Spring Break (Part 4) - Roki's

One of the best experiences we had on Vis was our dinner at Roki’s Vineyard.  As the story was relayed to us, Roki’s has been a family-run vineyard for 200 years.  The original Roki came to Vis as a shoe repairman, married a wealthy woman who owned a good deal of land on the island (smart man), and decided to start a vineyard.  The rest, I guess, is history, and five generations later Oliver Roki and his sister, Monika, have taken over.

Once again, this is a story that would be tough to make up.  We had been told that the wine shop to go to in town was called Roki’s (it was, in fact, the only wine shop in town).  It took us four tries…the first because we didn’t know they were closed for siestas, the second and third because no one was there during normal operating hours (whatever that means).  The fourth time was the charm, and Monika greeted us with a smile and told us she didn’t have any wine in the store.  But, if we drove to the vineyard in the center of the island, her brother would gladly let us sample wine and buy bottles right from the vineyard.  And, if we were interested, he would spend the following day cooking us dinner.

So, we found our way along curvy, mostly one-lane roads to a small wooden sign that pointed us down a steep gravel driveway to a grassy knoll that served as a parking lot.  In the middle of fields of grape vines and olive trees sat a group of old stone buildings that served as the winery and restaurant.  The vineyard was complete with a cricket field, a car covered in astro-turf, and an energetic dog named Piko (check out http://www.viscricket.com/ for a picture of the car and http://www.viscricket.com/vistown.html for more pictures of Vis and Oliver).  We met Oliver, tasted some wine, and bought some wine.  And he agreed to make us monkfish and potatoes the next day (our last day on Vis), with the added benefit of picking us up so we wouldn’t have to drive.

The next day at 4:45, Oliver and Piko showed up in their beat-up Roki’s van and drove us out to the vineyard, Oliver holding Piko by the tail so he wouldn’t jump out the window every time we saw a pheasant.  When we arrived, we got to see Oliver the chef at work: he does all of the cooking in the Croatian Peka method, where bell-shaped pots are placed in hot coals and the food takes three hours to cook (he even goes out to his fields himself to gather wood for his fire).  He opened a bottle of wine for us and directed us to go wander in the fields while he finished getting our dinner ready.  The kiddos chased Piko all over creation, so far across the fields that at one point I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to find them.

The dinner was awesome and I believe it was the first time I’ve eaten a fish cheek (I highly recommend it…it’s very tender).  Cindy took Oliver’s direct advice and picked up a rib cage and ate it clean.  Sy, of course, was impressed with the huge teeth on the monkfish and ate a half a loaf of bread.

After dinner, Monika had us sample some grappa (yes, we bought a bottle) and then Oliver and Piko drove us home.  This time, Piko did manage to jump out the window to chase a jackrabbit down the road.  Oliver needed to get us home so he could go on to Vis for theater practice…he’s in the role of a priest, which he says doesn’t fit him very well.  The guy runs a vineyard, heads the Vis Cricket Club, is a chauffeur, chef, and waiter, and finds time to be in theater.  And he and Monika are happy as larks doing it.  This was a fantastic way to end our trip!