The three boats and the half-acre garden

Every fish on the deck has a boat name attached. Every herb has a plot. This page maps both.

The water

Three boats supply the deck, and they have done since the first season. They land at the Houlakia steps between 6:30 and 7:30 in the morning; the baskets come up the path on foot. What they bring is what the board says at 09:30 — no more, no less.

Captain Vasilis Roussounelos

Mykonos-born, fishing since he was fourteen. Owns the wooden caique Aphroditi. Nets and longline, close to shore, four to six hours a night. Red mullet, sea bream, scorpionfish, and the octopus we sun-dry.

Captain Petros Maroulis

Works the deeper ground north of the bay. Comes in later, around 7:30, usually with the bigger whole fish — sea bass, dentex, amberjack — and the lobster for the long plates.

The Theoharis family of Ano Mera

Three generations, two small boats. They bring the difficult things: white anchovies in May, cuttlefish, sardines when they run early, and the shellfish for the crudo.

The land

Half an acre on the terraces above the deck, worked by Marina and, in July and August, by anyone in the kitchen with a free hour.

The caper wall

The oldest thing on the property — the drystone wall Yannis’ grandfather planted capers along in the 1960s. We pick the buds in June and salt them the same afternoon.

Tomato season

From mid-July to early September the tomato salad is the reason people come at lunch. Four varieties, all from the middle terrace, dressed with nothing but salt, oil and oregano.

Herbs and wild greens

Oregano, thyme, savory and fennel grow wild on the upper slope. Wild greens are foraged in spring and served warm with lemon.

The terraced figs

Six old trees that shade the upper tables and, for three weeks in August, give the figs for Aphrodite’s fig-leaf custard.

The full menu