari 1 and Vas. Sofias, tel.: 210 367 1000. Open Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday 9 a.m. to midnight, Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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Byzantine Museum
Herakleidon, Experience in Visual Arts Irakleidon 16, Thiseio, tel.: 210 346 1981. Metro: Thiseio.
Terra Vibe 37th km Athens-Lamia National Road, Malakassa. Train (tel.: 210 529 777) from Larissis Station to Malakassa
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Music is a highly personal, and sometimes solitary, male affair. It’s quite common in Greece for a man to pay musicians to accompany his solo dance.
Moveable feasts
The village paniyiri remains the purest form of Greek celebration–one–or two days of music and dancing linked to the feast of a local patron saint. Music is at the center of the paniyiri where a band, comprised of one or two vocalists and a handful of folk instruments, performs songs requests, or paraggelies, by patrons, almost like a live human jukebox. Photographer Ilias Bourgiotis captured some of these musicians with his lens in his book Street Music. Musicologists Yorgos Papadakis and Nikos Dionysopoulos offer some background on this uniquely Greek musical tradition. July/August 2008 I ODYSSEY 83
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The gods and heroes of ancient worship were replaced with saints, who were given similar traits: for instance, Saint Nicholas was substituted for Poseidon as the patron of the sea and churches on mountain peaks where Zeus was once worshipped were dedicated to the Prophet Elias. As for the Church ban on dance and theater, Byzantine sources reveal that it was simply ignored. Indeed, dance is older than poetry. Greek dances today are either performed in a line with leaping steps or performed in a circle with dancers facing. Dance names often reflect their geographic roots (the kalamatianos originated in Kalamata), when they are performed (the lambriatikos is performed at Easter), social class or occupation (the hassapikos is “the butcher’s dance”), or the song they accompany. Dance is form, but also substance, although this is rarely preserved in the “popular” or traditional dances performed at tourist-oriented spectacles.
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T
he paniyiri, from the ancient Greek pan (all) and yiris, an Aeolian agora–is a village-wide celebration, usually in honor of a saint or the anniversary of an important local event. “There is no people more holiday-happy than ours. We live holding some celebration and waiting for another–religious, national, or personal,” observes the writer Stratis Myrivilis. “The Greek calendar is nothing but a string paniyiria.” The folk paniyiri is rooted in ancient feasts like the Dorians’ Carneia dedicated to the music-god Apollo and the Dionysian celebrations. These primal rituals ran counter to Christian tradition. But no matter how hard the Church tried, its threats and punishments failed to uproot ancient worship practices. Superstition remains deeply ingrained in folk culture as explanations for hardships, disease, and death.
events
Music features prominently in the Anastenaria, a fire-walking folk ritual of the village of Ayia Eleni in northern Greece linked to the feast of Saints Constantine and Helen. The Thrace lira and daouli are the only instruments played at the Anastenaria and accompany the saints’ icon on the yira, or procession around the village. Before walking over the coal, the anastenarides gather in the konaki, where the icons are kept, and dance into a frenzy. Earlier, the kourbani–a goat or other animal to be cooked for the communal feast–has been led to slaughter by the fire-walkers.. July/August 2008 I ODYSSEY 85
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The feast of Ai Simios is renowned in Greece and commemorates the Exodus from Messolongi in April 1826. The city, where Lord Byron died of a fever while fighting alongside the Greeks in their war for independence from the Ottoman Empire, had been under siege from the Turkish forces. Rather than surrender, Messolongi’s inhabitants broke out of the city’s gates, hoping to reach and seek refuge at the Monastery of Ayios Simeon (Ai Simios) nine kilometers away. Music is an important element of the festival and each parea, or group of friends, follows their musicians to the mountains for the “long night” of feasting.
B
eing able to play a musical instrument is like being able to work magic. There’s the sheer pleasure from playing well. But there’s also a feeling of pride, fulfillment even, from mastering a tool that enthralls others. The paniyiri band is comprised of a handful of folk instruments and usually features the klarino, or Greek clarinet–the backbone of dhemotika or Greek folk music. Known since the early 1830s, it first appeared in western Macedonia, Epirus, and urban centers like Athens as a folk instrument at entertainment clubs and in military bands. It spread quickly through northern regions, but in central Greece it never fully challenged the supremacy of the zournas. How did the klarino come to prevail over other winds? One reason is its range, others claim it may be its roots in the medieval chalumeau, though most say it is its ability to replicate the rich, melodious fluidity of Eastern music that sets it apart from Western winds. The violin’s popularity is reflected in the different names it is known by in each region: theoli or diouli in Zagori, dioli on the island of Lesvos and in northwestern Thrace, vkioli on Cyprus,
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vgelouni on the northeastern Aegean island of Chios, vieli on the Dodecanese island of Kastellorizo, and ivgili in the northern Greek village of Siatista. Despite early perceptions of the violin as an instrument of the aristocracy, it overshadowed the lira; in some parts of Greece, when people sent for musicians, they would “call for the violins,” while violitzides (violin players) is often used in the Greek vernacular as a synonym for “musicians.” Other instruments featured at the paniyiri are the sandouri, from a family of instruments known as psaltiria, and the gaida, tsabouna, and askavlos. The latter three are based on an ancient concept–air trapped in a chamber made from animal hide, with one or two flutes adapted to a single exit so that sound is created by the air current that is formed. . Because there is a continuous flow of air through the chamber, the instrument can’t hold pauses. The zournas, a wind from the oboe family, is common in the Peloponnese, central Greece, and Epirus, while the karamouza, about three times its length, is found in Macedonia. Both produce a loud, sharp sound which may explain why they’re only played at open-air paniyiria.
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events Local feasts & festivals
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Sundays through September
Kos: Temple of Asclepius
A pageant celebrating the Hippocratic Oath, the vow taken by doctors in name of the founder of modern medicine, is held at the Temple of Asclepius–god of healing.
July First Sunday
Paros: Naoussa Naoussa may be packed with tourists in summer, but it remains at heart a fishing village. The Fisherman’s Festival highlights this identity with a celebration that combines dhimotika music, traditional dances by the Naoussa Paros troupe, and gouna, the sun-dried mackerel for which Naoussa is renowned. Last two weekends
Samos
Sample local wines at the Samian Wine Festivals at Kokari and Ayios Konstantinos.
Last weekend
Metsovo
The two-day event is a two-kilometer hike from Metsovo to Lakos on the slope of Mount Mavrouni. The event culminates with a sunset vigil over Valia Kalda National Forest from “Flenga’s ears” (Aftia Flenga).
July 20
Hania: Sougia Join locals for the trek up to the Church of Ayios Elias for a potluck feast (everyone brings something) washed down with wine supplied by the church. Be prepared for an overnight stay as the feasting lasts until morning.
Ikaria: Ayios Kirikos Spit-roast lamb and folk dances are the main ingredients of the day long feast celebrating Profitis Elias.
July 22-24
Chios: Volissos Celebrating the feast of Ayia Markella is a threeday affair that draws pilgrims from beyond Chios.
July 25-27
Tilos: Megalo Horio Food and music mark the feast of Ayios Pandeleimon. During the three-day paniyiri, sample a local meat-and-rice dish, listen to nisiotika played on violin, lute, guitar, and sandouri, and join in the dancing of the apostolikos.
