Toto. The restaurant. Not the dog.

June 16, 2009

Tonight we anchored at a small marina on the island of St. Klement, situated across the channel from Hvar Town, on the west end of Hvar island. St. Klement is a smallish island, irregularly shaped, which creates many coves & anchorages.
We decided to have dinner at a restaurant, Toto, located at an anchorage on the opposite side of the island. The experience was so unique, it’s worthy of a short blog. First off, you have to want to go there, since it’s only accessible by foot, about a half mile trek up and over the spine of the island to the cove opposite ours. But it was a unique walk, the island being covered with Cypress trees. But also along the way it was a veritable cactus garden, some blooming, some not, and occasional olive trees, agave and rosemary. We arrived at the restaurant, open air, niched into the hillside about 30 feet above the cove, where perhaps a dozen sailboats swayed at anchor. We arrived in time to see the sun sink into the Cypress atop the ridge.
Havote, our waiter, seated us at our table, at the edge, overlooking the water, but isolated from the other tables in the restaurant by flowering plants and other greenery. It was as if we were dining at our own private retreat. Chip, Barbara, Yvonne & I were joined shortly by 2 other crewmates, Rick & Myra. We all had variations of seafood, including monkfish, lobster pasta and sea bass. Havote was assisted by a young attendant, Joseph, killer handsome, but somewhat shy & unsure of his English. His inquiry to us was “Do you feel good?” rather than “Is there anything else you need?” Yvonne & Barbara were fully prepared for an abduction.
The evening ended with Havote bringing everyone a mild Croatian brandy …… on the house.