Looking Forward to Spring in Greece..

Paul Roberts looks forward to a place he remembers with affection

February is a time when my mind looks both forward to a spring holiday in Greece and back to sunny days and happy evenings in previous years. I love off season Greece. Just before the hoped for rush of summer with its frantic cleaning and painting, every day another bar or restaurant opens for the season. Or September when everything is slowly closing down with the weather. And I like 25c. It is a temperature I enjoy.
 
The first few times I found myself in Greece I was young and in search of fun and excitement. Ios and Paros were where it was at. Dancing on bars and waking up on beaches. But that was 30 years ago and my tastes have changed. Comfortable hotels, a chilled out vibe and most of all excellent food are what I look for these days.

My favourite place these days is Ammouliani. A tiny island at the foot of Mount Athos. Traditionally a fishing community, the sea food is always fresh. You can sit at the port of an evening, watching tiny fishing boats go out to sea while eating the previous nights catch. There is a core community of 500 people who live here through the winter and I suspect it is not easy. Hard winters make people appreciate the sunny times and their freindliness shows that. We always stay with Anna at Guest House Dominici, she is so welcoming and helpful.

 She is an artist and the house is beautiful with lots of little pieces she makes during the winter. 
 On the way there or back we like to stop off for a few days in Stavros, a little further up the coast. The main reason is that it has 2 of my favourite restaurants. The first is Agnati at the very top of the village. To be fair if you walk up, you definitely have a good appetite when you get there. The view over the bay is exceptional and the establishment is everything a good Greek taverna should be. 

Family run, friendly, traditionally prepared fresh food. They let us sit there all night, drinking and playing cards and have been know to drive us back down the hill to our hotel when we have had one too many. 

The star of this show though is a restaurant called Kalamatianos right on the seafront about 2 miles out of town. The food here is sublime. The front of house staff know as much about the ingredients as the chef, Christos Gremos. We were there on a September evening, the welcome breeze blowing the sand magically an inch off the ground.

 We watched the sun go down as we ate food that could have come from a top class restaurant anywhere in the world. 
 Fly to Thessoloniki and hire a car this spring. I have yet to spend any time in that city, but according to Rick Stein it is the best place to eat in Greece. You might just see me there.

Paul Roberts