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July 26
Mykonos Each year, one local pledges to host the Ayia Paraskevi paniyiri, providing food and wine for all, while local musicians provide music on the toumbakia and askavli.
August Late August
Spetses
The island of Spetses, which served as the backdrop to John Fowles’s The Magus, stages a re-enactment of the 1822 firebombing of the Ottoman navy’s flagship each summer in the town harbor. The Armada spectacle includes a fireworks display and folk dance exhibition.
August 1-15
Corfu: Ano Korakiana Traditional music, folk dancing exhibitions, and an art show are the main events organized for this annual village festival.
August 4-6
Iraklio: Kasteli Every summer locals pay tribute to the thousands of Cretans who migrated to North America and Australia with the three-day “Festival of the Ex-Patriate.” There’s drinking, dancing, concerts, and drama performances.
long Wine Festival, an open-air event held outside the Samos Assembly House.
August 15
Tinos
Official observance of the Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin.
Kefalonia: Ayia Efthimia Church services are followed by a feast of food, traditional music, and dancing at the Moni Anatolikou.
Nissiros: Mandraki The sandouri and violin are the only instruments played at the paniyiri at Panayia Spiliani (Our Lady of the Cave).
Lesvos: Ayiassos Open-air concerts, drama performances, and art shows provide the backdrop for the Christofidia horse races.
Rhodes: Filerimos Priests from the Italian town of Assissi take part in the services at the Church of the Zoodohos Piyi, or life-giving source during which the icon of the Virgin Mother is led around the grounds in procession.
August 16
Kefalonia: Argostoli
August 5, 6
Island-wide celebrations starts with the icon of the Ayios Yerasimos, the island’s patron saint, led around town in procession.
Village business comes to a stop for forty-eight hours as locals mark the Feast of the Savior with a paniyiri in the village square.
August (second half)
Ithaca: Stavros
August 6
Symi: Panormitis Visitors are treated to a dinner of fried fish, potato salad, wine, and grapes during the celebration of the Feast of the Savior.
August 11
Crete: Siteia
Annual raisin festival featuring Siteia raisins, from paximadia and breads to pates and liqueurs.
August 23
Paros: Naoussa Join locals for a re-enactment of the raids by the notorious pirate Barbarossa on the island.
Corfu: Corfu Town
August 29
Classical music concerts in the gazebo on the Spaniada and folk dance exhibitions in the kantounia follow the solemn church services commemorating the feast day of the island’s patron saint, Ayios Spiridon, whose relics are led through town in procession.
The two-day celebration begins on the eve of the feast of Ayios Ioannis with a communal concert joined by anyone who can play an instrument and culminates with church services on the day of the feast.
Kos: Mastihari
August 14-21
Santorini: Perissa
The best of the year’s wines are spotlighted at tastings and other events organized during the week-
Visitors are offered freshly baked bread, olives, fava, and local wine as part of the traditional celebration of the feast of Ayios Ioannis.
Samos
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Come dine with me
Dining out is a part of the Greek experience. Lunch at a seaside taverna can stretch from two or three o’clock in the afternoon into the early evening and dinner, usually after ten o’clock in summer, can extend past midnight as food and wine is savored and shared. The range of restaurants in Greece reflects the different dining moods–the neighborhood taverna, the waterfront seafood restaurant, the mezedopoleio, the more formal establishments with fine linens and silver, and, in recent years, a growing selection of Asia, Latin, Middle Eastern, and other restaurants. Greek food, however, continues to stand out for the freshness of its ingredients, the simple yet intricate combination of flavors, and the imaginative touches added by world-class chefs who continue to train their talents on the cuisine of their childhood.
Avli Please phone ahead to confirm opening times and ask if reservations are necessary as establishments occasionally change names and, especially in summer, opening times.
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restaurants Hatziyianni Mexi 8 & Ventiri 9, Ilisia, tel.: 210 725 2252. Floor to ceiling glass windows and tables on a wood deck screened by thick plants make Agora the perfect downtown refuge before or after a museum visit or show. Pull together a meal from the extensive appetizers, washed down with cocktails, or tuck into a meal-sized salad or main course like ravioli with a mushroom and minced pork filling or a heaping plate of crisp deep fried anchovies with a rocket and roast vegetable side salad.
Apla Harilaou Trikoupi 135 & Ekalis, Nea Erythrea, tel.: 210 620 3102. Apla is Greek for simple–a concept chef Chrysanthos Karamolengos has applied to the décor and the dishes at this post-modern taverna that serves traditional taverna fare with modern flair– kolokythia yemista in avgolemono with crab instead of minced beef, sardines drizzled with fig vinaigrette, a Greek salad with pita croutons, and lahanodolmades with minced seafood again instead of minced beef.
Athiri Plataion 15, Kerameikos, tel.: 210 346 2983 The sleek contemporary décor strikes an interesting contrast with the menu’s fundamental philosophy which is rooted deep in the traditions of Greek regional cuisine. Caper leaves, fava beans, mizithra cheese, pork, and saffron are paired with familiar flavors but there’s always a twist–like the fava, flavored with capers but also caper oil instead of olive oil or the anchovies marinated in shrimp broth instead of olive oil and lemon juice. Other dishes that stand out are kalamari and orzo–a variation of the octopus with short macaroni–with a touch of saffron. Round off the meal with Greek coffee lightly scented with cardamom and citrus.
Bairaktaris Plateia Monastiraki 2, tel.: 210 321 3036. Bairaktaris has occupied the same Monastiraki corner for over a century and though the menu includes mayirefta and other dishes, it’s known for its yiaourtolou kebab–succulent kebabs smothered in yogurt sauce topped with onions and paprika, then wrapped in a large, soft pita. Don’t be surprised to see a politician or celebrity among the mostly tourist crowd.
Bar Guru Bar Plateia Theatrou 10, Thisseio, tel.: 210 324 6530 This split-level bar-restaurant has a definite Asian ambience, with a largely Thai-influenced menu and a temple-inspired décor, but the vibe is hardly
meditative. Popular among the city’s hip and world-savvy young professionals, Bar Guru Bar has a double-draw: bartenders who mix a mean cocktail and some of the best Thai food in town. Chill with Mint Cucumber Soup or savor some barbecued chicken in coconut milk as you listen to the in-house DJs spin out a rather eclectic set.
Baraonda Tsoha 43, Ampelokipi, tel.: 210 644 4308 Baraonda is proof that Chef Mihalis Dounetas deserves his Golden Chef’s Cap. With an eye on continental and other cuisines, Dounetas has reworked Greek dishes to produce such interesting items as pate made from avgotaraho and tuna tartar in olive oil. Start the evening with cocktails as you escape the city’s bustle at this rooftop refuge that often features live music.
Brachera Plateia Avyssinias 3, Monastiraki, tel.: 210 321 7202 Relax after a day’s sightseeing over cocktails and a view of the Acropolis from Brachera’s rooftop bar. When hunger strikes, the restaurant serves a solid Mediterranean menu with dishes that are inspired enough to stave off boredom but not overly eclectic. Downstairs, the indoor dining area is an elegant high-ceiling room where gleaming hardwood floors and large mirrors add to the expansiveness. Stake out a place at the long, wood-topped bar and enjoy the magical view over Avyssinias square.
