Stories from Kefalonia ……..back with Magic on the hill

Yesterday in Kefalonia the weather had been hot and sunny all day and still at eight in the evening it was a pleasant 28° which can be a little sticky.

But high on the hill overlooking Lourdas Bay the air was sweeter and the views dramatic as the sun set over the sea.

Added to which the promise of fine food and some good wines offered another night to be remembered, because this is where Lorraine’s Magic Hill restaurant is situated.*

It celebrates a quarter of a century this year and we can claim to have been coming for seven of those years.

I say seven but if I am honest it’s just six, given that this year I have had to stay behind, leaving Tina and her mum to spend the week under a Greek sun and more importantly dine at the restaurant on the hill.

And I am the loser because eating at Lorraine’s is magic

It starts with the location with its fine views down across the bay and out to sea, made even better by the climb up a series of twisty steps taking you away from the noise and heat of the resort through a collection of trees and fragrant flowers to the restaurant. 

The food is a variation on traditional Greek, but with the added magic of Lorraine’s imaginative style of cooking, who greets all her customers with a description of the specials for the night.

And here Lorraine doesn’t just reel off the titles of the dishes but goes into great detail from what inspired the dish to the combination of ingredients, many of which are sourced from the family farm, and is adamant that when a locally produced ingredient is no longer available the dish is off the menu.

Talking to Lorraine this morning she told me that  she was “just doing a vegan vegetarian pie, along with a vegan almond milk based cream, with cinnamon soaked apples in cognac for a dessert as well as vegan oats milk chocolate pudding tops with raspberries preserve”.

All three I have had in the past and I am indeed the loser for being in Manchester and not there.

But Tina and her mum had a grand time dining out on kalamata, fava beans with lemon and herbs and feta in filo with honey and sesame for starters followed by fish and lamb and while they wanted to swerve the puddings  Tina tells me Lorraine generously " arrived with two puddings and the cinnamon drink you like".

Lorraine’s own story helps explain her passion for food.  

She comes from the USA, made her home in Greece, and with her husband and now her children she has worked at offering up Greek food with the Lorraine twist.

During the course of the morning Loriane continued to update me on the pie, with a delightful video of the pastry case going on the pie and the finished dish.

Many who fall across Lorraine’s Magic Hill, go back again and again, like Sid and Sadie from Sale who have returned each year since 1992.  

I call them Sid and Sadie, but we never actually exchanged names, having spent the conversation swopping tales of the food we have eaten.

And that really is how it should be.

Leaving me to return to Lorraine's with more stories, the pictures of the pie and puddings she made today.**

Location; Lourdas Bay

Pictures; Lorraine’s Magic Hill, 2018 and 2022, from the collection of Balzano.

* Lorraine’s Magic Hill, https://lorrainesrestaurant.gr/

**Stories from Lorraine’s Magic Hill https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Lorraine%E2%80%99s%20Magic%20Hill