Patmos is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean near Turkey, population approximately 3,000.
A few years ago I was in Greece, staying on nearby Samos Island, and took a day ferry to visit Patmos. It is the second most popular site next to Jerusalem for Christian pilgrimage, as it is where Saint John wrote the book of Revelation. There we visited the Monastery of St. John the Theologian, built into the hillside around the Cave of the Apocalypse where Saint John received and recorded a vision from Jesus. The two sites are now Unesco World Heritage Sites.
It was an amazing place, and I'd show you the pictures but when I got into the bus to change film in the camera - remember film? It was that long ago - I must have misplaced the full roll. That's how it goes.
In the cave, we stood in the corner beside a hollowed out sleeping area, where they say the revelation occurred to John of Patmos. It was a beautiful Summer day, and after a lunch of extremely fresh seafood at the harbour, we returned to Samos watching dolphins swimming alongside the boat as the afternoon faded.
Of course, we all know that the moon Goddess Selene shone her light on the water and found the island at the bottom of the ocean; Artemis and Apollo then helped convince Zeus to raise the island to the surface where it was named after Artemis. But that was a long time ago.
I have also travelled all over Crete many years ago, and have been to Rethymnon, where the author of Summer Taverna Tom Stone lived when we begin this memoir.
The Summer Of My Greek Taverna was written by Tom Stone, a travel reviewer, broadway stage manager, and writer for guide books to Greece. He once visited the island of Patmos to write a novel and decided to stay. Danielle is a beautiful French painter whom he meets, and they marry. Several years later they move to Rethymnon on the island of Crete. He is tired of tutoring English, and recalls life on Patmos, where they relaxed in a seaside taverna named The Beautiful Helen. They knew the family and yet could see how much better it could be run. As the owner rented the taverna out over the Summer months, Tom would joke "You should rent it to me!"
Out of the blue, a phone call from his old friend Theologos. Would he and Danielle like to move their family back to Patmos and run the taverna for the Summer?
There is reuniting with old friends and the family of Theologos, and getting used to the rhythm of the restaurant. He is soon at home in the kitchen, and introducing unusual dishes to Greece, such as Chinese Chicken with Cucumbers and American Chili. Long days cooking and cleaning are one thing, but his partnership with Theologos, whom everyone calls O Lados ("the oily one", as in, "He's a thief!") is, looking from the outside, rocky. The partnership is that Tom will pay 150,000 drachmas to rent The Beautiful Helen and run the kitchen and restaurant, and Theologos will buy supplies. The receipts and costs start to mount up. Don't worry, Theologos says, things will improve come the summer festivals.
Sounds like an idyllic place, but Tom is slowly gypped from all angles. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. "If you are a guest they will give you the shirt off their back, but do business with them, it's your shirt you've got to worry about". There are many characters, visitors and Greek customs to work around, such as the evil eye, and the idea it's bad luck to wish you well so no one does it. Rather, it's best to humble you.
Although it was great to visit Greece again, for the most part, I found the characters to be quite sad, and could see a mountain of resentment building up. It seemed everyone saw O Lados doing his usual tricks, but no one spoke up. There is a big blow out, and still I didn't feel good about the resolution.
Along with the details of the family and restaurant, the recipes for the dishes he mentions cooking at the back of the book.
It was interesting to revisit an island I enjoyed, and I was attracted to see a book about Crete and Patmos of all places. The Summer of My Greek Taverna is very well written, but not the "sumptuous getaway" described on the cover. Great travel writing, and I guess they all can't be happy times. Sorry, Tom, I feel like you had a hard Summer!
2002 / Paperback / 245 pages
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