Boschetto Alsos Evangelismou, opp. National Art Gallery, tel.: 210 721 0893. Boschetto is a classic and flaunts it. The gardens and terrace create the aura of a country estate, while the “Greenhouse”, a private dining area, adds to the genteel mood. An extensive wine list complements the menu, a fusion of refined Mediterranean flavors like grouper with saffron or chicken breast in brandy and mustard. If you don’t want to splurge on a full dinner, you can enjoy the special atmosphere with finger food and cocktails at the bar.
Café Avyssinia Plateia Avyssinias, Monastiraki, tel.: 210 321 7047. Meze at Café Avyssinia has become something of a tradition after weekend forays to Monastiraki’s flea market. The food–baked feta drizzled with olive oil and oregano, perfectly browned meatballs, melitzanosalata and other staples of the meze menu–is as much an attraction as the carnival atmosphere.
Casa di Giorgio Glyfada Marina, tel.: 210 894 7417 The popular Mykonos restaurant has spread its
wings from the Cyclades to the southern suburbs of Athens, serving up a range of pasta dishes and gourmet pizza alongside seafood and fish from a prime location on the Glyfada marina.
Cellier Zea Akti Moutsopoulou & Ionidon 2, Marina Zeas, Piraeus, tel.: 210 418 1049. Housed in a two-story neoclassical home at the edge of Zea marina, Cellier Zeas offers views over the marina from its first floor dining room. The mood is casually elegant, something reflected in the range of dishes in both the lunch and dinner menus. Main courses include spaghetti with saffron-pepper or slow-cooked beef and chestnuts, smoked trout with orange-eucalyptus sauce, and calamari with rosemary.
summer 2008
Agora
Cibus Aegli, Zappeion Park, tel.: 210 336 9364. Cibus has built up a faithful clientele since opening a couple of years ago, serving up creative dishes in a prime location. The minimal ambience makes it from lunch, served on the terrace, through dinner, served with great formality in the dining room. Feast on fresh pasta tossed with succulent cherry tomatoes and basil-flavored virgin olive oil served in a parmesan nest or a divine beef carpaccio served with delicate parmesan soufflé and truffle shavings.
Brachera
Economou Troon 41, Thisseio, tel.: 210 346 7555 Economou is a stark contrast to the neighborhoods stylish restaurants and cafes. A classic mayireio– culturally, the equivalent of the American diner–it originally catered to locals but now draws clientele from throughout the city who seek familiar simple fare in even simpler surroundings. The selection of mayirefta usually includes a kokkinisto (beef or chicken in a tomato-based sauce) and at least a couple of vegetable dishes, either in tomato or egg-lemon sauce. Both are washed down with wine, drawn from the barrels.
Eleas Gi
Boschetto
Olimpionikon 4, Politia, tel.: 210 620 0005 Olive tress dominate the décor, inside and out, underscoring the fact that olive oil–extra virgin–is the centerpiece here. Wood and stone underscore the earthy ambience, with a wood burning peasant oven used to cook a number of menu items, including the whole-wheat loaves thick with olives. Signature dishes include anchovies and white fish roe in a citrus jelly and pork strips drizzled with honey.
Farina Bianca Elassidon 17, Gazi, tel.: 210 345 5222 The austere grey-brick exterior conceals a warm restaurant, whose all-white space is broken by July/August 2008 I ODYSSEY 91
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restaurants wall murals in true Italian tradition. This new trattoria-style restaurant boasts genuine southern Italian pasta in a range of sauces inspired by the region’s culinary traditions.
summer 2008
Filipou Xenokratous 19, Kolonaki, tel.: 210 721 6390. Filipou may be modest but its regulars include prominent Athenians, including former cabinet ministers, who seek out the home-cooking of this unassuming Kolonaki taverna. The menu is unimaginative but the food reliable–grilled fish or chops, green beans in tomato sauce, briami with summer vegetables–just some of the dishes you might see simmering in the pots and pans on view in the kitchen.
Iodio Iodio
Leoforos Achilleos 119, Paleo Faliro, tel.: 210 988 4258 Billing itself as a seafood trattoria, Iodio has based its menu around fresh seafood and fish, which accents most menu items–even the fava is served with smoked swordfish, while mushrooms are stuffed with crab and an appetizer pizza features smoked salmon. The main courses are virtually all fish, and it’s worth asking after the day’s catch which varies by day and season. In warm weather, ask for seating in the garden.
Karavitis
Nixon
Arktinou 33 & Pafsaniou, Pangrati, tel.: 210 721 5155. True tavernas are becoming a rarity these days in Athens, especially downtown, so Karavitis is a treasure. In warm weather, seating is in a small garden while on cool days, tables are inside the white-washed cottage lined with wine barrels. Expect basic fare, but also reasonable prices as you dine on Greek salad, fried potatoes, fried zucchini or fried eggplant, fava, boiled greens in season, meatballs, chops and steaks grilled to order, and a limited selection of mayirefta like bekri meze (morsels of spicy stewed meat whose name in Greek means, literally, drunkard’s nibbles).
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Amynta 2, Pangrati, tel.: 210 722 2167 If you can’t make it to Crete, Katsourbos is the next best thing to sampling the island’s world-famous cuisine. Dishes are made with ingredients brought over from Crete, from snails to the rare wild greens known as stamnagathi. The tiny kitchen at the edge of the dining area injects a homey atmosphere, and the service is personal, friendly yet unobtrusive. In warm weather, you can choose from a handful of tables on the pavement but book ahead–indoor or out, seating is limited.
Kuzina Adrianou 9, Thisseio, tel.: 210 324 0133 Aris Tsanaklidis is another chef who has helped transform the Greek restaurant scene over the past decade. At Kuzina, an all-day restaurant with sidewalk seating and a rooftop bar facing the Acropolis, he has sought to inject nouvelle cuisine into traditional Greek dishes. The result is a menu of dishes with surprising combinations of flavors, like octopus with ginger or figs and ouzo. If you’re not up for a full meal, order a few appetizers to nibble at the bar.
Manimani
rounds off an interesting wine list with a solid selection of distilled spirits to wash down lunchtime meze. Happily indulge a sweet tooth with homemade ice cream–try the halva flavor.
Pig Pong Konstantinoupoleos 8, Glyfada, tel.: 210 894 0430 Compare Greek barbecue with American at this eatery whose menu is built around grilled meats served at the typical Greek psitopoleio and southern-style barbecue.
Pecora Nera
Falirou 10, Koukaki, tel.: 210 921 8180. Manimani has built its menu around the simple yet flavorful fare of Mani–but has added a twist or two. Kayiana, eggs scrambled in a fresh-fried tomatoes, are paired with wild asparagus to create an entirely new dish. Wild herbs are also liberally used to lend flair to such humble dishes as trahanas, while nutmeg geranium is ingeniously incorporated into both savory dishes like beef in lemon sauce, and desserts.
Sevastoupoleos 158, Ampelokipi, tel.: 210 691 4183 This largely residential neighborhood far from the center is an unusual location for a bar-restaurant like Pecora Nera. The ambience is stylishly casual, with a lively bar area that encourages mixing and more private dining tables with sofa seating. The menu is unabashedly Italian, from the bruschetta starters and crostino caprini to the spaghetti carbonara and Florentine beefsteak.
