The cost of doing everything right in Greece

Two things are certain: Irini Kakoulidou will finally get a holiday this summer and it won't be on Tinos. That is not to say her love of the island she's been attached to for the past 30 years is in any way diminished, but after running the Xotiko bistro there for four years with her husband, she needs a break. She settled its bills, packed away its customers' rave reviews for the food and service, locked the door and said goodbye to the catering industry once and for all. Working hard is one thing; futility is quite another.

What went wrong? What lessons can be learned from this small restaurant's brief life? Xotiko served creative Greek cuisine, with its talented chef, Chryssa Kataki, putting together dishes guided by seasonality and local ingredients: from cherry tomatoes and wild artichokes from the hinterland to fillets of Tinos' famous veal. But the restaurant was...