Thursday 28 September 2006

WORLD WIDE LUNCH

It’s two weeks, yesterday, since we left Kalymnos and the tan and, more importantly, the feeling of contentment are already beginning to fade…

But the memories live on and one of them - extremely personal to me, as it happens - is out there for all to see --- on the World Wide Web!

It was Wednesday, 30th August and I came up from a hard day on the beach and ordered a spot of lunch at Artistico...


I decided on a Greek salad, a plate of tzatziki and another of tomato patties and cheese balls. A short while afterwards, a selection of food approximating to my order was brought out on a tray and carried right past me to a table on the other side of the restaurant where it was artfully arranged and then photographed by a young man with a lot of serious camera equipment…

In a London restaurant I would, by now, have been hurtling towards my short-fuse explosive mood, but this is on Kalymnos - in Emporios - at Artistico… With an extreme effort I managed a raised eyebrow and a quizzical look…

Irene Glinatsi hurried over to reassure me: yes, that was, indeed, my lunch she explained, but the young man with the camera furiously clicking away was putting together images for a French web-site on Kalymnos and he wanted a few shots of some typical dishes on the Artistico menu and my lunch, apparently, fitted the bill...

The photographic shoot went on for a few minutes and then the young man relocated and served my food with sufficient aplomb to suggest that, if other work fails, he could reasonably hope to hold down a job in a French restaurant!

He also gave me details of the web site on which my lunch was to make its guest appearance.


Called Kalyrock.com it is primarily intended for rock climbers (not being one myself I’ve never previously mentioned that Kalymnos is, in fact, an ace climbing resort) but which contains many pretty pictures of this lovely island.

Yesterday in London, it being grey and overcast, I found myself missing the sun, sea and sky of our Greek paradise so much that I decided to go to Kalyrock.com and visit my lunch…


Do you know, I could almost taste it…

Then, late last evening, we telephoned Artistico in order to wish Nikola Glinatsi a happy 25th birthday - talking to Nikola and Irene and hearing all the news from Emporios only served to confirm my severe pangs of holiday-home-sickness!

Here's a photo of Nikola having just returned from a fishing trip with a particularly impressive haul of local sea urchins * which reminds me of another of those useful Greek sayings: "If you don’t wet your arse - you won’t eat fish!"



* Sea urchins are a much-prized delicacy, but one which I confess to having passed on once I'd discovered that the spiny outer cases continue moving for a quite some while after the creatures have been cut open and had their insides consumed. Call me old-fashioned, if you will, but being a wishy-washy city-dweller, I'm afraid I tend to prefer food that stays still when it's on the plate!

5 comments:

Brian Sibley said...

There IS, as it happens, a public telephone (just the one), near the jetty - but it takes an awful lot of euros to make a call anywhere...

Anonymous said...

George fancied some sea urchins in June while we were there and Themeli obliged in a few minutes fishing- a whole carrier bag full. I had some, the only place I eat them! In Leros in September they were 7 euros a portion, perhaps Irene should add them to the menu,I forgot to mention it when we popped over for the day from Leros!
Roger
(who George flatteringly calls "The blues man")

Brian Sibley said...

If you the Emporios-regular who also goes by the name of "Roger the Skiffler" (and even if you're not!) - welcome to my blog!

Anonymous said...

Guilty as charged, Brian! I wish I could equal your vivid descriptions! We were one of the Artistico's first season's guests and I think this year made our 6th visit, the only Greek island we've visited more than twice. Leros this year was our 24th in 29 years.
If Scrooge hears ME play (washboard, spoons,kazoo & terrible voice) he might change his mind!
Roger

Brian Sibley said...

I've seen video evidence of your spoon-playing, Roger... What can I say...? ;-)

We love your web-reports on life in Emporios when you visit and - who knows - maybe one day we'll meet and share a bottle of somthing under the tamarisk trees...

After all, this year we got to know two more regulars who we've never previously met - the lovely Sue and Andy whose wedding at Artistico you attended earlier in the year - so it COULD happen...