Nixon
Rififi
Agisilaou 61B, Kerameikos, tel.: 210 346 2077 Nixon is one of those places known only to Athens insiders, a luxurious version of a lounge-bar where media-weary celebrities go to kick back. Leather banquettes and a burger-driven menu and an eclectic playlist make up the scene. Movie screenings, private and public, add to the clubhouse atmosphere that has made it popular among the twentysomethings of the city’s traditional elite.
Papadakis Voukourestiou 47 & Fokilidou, Kolonaki, tel.: 210 360 8621. A fixture on the culinary landscape of Paros, Papadakis decamped from the Cyclades to the heart of Kolonaki. The menu is built around fresh fish and the artistry of chef Aryiro Barbarigou who whips up imaginative combinations like fresh octopus stewed in wine and honey, then served in a nest made of home fries. The unusual combinations–a salad of tomatoes, onions, octopus, and boiled potatoes tossed with a dressing that has a hint of honey–work as well as the garidopitakia, small pies with a shrimp filling in place of the more common cheese or spinach. Chickpea stew, a Paros specialty, gets a little tweak of flavor with the addition of taramosalata, while fresh calamari is seared then served with eggplant puree. Even fresh grey snapper is subtly notched up with a light drizzle of lemon-olive dressing and a delicate sauce with a base of sea urchin eggs, while a creamy skordalia (garlic sauce) is served with fried barracuda instead of the customary cod. Papadakis
Emmanuil Benaki 69 & Valtetsiou, Exarheia, tel.: 210 330 0237 Exarheia’s reputation as the anarchists’ quarter may deter visitors but Rififi is an excellent place to head after a visit to the nearby National Archaeological Museum. The menu changes regularly as it is built around seasonal ingredients and mainly organic produce or free-range meat. Pick at deepfried puffs of wild greens or fava paired with chopped onions and capers while sipping chilled raki. The bistro atmosphere extends from décor to the constant stream of patrons who include a number of authors and staff from the district’s publishing houses.
Pil Poul et Jerome Serres Apostolou Pavlou 51, Thisseio, tel.: 210 342 3665 Pil Poul is the sort of restaurant that makes any occasion special and accordingly has a reputation as the place you go to propose or celebrate an important milestone, like an anniversary. Setting and food are equally stunning, with views of the Acropolis painting the perfect backdrop for Michelinstarred chef Jerome Serres’s culinary creations. Mediterranean, with a definite inclination towards French haute cuisine, the menu is accented by dishes like partridge risotto.
Politi.Co Zisimopoulou 7B, Glyfada, tel.: 210 894 0170 Moderately priced eatery that fuses a sleek con-
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Spondi Pyrronos 5, Pangrati, tel.: 210 752 0658. Spondi consistently tops the list of Greece’s best restaurants, winning first prize in the Golden Chef Cap’s awards–and a Michelin star–thanks to its unwillingness to rest on its considerable laurels. The menu changes twice a year–winter and summer– and the dishes also change as executive chef Arnaud Bignon and consultant chef Eric Frechon (who earned two Michelin stars for his cooking at the famed Bristol Hotel in Paris) like to keep diners’ gastronomic experience as fresh as the ingredients imported directly from France and elsewhere. Recent menus have had a decided Mediterranean and even Greek flavor, while the chefs’ creativity and willingness to experiment has yielded delights like eggplant with tuna and a feta-and-coriander-flavored ice cream. Lemon comfit is paired with sea bream, artichokes and seafood are accented with coriander, and turnips combined with sesame and honey to accompany duck in a seductive swirl of flavor. Spondi is expensive but the experience is well-worth the price. In summer, book a garden table.
Spyros Ethnikou Stratou 17, Ano Kifissia, tel.: 210 801 7869. Antonis Roussos was one of the first restaurant owners to feature organic produce and free-range meats on the menu of his taverna, and carefully selects suppliers for freshness and quality. His insistence on using virgin olive oil rather than other fats in cooking, even in the country-style handrolled fyllo, illustrates how traditional cooking methods are not just healthier but flavorful too. Katsikomakaronda–a goat-meat alternative to the more common lobster-spaghetti dish–is a house specialty, while pulses and beans are also prominent on the menu. In keeping with the organic and local concept, there’s no wine list, just a red house wine sold by the carafe. Dessert offerings are home-made spoon sweets, sweet but fat-free.
Taki 13 Taki 13, Psyrri, tel.: 210 325 4707 One of the oldest restaurants in the Psyrri, Taki 13 has managed to hold its own against a slew of
more recent arrivals thanks to menu of staples, mainly Greek fare, and a lively atmosphere that frequently includes live music.
Varoulko
sauce. Sit back and savor it one of Corfu Town’s most enduring popular restaurants right by town hall.
Etrusco
Pireos 80, Keramikos, tel.: 210 522 8400. Chef Lefteris Lazarou won a Michelin star for Varoulko and has consistently featured on the Gold Chef’s Cap list thanks to his culinary genius that has been one of the sparks for the attention Greek gastronomy has received globally in the last few years. Seafood is the star here, and creative combinations like crayfish dolma in sorrel rather than vine leaves, stuffed red mullet served on smoked eggplant mousse, bream or sea bass carpaccio, and cuttlefish risotto with caramelized garlic delight with the delicate blend of flavors. Crisp white linens, wood, stone, and glass create an elegant, unobtrusive backdrop in soothing earth tones, with a few artsy touches. Eating at Varoulko is a dining experience, but attention is focused on the plate– and each dish is a small work of art.
Kato Korakiana, tel.: 26610 93342 Chef Ettore Botrini delights with dishes like sardines grilled on cold lavender charcoal and the intriguingly named snowed shrimp. His creations have consistently earned him Golden Chef’s Caps, Greece’s most prestigious restaurant award. Like all good chefs, he is constantly experimenting with new flavors and pairings of ingredients, with one constant: using the finest, freshest ingredients available. His culinary philosophy emphasizes contrasting textures and flavors as in dishes like Gnocchi Sperici, where the crisp crust gives way to a creamy filling. Some dishes are as good to look at as they are to eat as Bottrini believes food should also be a feast for the eyes. Round off dinner with a cooling ice, like green tea and vodka as you bask in the graceful surroundings of a bougainvilleaframed courtyard.
Yantes
Crete
Valtetsiou 44, Exarheia, tel.: 210 330 1369 Yantes has always attracted a mixed crowd of university students and professionals with its laidback ambience. The fare is typical Greek–tomatoes stuffed with rice, stuffed baked sardines, and rocket tossed with parmesan shavings and vinaigrette. The twist is that most of the produce used is organic.
Outside Athens Antiparos
Adele, Rethymno, tel.: 28310 72129. Set on a 40-hectare estate, Agreco is a working organic farm owned and created by the Grecotel chain to replicate traditional Cretan farming methods. Its centerpiece is the Taverna, where diners enjoy a set-menu multi-course dinner and a view over rolling hills to the coast. The meal starts with a basket of home-baked bread, followed by appetizers and salads, a main course, and dessert–each course based on ingredients produced at the farm and in season.
