A long time ago I spent several months in Greece, in Chania on Crete. Many Greeks consider Crete to be the boondocks of the country. Chania, on the western end of the island, is in the boondocks of Crete. It didn't matter; the old town was lovely and off the beaten tourist path. The locals were decent, hard-working folks, and the simple, fresh food was fantastic. Reading The Summer of My Greek Taverna: a Memoir, by Tom Stone, brought all the good memories of my time on a Greek island flooding back.

Stone arrived on the island of Patmos, on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, almost by accident, looking for a quiet place to write his novel. The book soon went on the back burner as he fell in love, first with the island and then with a young Frenchwoman who would soon become his wife. Stone wrote and sold his novel, began a family with his wife, and renovated an ancient stone farmhouse.

After seven years on Patmos, money began to get a little thin and they moved to Crete where Stone got a job teaching English in the town of Rethymnon. Suddenly, with no warning, Stone received a phone call from one of their Patmian friends asking if he would be interested in renting and running a taverna for the summer season. With scarcely a second thought, Stone, an eager amateur chef, packed up his family and they all went back to Patmos for the summer.

This memoir details the struggles and adventures involved in Stone's taverna experience - from dealing with a crooked partner and obtaining supplies during religious fasts to climatic droughts and convincing his traditional Patmian neighbors that chili con carne was tasty. He learned the hard way that when your friends become your restaurant's patrons, you are no longer their friend. They don't laugh off the fly in the soup when their drachmas are on the line.