Years ago Naoussa was our favourite place to go on a Sunday morning to read the newspaper over a coffee and pastry.  But as it grew more upscale and touristy we went less and less.  It’s often referred to as a Mykonos wannabe for its high prices.  You can count on one hand the number of meals we have had there in nine years.

Now that will change as a friend who has been coming to Naoussa for 30 years introduced us to the Meltemi Taverna.  Its located on the marina pier; just turn left at the bridge.  By the way most of the tavernas as you turn right on the pier have the reputation as tourist traps.  But if you continue to the right around to the old harbour you will find some very good, if high end, restaurants.

I tend to judge a taverna by the quality of its giant beans and its stifado(stew); both were excellent at the Meltemi as was everything else we had.  I can’t comment on the price because I am sure our host got a special Greek price; I know I was shocked at how low the total was for food and drink in Naoussa.

At a quarter to 8 I started talking about a new holiday that I predict will be as big as St. Patrick’s day all over the world.  September 24 is Arthur’s Day and 2009 is the 250th Anniversary of the founding of the Guinness Brewery in Dublin, Ireland.  World wide at 17:59 GMT people raised a glass of the dark stuff in a toast to founder, Arthur Guinness.  All heads certainly turned when we did the same in the middle of a traditional Greek taverna.  I don’t know what the proprietor thought of me bringing in my own black cans.  Guinness does go well with Greek food but we can only get draft in few places during high season, so the widget cans have to do when we want to reminisce about Ireland.

P.S.   I had a left over can so the next night I made a Guinness and maple syrup sauce to glaze salmon steaks.  It was quite good but the best part was it only took 1/4 of the can which left the rest for the cook.