Calypso
Harbor, tel.: 22840 61616 The same attention to detail evident in the décor– breezy taverna, with simple wood-backed chairs and tables laid out in a grey-stone courtyard–can be savored in every dish. This small cheery restaurant was created by the former chef at Beau Brummel, an Athens hotspot. All dishes are prepared with produce from Antiparos or other nearby islands. Enjoy freshly prepared kalamari or thick fava laced with capers and onions. The salads are crisp and fresh–and the breakfast is a small feast on its own.
Elounda Peninsula All Suites Hotel, Elounda, tel.: 28410 68250. Calypso is indisputably one of Greece’s finest restaurants–and you’d expect nothing less given its address, the Elounda Peninsula All Suites Hotel. Chef Charles Metayer, in collaboration with consultant chef Jacques Le Divellec, who boasts two Michelin stars, have combined forces to create a gastronomic experience that matches the exquisiteness of its surroundings. The menu is built around fresh fish and seafood, punctuated by selected items from other regions of Greece. Culinary creations such as lobster and snail risotto flavored with parsley and truffles or shrimp giouvarlakia (dumplings) or European sea bass cooked in a seasalt crust show the chef’s skills to advantage.
Dimarheio Plateia Dimarheiou, Corfu, tel.: 26610 39031 Corfiot cuisine’s Italian and French influences are more evident when classic dishes like sofrito, veal stewed with vinegar and garlic, or pastitsada, a lasagne-like dish, are served alongside more overtly French creations like salmon marinated in fennel
Varoulko
Agreco
Kapari
Corfu
summer 2008
temporary décor with the traditional flavors of the culinary traditions of the Greeks of Asia Minor and Constantinople (polis). Feather-light bourek filled with cheese and chopped parsley, peinirli with pastrouma, and marinated grilled meats served with pureed eggplants have emerged as early favorites. Two signature dishes–sats kavourma drizzled with melted cheese and berdes, rice with pine nuts, raisins, and peas baked in a pot lined with a tracing-paper thin sheet of fyllo. Leave room for dessert–real buffalo-milk kaimaki, casan di pi, and baklava are just some selectins.
Spondi
Kymata Ayias Paraskevis 55, Hersonisos, tel.: 28970 22386 Whet your appetite with cocktails and some appetizers as you take in the view over the sea from one July/August 2008 I ODYSSEY 93
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of the tables on the long wood deck. Kymata, a good choice for a more refined island dining experience, serves mainly Mediterranean cuisine, with an emphasis on local produce. Try shrimp on swirls of pasta, accompanied by a local wine from the solid wine list.
Loukoulos Korai 5, Iraklio, tel.: 2810 224435 Loukoulos has an air of easy luxury, the tone here set by high-backed chairs draped in white linen arranged by the tables around the patio. The main attraction here is the wood-burning oven where many menu items, from bread to dessert, are cooked. The restaurant boasts mostly organic produce and certainly ingredients are fresh, local, and in season. The cuisine is refined Mediterranean, with pork, for example, paired with mozzarella instead one of the sharper Greek cheese.
Raki Baraki
Raki Baraki
Xanthoudidou 22 & Radamanthios, Rethymno, tel.: 28310 26213 Raki is, of course, the traditional Cretan tipple and the rakadika serving raki and meze are the island’s answer to the kafeneion or the taverna. Raki Baraki is an airy, modern version of the rakadiko, with small tables–you nibble rather than dine–set on the sidewalk and large paintings featuring lyra players decorating the walls of the lovely renovated Venetian building. The menu is built around the traditional bakaliko fare.
Halkidiki Tomata
Hippys
Sani Resort, Sani, tel.: 23740 99465 The Financial Times named Tomata as one of Europe’s twenty-five best restaurants–something chef Christos Karamolegos has strived hard to achieve with his culinary creations. Tomata’s superb setting on the Sani Marina enhances the gastronomic experience offered by such wonderful dishes as grilled lamb fillet with glazed eggplant in a honey-lemon sauce spiked with ginger and cumin or an imaginative variation of lahanodolmades that substitutes seafood for the ground beef and rice and saffron sauce for the avgolemono.
Mykonos Interni
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Matoyianna, Mykonos Town, tel.: 22890 26390. Interni might be described as upmarket franchise, with branches in Athens, Thessaloniki, and Mykonos where designer Paola Navone has created a Cycladic microcosm of dazzling white and brilliant blue in the open-air courtyard. The elegant simplicity of the Cycladic setting conjures a post-modern minimalism reflected in the menu created by chef Andrea Boulgari–a fusion of international fla-
vors and classic Greek cuisine. Fine dining is not Interni’s only attraction. The corps of resident DJs and perfectly mixed cocktails have made the bar one of the hottest spots on this celebrity-packed island. Head here for cocktails or an after-dinner drink and you might just catch a glimpse of the likes of film director Oliver Stone, footballer Jacques Villeneuve, and actress Sarah Jessica Parker.
Mamacas Ayia Anna, Mykonos Town, tel.: 22890 26120. Chic Mykonos seemed like the natural place for Mamacas to expand its reach. The setting is slightly different than Athens, with stately palms swaying over the courtyard of the mid-nineteenth-century mansion that adds an air of formality to the experience. Beetroot salad, marinated mackerel, mostra, peppers stuffed with spices and soft cheese, lentil salad, or a Cycladic mix of tomato, sour milk cheese, capers, and olives whet the appetite for the main courses–skillfully-grilled meat or fish, served with roast vegetables or fried potatoes. For dessert, cool your palate with a choice of ice creams or sorbets or opt for the lemon crème brulee.
Paros
Barbarossa Naoussa Harbor, tel.: 22840 51391 This cozy taverna tucked into Naoussa’s picturesque old harbor is the perfect place to enjoy a leisurely meal after a day on the beach. The atmosphere is casual, but Barbarossa is quite serious about the food it serves. You can taste it in every dish, from the rusks topped with chunks of freshly grated tomato and xynomizithra cheese to the sea urchin salads or seafood spaghetti.
Patmos Vengera
Harbor, tel.: 22470 32988 Vengera’s menu is built around Mediterranean cuisine, with dishes presented with special flair. Fresh fish dominates–and it’s worth asking advice about the catch of the day–but seafood dishes like kalamari with pesto hold their own against it. If you have a hankering for pasta, sample the seafood linguine, subtly flavored with ginger or, if available, try the fish carpaccio.
Rhodes
Mavrikos Main Square, Lindos, tel.: 22440 31232 Located at the edge of the main square, at the foot of Lindos town, Mavrikos serves up solid Greek cuisine in a simple environment. Location, service, and freshness of ingredients have combined to make this restaurant one of the most popular on Rhodes, and it’s a good place to sample traditional
island fare with a twist–from the slices of freshbaked bread smeared with shrimp paste instead of olive oil to the pureed chickpeas flavored with garlic, citrus, and cumin.
Samos Hippy’s
Potami Beach, Karlovassi, tel.: 22730 33796 Since opening in the mid-Seventies, Hippy’s has emerged as the favored hangout on Potami beach. The menu revolves around basic taverna fare like fried meatballs, Greek salad, and fried eggs from the freshest local ingredients despite a recent transformation into a hipper, beach-bar style environment with ambient music, bamboo shades, and loungers.
Santorini
Koukoumvalois Fira, tel.: 22860 23807 Nikos Pouliasis earned a Golden Chef’s cap this year for his imaginative creations inspired by Greek and Mediterranean cuisine. The result is creative dishes like risotto flavored with hints of mango and lavender and served with a garnish of jamon and a drizzle of aged Vinsanto. Navy beans are pureed and prickly pears transformed into a sweet-and-sour chutney, then used to accompany such dishes as beef cheeks or tuna tartare.
