The Summer of My Greek Taverna : A Memoir

The humorous and sometimes bittersweet story of a man in love with a place, a woman and a dream - part memoir, part travelogue with recipes - for fans of Frances Mayes and Peter Mayle.

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.