Why we stop taking bookings at half past nine

People ask why they cannot book a table at ten. It is the Greek hour for dinner, after all.

It is because at ten the fishermen finish. Manolis wakes up, the crew of Kyra Maria have coiled the lines for tomorrow, and the people who live around the harbour come down to the water. For forty-five years those last tables have been theirs, and they do not book, they just arrive.

So after half past nine we keep four tables free and give them to whoever walks up, locals and visitors in the order they come. If you are on holiday and you like eating late, that is when to come: without a booking, and without a hurry. The kitchen takes last orders at eleven.