Seaside Lounge Restaurant by Notos Perivolos, tel.: 22860 82801 From a slight distance, Seaside Lounge looms like a modern temple and for its regulars, that’s exactly what it has become. Set right on the beach, it even boasts “boat tables” on the sand for a special dining experience. The menu is a fusion of Mediterranean and continental, with sardines cooked in a salt crust and served with a type of tzatziki–yogurt, cucumber and ginger, instead of garlic. The use of mango in savory dishes creates an aura of the exotic, especially when paired with lobster or pork.
Thessaloniki Entryfish
Pavlou Mela 5, tel.: 2310 230031. (Seafood) Entryfish, which not surprisingly structures its menu around seafood and fish, bears the mark of Nikos Varveris, proprietor of the Interni restaurants. Tiled floor and marble-topped tables create a bistro-like setting that spills out onto the small terrace. Varveris’s philosophy is evident in the level of service as well as the quality of the ingredients. Eel and tabouleh, lemon grouper, shrimp pie, and mussels in potato broth share a menu that also boasts a number of dishes pairing fresh pasta with seafood.
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shopping
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The Little Shop on the Corner Books are a way of discovering, or rediscovering, a land–whether through coffee table books, cookery books or fiction. Yet until recently there were only a handful of bookstores stocking foreign language books. Today, as more Greeks read in foreign languages and Greek publishers have begun to produce books with an eye to foreign readers, the number of bookstores has also expanded. Sherri Moshman Paganos perused the shelves of old, favorite haunts and shiny new emporiums in downtown Athens.
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shopping Compendium Walking away from Syntagma toward the Plaka on Nikis street, set back on the right is a tall thin building, the English-language bookstore, Compendium, which has its share of loyal customers, both among Greeks and expatriates, as well as tourists. Through the years, it’s also emerged as a gathering place for writers and poets, with regular evening readings. This sensitivity to literature is reflected on its shelves, which go beyond bestsellers to include more offbeat offerings. Compendium has been around for at least a quarter-century– it was originally a few blocks down Nikis, but moved to its current location a few years ago. Rick Schulein, the bookstore’s owner for the last twenty-one years, notes that the store tries to keep a broad selection of books but of course cannot have the quantity of larger
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or bibliophiles, walking into a bookstore is a sensual experience. You savor the titles on the shelves, reach for a book where the cover catches your eye, skim through the pages, smell the binding, feel the book in your hands. Some years ago, you couldn’t really browse in most Athens bookstores. If you thumbed through a book, immediately an employee would be next to you asking you what you wanted and giving you a questioning look. As for a chair to sit down in, that was unheard of. No more. Today, bookstores are customer-friendly with browsing areas, most with tables and chairs and a whole different attitude in trying to please the customer. Spending time in a bookstore is a pleasant satisfying experience. Following is a review of some selected bookstores in the downtown area of Athens, all of which carry a good selection of English-language books.
Public Public, off of Syntagma Square, opened in December 2007, and you might hesitate to call it a bookstore at all. It’s part of a new trend called a multistore. Your first view of Public as you approach it from the square is of the pleasant outdoor café on the sidewalk with its orange awnings. Inside is a smaller café, more like an espresso bar. The building itself is worth a mention; it’s a beautiful white neoclassical mansion with a plaque outside noting its historical status– in 1944, then-prime minister George Papandreou stood and delivered a seminal speech on the balcony. The building was restored in 1994. Inside, the perky orange motif is kept throughout the store, the walls are painted a pale yellow and there are small graceful arches. The lower level carries large items like TVs and home cinemas while on the main floor you can buy digital cameras and MP3 players. As you take the elevator upstairs, you see on the ceiling painted slogans like “I see, I enjoy, I feel, I read, I hear, I create, I enjoy, I participate, I share.” Now you’re on the floor with cell phones, laptops, PC games and play stations, and an always busy area by the with free internet access. On the second floor, you enter a world of music, with a large and varied CD collection. Finally you get to the books. Most of the English books are literature/fiction, but there seems to be a fair number of books of the arts, cinema, and photography. The selection is good, though mainstream. Besides books, there are games and toys, including figures from films like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones. There’s a little reading corner by the window with tables, orange chairs and throw rugs which has a fabulous view of Vassilissis Sofias avenue and the mountains. Finally on the top floor children will enjoy the books and games and a cozy corner to read or play. Throughout the store there are “Info Points” where you can ask any kinds of questions. Supporting the idea that stores selling only books were becoming a thing of the past was Damianos Gionis, a division head at Public. He says that although they sell more electronics surprisingly enough there is more of a profit selling books. As for music, since Public’s target group is consumers between the ages of twenty-five and forty, he says CD sales have not really been affected by downloading music. Public also has widely advertised book signings every week. All in all, it is a lovely place to spend some time, browse, pick up a book for the beach, listen to music, buy an Ipod and enjoy a coffee outside in the square.
bookstores. Compendium fits the role of the independent bookstore struggling a little to stay afloat in the age of large chains, much like in the film You’ve Got Mail where Tom Hanks’s large chain store threatens Meg Ryan’s small children’s book store. The main floor is filled with mostly fiction and travel books, guides and maps. You can also find ‘used books’ as well as postcards and ‘old fashioned’ board games like Monopoly and Scrabble. Up the wooden stairs you’ll find the instructional course books, readers, children’s books and dictionaries. Using dictionaries online and ordering books, online has affected book sales, Schulein says. Browsing is welcomed and, indeed, Compendium was the first bookstore with this policy. Compendium, with its motto “A taste of a bookshop and the touch of a library” is a comfortable place for you to go and pick up some books for your vacation reading.
Best Book Hunters Best Book Hunters on Solonos street opened five years ago and is a relative newcomer that specializes in academic and scientific books, although it has a good selection of fiction and arts titles. (A second branch in Kypseli is more business-oriented.) The Solonos store is very attractive inside with light colored wood contrasted with red chairs and displays in red. Sotiris Kareglis, who runs the shop, says about eighty percent of the titles are in English. Many of the customers are students from nearby University of Athens who July/August 2008 I ODYSSEY 97
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buy books that professors have offered for suggested reading. The main floor has fiction and children’s books, while upstairs you’ll find photography, the arts, classics, dictionaries and biographies. I was interested in a table with store recommendations, featuring poetry collections by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Charles Bukowski, Ian McEwan’s novella On Chesil Beach, and new biographies of Kurt Vonnegut and Kahlil Gibran. I noticed a large selection of books on the Beats and Bob Dylan, too, suggesting the stock in nonacademic books also extends beyond mainstream selections. By the window is a small white table and chairs while downstairs are many varied titles in mathematics or physical and social sciences. Outside may be busy Solonos but inside is a lovely gem of a bookstore.
Politeia Spread out on Asklepiou St. near Akademias, Politeia has four different entrances and a helpful directory in front, as well as a large staff ready to assist customers. There’s a wide selection of history and philosophy books and probably the best assortment of travel guides in town. There are also English and Greek course books. If you’re an Agatha Christie fan, you’ve found your bookstore; all of her books are here in English. There is an impressive selection of poetry and many tables with discounted books. While there are no places to sit and browse, many shoppers seemed to be happily thumbing through books.
