August on the terrace

Lundër is five kilometres from central Tirana and about two hundred metres above it. It does not look like much on a map, but in August you feel it: from seven in the evening the air up here moves, while down in the city it sits still.

So in August the tables go outside. The terrace stays in shade all afternoon; under the vine-covered pergola there is room for the long tables, the ones laid for big families who stay late.

What gets eaten outside

• Village salad, with tomatoes from the garden and white cheese from the dairy
• Grilled vegetables, picked the same morning
• Meat roasted over fire: lamb, kid, ribs
• Pizza from the wood oven, the dough opened by hand
• Cold house wine, Cabernet or Merlot

And for the children

The playground is in full view of the tables, not round the back of the building. It is a small detail that changes a lot: parents eat without turning round, children play without somebody standing over them, and dinner lasts as long as it should.