Cανte d'Azur in Argostoli

Some shops with what you see speak loudly and win you over at first glance. Something like this happened when I first saw them taverns on the stakes, on the coastal road of Argostoli in Kefalonia, on Ioannou Metaxa next to the Naval School and the pier where the cruise ships moor.

For those who have lived in the 60s and 70s will remember that at that time in many beaches of Greece there were fish taverns who had made improvised wooden platforms on the sea, covered with reeds or palm leaves and offered a unique proximity to the wave and the smell of the sea. It was my weakness and I remember begging my father, Mr. Kostas, to go on an excursion on the weekends. "Showcases"!

Most of them were abandoned because their aesthetics were considered outdated. So when I saw her Blue Coast I felt a wild joy, and I quickly stepped on the whole platform, which was very large. It was dusk, no customers had come yet, and I had every opportunity to move here and there to take the appropriate photos, but they could not convey the feeling of moving on the wooden deck.

I sat at the farthest table to enjoy the sunset, but then it got cold and I went to the covered and more protected part of the podium. There I was visited by the boss of the store, the Andronikos Lazaratos. I will bring you appetizers, he told me and went to prepare them. My friend had spoken to me about Andronikos in the best words Petros Markantonatos, from Gentilini Winery.

«In Adronikos you will find the best delicacies of Kefalonia, he is a cymbalist and a passionate man». Soon Andronikos arrived with shrimp that smelled of fresh squash, sea urchin salad and a plate of deep stone pipes. After we ate the first two, he put the wedge shells under the plate to get a slope, he added a little oil and so the zoumaki of the stone pipes, garlic and quenched with wine, was easily accessible and enjoyable with a spoon, with an empty shell or .

«I was born in Lixouri and I also have roots in Fragata. I am a third generation tavern owner, my grandfather had a tavern in Lixouri and everyone remembers the hare that my grandmother cooked. From a young age I fell in love with the tavern that existed here, in the same place since 1950 on a similar podium made of eucalyptus and cypress wood. The tavern owner was Gerasimos Apergis, the so-called "Memas" and I remember as a child his reddened beef with spaghetti and potatoes cooked in lard. In 1975 after 25 years it stopped, and in 1984 the Municipality built a more modern platform made of African oak.

I got the store in 1997 and wherever I close and I turn 25 years old. The main feature of my shop is that all the classes frequented here, both the archontoli and the popular classes. In our kitchen we make the traditional stews, the Kefalonian meat pie as the old people did with meat scales, braised rooster with thick spaghetti, zucchini meatballs, smoked eel, unique twisted cheese pie, baked goat with fish and recipes. My weakness is seafood, fish and seafood. In the C .te d'Azur you will always find stone pipes, sea urchins, quinces, gourds, shrimp and lobsters. This year we caught big fish, we tore them in half, we made one side grilled and the other fricassee, juvette, tartar, ceviche… Fish for all tastes».

The C Κυte d'Azur restaurant is «a restaurant, a fish tavern and a tavern»And the ideal destination for those who crave the best fish appetizers, and an environment that exudes a unique authentic port atmosphere.