Patakis Another comfortable bookstore nearby on Academias is Patakis, flagship store of Patakis publishers. Although it has a very small collection of English books, mostly best sellers, it’s a pleasant place to browse. Upstairs is a café with internet access and a selection of foreign newspapers you can sit and skim titles.
Papasotiriou Papasotiriou’s main branches are on Stournari, next to the Athens 98 July/August 2008 I ODYSSEY
Polytechnic, although the chain has outlets at several locations in Athens–including its flagship store on Panepistimiou–as well as the airport, Patras, Iraklio, Thessaloniki, and Larissa. It’s the top-selling bookstore chain in Greece, something which manager Babis Anastasiou credits simply to “hard work”. Indeed, everywhere I looked, employees were scurrying around shelving books and answering questions. The Panepistimiou store cross from the lovely neoclassical National Library can’t be beat for the dramatic feeling you get when you enter. On the left is a giant mural of Raphael’s marvelous Renaissance painting The School of Athens and in front of it, luminous white spheres of light. The effect is striking and gives you an art gallery feel. If you sit in one of the comfortable leather armchairs with a book, help yourself to a coffee from a tray, gaze at the mural and to your left the Library, you won’t be in any hurry to leave. The store itself is pleasant to browse in. Although only ten percent of the titles are in English, according to Anastasiou, you can find enough of a selection of fiction titles to keep you happy. Upstairs, lovers of Asterix or Lucky Luke can find editions of their beloved comics in both English and Greek. There’s a large selection of magazines of fantasy, science fiction, and computers, showing the slant of Papasotiriou, known mainly for its large selection of technical books and periodicals. You can also find PC games and software as well as regular board games. Downstairs are children’s books, art books, and cookbooks. Everywhere comfortable armchairs and sofas and soothing music will make you want to stay.
Eleftheroudakis Going toward Syntagma a few blocks away you’ll see the eightstory Eleftheroudakis, the largest and oldest chain of book stores in Athens; there’s a smaller branch on Nikis street, between Syntagma and Plaka, as well as elsewhere in greater Athens, including the airport, and Iraklio, Ioannina, Alexandroupoli, Patras, and Thessaloniki. Because of the sheer space it has, Eleftheroudakis is able to display books in a way no other store can. For example, the whole
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seventh floor is dedicated to travel, from impressive coffee table books to pocket guides. There’s a small section of CDs in the store, mostly classical. On each floor are plenty of comfortable chairs and room to browse in. According to manager Nikos Pantoleon, sixty per cent of the books they sell are in English. They have frequent book signings upstairs in the café area which has a pleasant view of Panepistimiou Street. There are also well-attended children’s presentations throughout the year. On the second floor, I was intrigued to see an instructor and a small group of women intently knitting. Pantoleon told me that Eleftheroudakis gives them the space to meet there once a week and the nominal fee that they pay goes to the organization that helps children, “Hamoyelo tou Paidiou” (The Child’s Smile). Besides knitting, drawing and other arts and crafts have been offered in this popular program. Like Public, Eleftheroudakis has multiple titles of books and whatever you can’t find, they’ll try to have it for you in a few days.
Libraries Kauffman A few doors down from Ianos on Stadiou, Libraries Kauffman has a decidedly old world feeling. Beloved of intellectuals, Kauffman stocks mostly French-language books but if you’re willing to look, you can find some unusual English titles on the shelves in law, history, travel, and world literature. O
Surrounded by the cobbled streets of Rethymno’s old townAVLI’s microcosm was created for those who demand more from their holidays.
Ianos At first glance, Ianos, on Stadiou, with its glass exterior, looks more like a cosmetics store than a bookstore. The store promises to be a “bookstore, café, meeting point, art gallery and a sponsor of events” and it’s all of these. Ianos has been there for about three years–the chain originated from Thessaloniki. Inside, you get a feeling of space. The manager, Maria Kokkini, says between twenty and thirty per cent of the titles are in English, mostly in the form of travel guides and books on art and architecture. However I also saw some English titles of modern Greek poetry. Interestingly Kokkini had spent five years at Compendium before taking over Ianos. On the main floor you can find Foreign Press and magazines and CDs with an ample collection of Greek performing artists. If you like jigsaw puzzles, downstairs is a wonderful assortment of puzzles of reproductions of famous painters. Upstairs is the most beautiful part of Ianos, the lovely café with the paintings, piano and tables. There’s a rich program of jazz and other musical entertainment in the evenings which is much in demand and often sold out.
Historical Center of the Old town of Rethymnon Xanthoudidou 22 & Radamanthios, 74100, Crete T. +30 28310 58250/26213 F. 58255 - info@avli.gr
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The Unveiling of Self If all daughters saw their fathers as heroes, godly figures, some even as tyrants–then it was not surprising that Maree was any different. Except to her, her father was a poet. He was a genius who knew the significance of words. With a will stronger than her want, she was lured into the same world. She had her father to thank for this. Maree was assured it was in their blood, passed on by their ancestors as far back as ancient times. After all, not many were fortunate enough to have the ghosts of Homer, or Sappho, or even Pindaros haunt their every word printed on paper. “This form of genius is a curse, it will be our catastrophe,” her father, Manoli, had once commented to Maree. But to his daughter, it was no more than a gift– a welcome gift. By Dina Kafiris aree remembered as a child sitting on the rear steps of her parents’ house watching her father and Uncle Dimitri playing backgammon on a battered board her father had brought back with him from the old country. Both leaning on an old wooden table they found in the garage, drinking glass after glass of retsina. The summer heat in Sydney was relentless. The men seemed not to notice, even though the sweat ran down their foreheads. The heat didn’t bother Maree either as her mother, Anastasia, had made sure she wore her straw hat. “The sun in this country is very strong, you don’t want to get skin cancer,” her mother explained. “You’re very pale, I don’t want you burning.” Maree enjoyed Sundays–the smell of barbequed meat floating through the air and over the fences, the neighbors mowing the lawn in the afternoon, even the high-pitched sound of cicadas; she didn’t even mind the Salvation Army waking her up in the morning as they passed through the streets playing their brass instruments. But what she really looked forward to was the ice cream van that drove at a turtle’s pace through her street, playing its melody, a sound alluring to the ears of children. How she adored that scoop of vanilla ice cream with that piece of flake tilted on the side, especially on such a hot day. Today she hadn’t heard it drive by, and it was already midday. So she sat on those steps waiting for the melody. “Maree, come here. Come join your uncle Dimitri and I. Come have a bit of wine with us!” her father said merrily. Maree got up
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from the steps that led into the house feeling two feet taller as she was about to have her first taste of alcohol. Just as her father’s glass reached her lips and the warm taste of wine hit the back of her throat, her mother intruded. “Don’t you dare,” she said to her daughter, snatching the glass away. Anastasia looked at her husband disapprovingly. “Why? What do you think she drinks at communion? It’s the same bloody thing,” he said in his defense. Anastasia placed some olives next to the bottle that was half-full and continued to glance at Manoli crossly. “And I’ve told you before, I don’t want you swearing in front of the child. You haven’t been back more than a few hours from church and you’ve already started.” She grabbed Maree by the hand and led her into the house. Dimitri seemed impatient, eager to defeat his opponent as he did every Sunday after church. So while Anastasia had been addressing Manoli, he had quickly moved his counters for him. “Manoli, keep your mind on the game, that’s why you’re always losing,” he said, trying to get his brother-in-law’s attention. Manoli turned his head and saw what Dimitri had done. “Why did you move them there?” Manoli groaned at him. “Where else could I move them? You just threw a 4 and 1. There was nowhere else to go.” Manoli grunted something at him, too proud to admit that Dimitri was right. “You know why you win?” he asked Dimitri. “Because every time I look away you’re always cheating. Bloody socialist! You play
