Lulus (Kalamara Brothers)

On its main street Hydra which goes to Kala Pigadia, (the people of Hydra used to call it "drum alley", now it is Admiral Andrea Miaouli Street) in your right hand you will see a tavern with two names on its sign. "Lulus Tavern" and "Kalamara Bros.“. It is one of the oldest taverns on the island with its own history.

Its owners are Lefteris Kalamaras from Tripoli, from Valtetsi, and the Peace, Hydra.

Lefteris came to Hydra with his brother in the 60's and they rented a cafe on the beach. In 1972 they take the restaurant from him Barba John Lulus (hence Lulus). It is the season when Hydra rises. Lefteris remembers the old glories of the store:

"Some locals, such as Miltiadis Babalias, Vassilis Karantonis and others, when a group of foreigners or the American college came, wanted to teach the girls Greek dances butcher, zeibek, hasaposerbiko. The spectacle of the tavern that has been unforgettable was when they came to the party and lifted with their mouths the table where they ate and danced holding it with their teeth. Of course, they did a little trick; for help, they rested it on their stomachs. " 

"Leonard Cohen came very regularly. And his daughter was coming ", remembers Irene. "And Joan Collins", adds Lefteris.

The Lulus tavern of Kalamara, which operates from noon to evening, is a typical tavern with Greek traditional cuisine which offers all the classic Greek dishes: from oily, okra, green beans, artichokes, briam, eggplant imam. From cooked stand out the stuffed, moussaka, pastitsio, braised veal and lemonade, baked lamb. In rotisserie of Kalamaras are cooked meats, steaks, skewers, burgers and of course fish of all categories. My weakness is the sardine and the gabbro from the opposite Ermioni, the red mullets of the area "But also the squid that is hydrated!" as Lefteris says proudly. Fried zucchini chips are the simple specialty of the store.

The foods on the menu have remained the same and unchanged for 45 years, in fact with the traces of the '80s, when the taverns to satisfy the foreign but also the foreign Greek customers added the schnitzel, the carbonara, the bolognese, the Neapolitan and the fillet a la creme!

The two trees in the small square of the tavern, two Benjamin figs were planted by Lefteris and in thirty years they harvested and created an oasis-shelter in the heat of summer. Mr. Lefteris and Mrs. Irini keep the tavern open most months of the year, they only close it for a while to go see their children and make their grandchildren happy!