Joseph's restaurant (Tou Zozef), Andros, Greece

Andros is the second largest of the Cyclades and a most interesting island indeed, as it has lots of water - most Cycladic islands are rather arid - and so supports a local farming industry that may be limited, but produces quite interesting things. Industrial scale agriculture is absent here and all such businesses operate on a small level and, in many ways, are the better for it.

Catering is also miles away from the international model of branded restaurants controlled by big groups selling standardised products produced in a somewhat efficient, if industrialised, manner. Here most businesses are family-run, independent, charmingly amateur and artisanal. Even the fast food joints do their own thing, though I have little personal experience so cannot report on whether it is any better or worse; as most souvlaki places (the predominant fast food in Greece) are independent everywhere and their quality varies widely I assume the same happens here.

In central Andros in the little village of Pitrofos, virtually invisible from the 'main' road that passes right by its premises, is a little restaurant that is as individual as they come: tou Zozef (Joseph's). The chef/proprietor has named it in honour of her grandfather (Zozef, whose cafe was sited there) and has made it the most unusual eating place on the island. Katerina Remoundou, known widely as Tata, is a larger than life character who, after a career in the media returned to her family's roots to create her own unique eating place. She aims to draw on local ingredients and recipes for inspiration, but is not afraid to modify or modernise where she feels it could be a real improvement, so has built a reputation as an innovative, yet also traditionalist, restaurateur.

Despite the quality of the food this is not a place for prissy customers looking for starched linen, spotless surroundings and over-fussy service, fine china and crystal glassware. Nor will it be competing for a Michelin star anytime soon. This is a simple casual place, earthy, quirky and warmly human, whose atmosphere is much affected by the mercurial proprietor. Tata at her best is warm and welcoming, solicitous and caring, ready to indulge your whim, if possible; rubbed up the wrong way she can be the opposite, and will quickly let you know that Zozef is her fiefdom.

To me this place is really about the imaginative treatment of ingredients, the unique tastes and textures Tata manages to give her food, irrespective of whether it is simple or elaborate. It is also a place that brings out the bonhomie in people - certainly the people I tend to see there or go there with - so that we tend to stay there for hours and leave feeling mellow and content. Wine has not, until recently, been a high point, but you can now find decent bottles of wine from a local vineyard and other bits and pieces picked up as and when.

On our latest visit, a couple of days  after Greek Orthodox Easter, she was running low on some ingredients but was still able to serve the four of us:
1. Boiled courgettes with a hint of olive oil, perfect in texture in a way I can never manage at home, with a nutty complex taste; I only managed to photograph the last couple of pieces...
2. A tomato, cucumber, greens, onions, spring onions olives and local soft white cheese (known simply as dopio, always superb and spicy here) salad, just as fresh and crunchy as it should be.
3. A potato and onion salad with lots of taste but a bit too much vinegar for some, though I loved the unusual tanginess; completely different to the familiar flabby, soft potato salads served with mayonnaise served in many places.
4. A bowl of melitzanosalate (literally aubergine salad, a coarse puree of aubergine, garlic, onion and olive oil) which was strong in flavour, tasty and filling.
5. An assortment of four cheeses differing in taste and texture, all very tasty and interesting.
6. An amazingly satisfying and unusual dish of pan-cooked  large prawns in a rich, buttery sauce with cheese and some crisped bread, bursting with flavour yet subtle at the same time, and a million miles away from the commercial prawn saghanaki found in many tavernas all over Greece. Worth the visit for this dish alone!
In case you are dying to know what we had to drink, the proprietor very kindly allowed us to bring some wine with us: JF and I had a bit (ha-ha) of rather nice organic rose from the Kondoyannis family near Corinth (bone dry, hints of red fruit on nose and palate, clean, robust and long, a great quaffing wine that will never leave you wishing you hadn't had it the following day!), while SK and MG shared a young (2017) red from, I think, Nemea, which I do not recollect other than that it was too gauche and youthful for me.

At this point I feel I must confide in you, dear reader: many years ago Tata was married to my oldest childhood friend and they have a lovely daughter together, so that I have known her for something like forty years, though after she and my friend divorced many years ago we lost touch. I renewed our acquaintance/friendship in the last few years when I first visited Andros and Zozef. I do try to keep my view of her restaurant objective, however, as she herself would surely expect; my evaluation of the place is like I would rate one that belonged to a complete stranger. It is a 'must visit' place on Andros if you are truly interested in food but it is quirky, so if you seek familiar, commercial- style atmosphere and food  you may be disappointed. I am a fan of the place and, generally, of Tata's approach to cooking, so am a bit forgiving of some of the place's little foibles - no, I'm not telling you, go and find out for yourselves if you are interested. If you're lucky (unlucky?) you may even find me there - I'll be one of the happy ones in a small group of people drinking lots of wine and eating the best the place has to offer.

Let me also reassure those of you who have heard horror stories about the toilets in Greek restaurants in general, and on some of the islands in particular, that there is nothing to worry about here, The toilets, whenever I have needed to visit, have always been impeccable!