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the game like your party runs the country, with backhanders. That’s why Greece is in the state it is.” Dimitri ignored him. The men tried their best to concentrate on the game, which proved difficult as they found themselves mesmerized by a pair of cockroaches crawling up the brick wall of the house trying to overtake each other. “Six and one! Six and one!” Manoli yelled as he threw the dice on the old wooden board, excited at the thought his prediction may prove true. And it did. “Yes! Yes!” he shouted, jumping up from his seat. “It’s a miracle!” he said, looking at the dice in disbelief. “It’s a miracle! Thank you God!” Manoli cried, kissing the gold cross that sat on his neck. “That, my brother-in-law, is what you call luck,” he continued, slamming his counters on the board. He slid them across from triangle to triangle, blocking Dimitri from being able to continue the game. Dimitri cursed him under his breath, gulping down what was left in his glass. “Shit! Look what the communist has done to me,” he said to him. “Who are you calling a communist vre?” Manoli replied furiously. Their voices drifted to the kitchen where Anastasia and her sister Eleni were preparing the meat for the barbeque. Anastasia agreed that Maree had done her part the night before helping her get the marinade ready for today’s meal, which meant she didn’t have to assist. So she sat quietly in the corner and watched. Both mother and daughter were eager to see what their new homemade mixture would taste like once the meat was saturated in the dressing and cooked. When they had finished spreading the marinade over the steaks, Eleni moved onto the next chore, the seasoning of the potatoes. Anastasia tried to ask whether she needed help, but was unable to hear her sister with all the racket going on in the backyard. The men were getting rather rowdy, which they always did after they had been drinking. Maree ran outside to see what was going on. Instead of following her daughter, Anastasia popped her head out the kitchen window. “Can’t you both stop arguing? Half the neighborhood can hear you. Find something else to talk about. It’s always politics or religion. What about football or something you at least agree on?” she said, trying to ease the tension. “Aren’t I right?” Anastasia asked her sister who was reducing the oven temperature. “They’re going to make us the laughing stock of Earlwood.” Eleni agreed, nodding her head. “Yes, my darling,” screamed Manoli, teasing her. “I’m in the kitchen, not down the road. You don’t have to yell,” she shouted back at him. “Men!” she howled. “Women!” her husband groaned, shrugging his shoulders. “They’ll be the death of us Dimitri. Do you hear me? The death of us,” he said, raising his eyebrows at his brother-in- law as he moved his counter. “All these years and I still don’t understand them.” Manoli looked at Maree. “Daughter, come keep your father company. Your uncle Dimitri is a bore.” Her father extended his hand. She ran straight into his arms and embraced him. “When did you become so strong?” He asked his daughter proudly, lifting her onto his lap.
Manoli sat upright, his chair caught in the cracks of the concrete patio. He rolled the dice across the wooden board, each dice tumbling over the other, and as he moved his counter across the board, out of nowhere, he delivered this monologue. “Not even Kazantzakis could have come out with something so extraordinary,” Maree thought to herself years later, having been repeatedly reminded of the speech by her mother. “Athens, my friend,” he said to Dimitri, “reminds me of a beautiful woman who puts the others to shame. An old lover; years later you still spend hours in the darkness thinking about her, about the humid nights when you had just made love and you lit a cigarette and looked at each other, no words, just silence, except perhaps for the laterna, the barrel-organ outside that serenades you as it passes. And you’re thinking to yourself, ‘Can I go a day without seeing that face, that beauty standing by the window, with the moonlight resting on her hair? And only the thought of it, just the thought, makes you want to get a knife and cut into your heart, like a savage, to numb the pain. But deep, deep inside that wretched heart of yours, you despise her, you’re bitter towards her, because she has betrayed you, because she has chosen to share her time with other
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summer reading men too. All these promises she made, all these dreams you fixed in your head, vanish straight out that window. How can the woman you love be so cruel?” Her father picked up his empty glass and waved it at her uncle. “Tell me,” he asked his brother-in-law. “So you leave, what else can you do, except cut her throat and become a murderer for her sake, and no woman’s worth your freedom. Am I right?” Maree’s uncle looked dumbfounded. He gestured at Manoli to continue the game filling their glasses with the remaining retsina, but was soon interrupted by a loud noise coming from inside the house. Something had broken in the kitchen. Maree released herself from her father’s grip and ran to see what had happened. She found her mother on the floor picking up the marinated meat and putting it back on the plate. “Don’t look at me like that,” she said as her daughter scrunched her face. “The floor’s clean, I mopped it this morning.” Anastasia looked at Eleni who was holding her stomach, laughing hysterically. “I think I’ve wet myself,” Eleni said. Maree stood there staring at the floor where her auntie was standing, waiting. “It’s his fault you know–my husband. He’s had too much to drink,” Maree’s mother said angrily. “He gets like that when he’s had too much.” She stormed outside. Eleni and Maree followed. “What are you waffling on about? I can hear you both from inside the kitchen. No more drinking, do you hear me? Only water from now on. It’s bad enough I worry that one day you may leave me for a younger woman, let alone a whole bloody country. And I hope the woman you were talking about in your little speech was me, if you know what’s good for you. Imagine, all these years I had a philosopher for a husband and
I never knew. Especially one that spoke like that,” she said annoyed. She took the empty bottle of Retsina and replaced it with a jug of cold water. Manoli laughed. He grabbed his wife by the waist and pulled her closer to him. Eleni, who was now sitting on her husband Dimitri’s lap, had started to sing an old Greek tune that Maree had heard from her mother many times before. “You shameful man,” Anastasia said to him. She struggled to get out of his strong grip, still holding onto the bottle. Finally, she gave in, settled on his lap and joined in the singing with her sister. Manoli sat there with a cigarette between his fingers, listening to his wife. He enjoyed such rare occasions, finding comfort in the tenderness of her voice. “Bloody cigarettes–they’ll be the death of me if I don’t end up cutting the habit like a knife. They’re as lethal as a woman’s tongue,” Manoli interrupted, putting out his cigarette. With all the singing and drinking, Maree, who sat herself back on the steps, wondered whether anyone had noticed the smell of the roast potatoes burning from inside the kitchen. She wasn’t hungry anyway. The summer heat had stifled her appetite. Maree looked at the barbeque stand that had been planted in the backyard, hoping that the meat would be cooked before it got dark. Otherwise, she would have no dinner and she knew by then her stomach would ache without any food to satisfy her hunger. O *Dina Kafiris’s novel The Unveiling of Self traces the journey of a young Greek Australian woman who seeks her roots in her parents’ homeland. This extract was read at the Greek Writing Conference in the United Kingdom in late June.