The Carnation Cafe

Well, I'm home now, but I've not said all I have to say so I'm going to keep writing. Things got rather backed up when we started bouncing around - not to mention the social life in Dubai! So...

Sometimes it's the simplest things in life that deliver the biggest punch. We tend to forget that in our over-stimulated consumer-driven world. If you can step out of the craziness of your own life, I think its possible to rediscover the simple things. Traveling really helps me do this.

Also, it’s sometimes hard to explain or even pinpoint why something appeals to you. Perhaps it was our exhilaration after seeing the amazing sites on the Acropolis, maybe we were exhausted and starving, or maybe it truly was the delicious food and charming atmosphere, but Stan and I were completely taken with the Carnation Café.

We toured the Acropolis on a Sunday morning, and this particular Sunday was a national holiday of some sort, so we were having a bit of a time finding a place to eat lunch. I remembered seeing a little neighborhood cafe a day or two earlier, with tables spilling out onto the sidewalk, but I wouldn’t have been able to find it. Stan also recalled the same place, so we were thrilled when we popped around a corner and there it was! The Carnation Café!

Try to imagine an old-fashioned, mom and pop, neighborhood type of place (they don’t exist anymore in the US, I’m convinced) that serves simple home-cooked food using fresh ingredients. That’s the place. A Greek mom was cooking in a TEENY kitchen. The refrigerated case below her workspace chilled fresh octopus and calamari (oooh, soo sorry Buddha!) One cute little Greek boy of about 25 sporting a shirt with a big red carnation embroidered on the back (bet he loved that) hustled in and out of the kitchen, waiting tables. Neighbors stopped in for lunch, a group of young people appeared to be refueling after a hard night, expat-types were reading the English daily, and a handful of tourists, like ourselves were fortunate enough to have stumbled upon this place.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch of grilled octopus (octopus is a Greek specialty) Stan’s choice, and a Greek salad, my choice. Greek salad in Greece is nothing like what we have at home. Greek Greek salad is FRESH local (not pink) tomatoes, chopped cucumber, red onion, fresh peppers, a pepperoncini or two, and a hand full of olives, all sprinkled with fresh oregano, dressed lightly with olive oil and lemon. A thick slice of amazing feta always perches on top.

A colored aluminum pitcher (like those glasses your grandma used to have) of house white wine (Greek – better than the house Turkish wines in my opinion) and a basket of that yummy Greek bread accompanied our meal. I don’t remember the particular figure, but the bill was ridiculously inexpensive. Was it our hunger? The food? The ambiance? I can’t say and it doesn’t matter. What mattered was the beauty of the fresh flavors and local ingredients. Life should always be so simple.