Dimatis Tavern, Aghios Dimitrios, West of Mount Olympus

This is a tavern owned and operated by the Dimatis family, who own a farm with animals a few kilometers down the road on the western slopes of mount Olympus in Greece.

The tavern is in the center of the small town of Aghios Dimitrios, and unless you know about it, you may pass by without any suspicion that this sleepy rural place can offer you immense gastronomic pleasures.

The first good sign of the quality of the place is that they only serve bottled wine, and they know a lot about the local production. We had a Merlot from Naoussa, Vaeni 2004, which was outstanding.

The next good sign is that you do need a menu to order food. There is a menu on the table, but if you indicate that you are a guest and willing to try whatever the Host serves you, you do not need to say more.

The dishes start arriving and you shortly enter a world of solid earty pleasures.

The eggplants and diced onions were melting in your mouth, with strong background tomato and garlic taste, complemented by grated salty yellow cheese (kefalotiri) that has melted on top of everything else.

The mushrooms were grilled and sprinkled with coarse sea salt, crushed garlic, parlsey, olive oil and lemon juice. Perfectioin in simplicity.

The lightly sauteed lamb offals (kidney, liver, lung, heart, sweetbreads) were sweet and mildly acid, and seasoned with salt and oregano. I could not recall in my gastronomic memory a better lamb dish anywhere in the world.