The Summer of My Greek Taverna: A Memoir
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Product Description
Review
"Time" The summer's best travel writing...like Kitchen Confidential with ouzo.
Product Description
The story of a man in love with a place, a woman, and a dream. Tom Stone went to Greece one summer to write a novel -- and stayed twenty-two years. On Patmos, he fell in love with Danielle, a beautiful French painter. His novel completed and sold, he decided to stay a little longer. Seven idyllic years later, they left Patmos for Crete. When a Patmian friend Theológos called and offered him a summer partnership in his beach tavérna, The Beautiful Helen, Stone jumped at the chance -- much to the dismay of his wife, who cautioned him not to forget the old adage about Greeks bearing gifts. Her warning was well-founded: when back on Patmos, Stone quickly discovered that he was no longer a friend or patron but a competitor. He learned hard lessons about the Greeks' skill at bargaining and business while reluctantly coming to the realization that Theológos's offer of a partnership was indeed a Trojan horse. Featuring Stone's recipes, including his own Chicken Retsina and the ultimate moussaka, The Summer of My Greek Tavérna is as much a love story as it is the grand, humorous, and sometimes bittersweet adventures of an American pursuing his dreams in a foreign land, a modern-day innocent abroad.
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First Sentence
The phone rang just as I was about to leave home and trudge through the raw Cretan winter to my tutoring job. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The phone rang just as I was about to leave home and trudge through the raw Cretan winter to my tutoring job. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
47 of 49 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is a very humorous and well written story of a man in love with a place, and of his dreams to be a world famous restauranteur. Patmos, the tiny Greek island famed for St.John's Book of Revelations, just off Samos and requiring several hours journey by boat to get there is where Tom Stone wrote this his second novel. He is given the chance to go into partnership in a taverna on a beach named 'The Beautiful Helen'-after the former wife of its current owner . He took the opportunity, against the advice of his wife, and friends, and changed roles from tourist to cook. Taking his wife and two small children with him he was no longer able to while away his time being "the host" and drinking into the wee small hours, but had to work hard in the kitchen, developing varicose veins into the bargain. Closing the restaurant in those wee small hours, falling into bed and sleeping for a while then opening again for the fishermen at seven.
Despite the relentless hard work the book tells of many joys: the changing beauty of the island, friendships with islanders and foreigners he had known over the years, descriptions of island life, festivals , parties and traditions, and the people that Tom has had the fortune to get to know in the many years he has been there, yachts that arrived from nearby Mykonos for dinner and the everlasting support of his long suffering wife and family.
The book tells of this one summer - a time of change and of learning just who your friends are and a time of growing up for Tom. It was a very pleasant compulsive read, one that I found hard to put down and that I wanted to finish and savour along with all of the lovely foods so vividly described. I wanted to taste the cool tzatziki, the fiery chilli and the sticky pickled quince and wash it all down with endless glasses of retsina. Above all I wanted to find my own kefi on my own greek island taverna!
Despite the relentless hard work the book tells of many joys: the changing beauty of the island, friendships with islanders and foreigners he had known over the years, descriptions of island life, festivals , parties and traditions, and the people that Tom has had the fortune to get to know in the many years he has been there, yachts that arrived from nearby Mykonos for dinner and the everlasting support of his long suffering wife and family.
The book tells of this one summer - a time of change and of learning just who your friends are and a time of growing up for Tom. It was a very pleasant compulsive read, one that I found hard to put down and that I wanted to finish and savour along with all of the lovely foods so vividly described. I wanted to taste the cool tzatziki, the fiery chilli and the sticky pickled quince and wash it all down with endless glasses of retsina. Above all I wanted to find my own kefi on my own greek island taverna!
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This superbly written tale of hope, adventure, aspiration, disappointment and final triumph is quite simply one of the best travel 'reads' around - I sat on a beach in Crete last week and read it in one go! Tears on the way as I rad it but it left me with sense of real hope as someone who one day hopes to emulate Stones travel - the descriptions of the food are responsible for my expanded waste line! Don't miss it - Brilliant!
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an enjoyable and well written personal account of the author's experiences of Patmos and the people he met and worked with. I think some people go over the top with the reviews on many of these books set in holiday destinations, because they love Greece and aspire to have this type of experience. It is a pleasant read and quite evocative but thats all.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A really good read
This book by Tom Stone was really enjoyable. For anyone with a love of Greece or not it brings Greek island life to your living room. Read more
Published 1 month ago by susie_bournemouth
Steep Learning Curve
The author is very candid about how he got shafted by a Greek who he thought was a friend. His humility at laying bare his naivety when he was much younger and idealistic is... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Abzorba the Greek
A pleasant read
This was quite an enjoyable book, however I didn't enjoy the -what felt like many - references to the author and his wife's 'love-making'. Overall I would highly recommend though.
Published 8 months ago by Shopaholic
Great read could not put it down
I took this book away with me on holiday i was in Skiathos and i think it made the read more enjoyable being in Greece itself i really enjoyed reading it very humerous and the... Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2009 by Scott Leslie
Overcooked.
Very evocative descriptions of the Greek island of Patmos and some interesting insights into the Greek way of life. Read more
Published on 6 Oct 2007 by Lovetoread
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