Our Philosophy

"Arsanas": the yard where the monks of Mount Athos repaired their ships. Many also call it "Tarsanas".

For decades it created its own legend, adorning the seas of Halkidiki and the Peloponnese with unique wooden fishing boats.

I remember Barba Mitsos Kamburis, the "head cook", a formidable shipwright and a born leader. His son Giorgos was the chef and Giannis, the "tireless tool", was the first cook, like those generals who carried the flag into battle with the soldiers charging behind them.

What a brigade it was, and who didn't pass through Barba Mitsos' shipyard: Nikitas the Kanatas, Polys the Kassandrinos… I remember them like it was yesterday, playing pranks on me and teaching me my first swear words while I swept up the sawdust (for pocket money, of course), completely unaware of what was to come.

All day long, together with my brother Giorgos, today's Giannis Kamburis, we roamed from the waterfall saw to the band saw, from the band saw to the planer, from the planer to the lathe. I still carry the smell of swollen wood somewhere in my brain, along with the endless sound of the machines that ran until 12:30 each noon.

Pause. Time for the customary break, the snack: bread, olives, a real tomato, feta, pickled peppers, the odd anchovy… on the sly, and one, only one, little glass of tsipouro "so no finger gets cut", to disinfect us from the sawdust we breathed all day.

Europe, we're talking Europe.

Great jokers, every one of them… a recital during the break, and you heard everything, from gossip to the best jokes. Usually spicy, because the setting was very macho and they mostly talked about girls.

Although a male-dominated place, the most emblematic figure was Aunt Maria. Her specialties were the "submarines" (a spoonful of vanilla in a glass of ice-cold water) and Greek coffee. She prepared the midday meze for the head cook and her two children, and she woke the workers up when they dozed off a little. Aunt Maria was good-natured, but when she got upset, wow…

I remember the feasts after a lavish lunch, with plenty of tsipouro and then wine, every time a boat was launched. Music and dancing at the shipyard entrance, next to the old willow I used to hang from, playing Tarzan. There, at the entrance of today's Arsanas, they ate, drank and celebrated until late at night, without bothering anyone, and without anyone bothering them.

You see, tourism hadn't made its appearance yet, so the noisy shipyard could roar until about 1992, when the main switch was turned off for good…

Tourism… Game Over.A change of course, and Arsanas Restaurant came to be in 1996

And so it was that I was entrusted with continuing the legendary story of Barba Mitsos and his sons, only a little more deliciously…

So, after the prologue, let's get to the main course and set sail on flavors inspired by journeys and love affairs… Let's listen to beautiful music that brings back memories and tears, watch beautiful sunsets, relax and let ourselves be entertained, because above all, a restaurant is entertainment.

I close with a line from the Greatest of the Greats, my teacher Tasos Kerameas, without whom I would not be Arsanas.

"It is harder to eat than to cook."Tasos Kerameas, my teacher

Michalis Delithanasis