Guma
01

The Grill

Four words are mounted on the wall of the dining room, under the name, in the house's own spelling: tradicional grill food. That is what the kitchen calls itself, and it is enough.

Himarë · Vlorë County · Albania

Lettering mounted on the dining-room wall reading GUMA above TRADICIONAL GRILL FOOD, a brass fitting lit at the right
The wall, in the room

The same four words are printed under the name on the standing board outside, on the pavement, where the house sets out what it is for anyone walking past. Two boards, one description, and no other adjective anywhere on the frontage.

Three plates

Photographs, not a menu. Each of these left the kitchen once and was photographed doing it — what is on today is chalked on the board at the door.

Two black plates on a cork-faced tray in a timber frame, flat seared cutlets, thick-cut fries, a tomato slice and a raw onion segment under balsamic, dressed leaves and a ramekin of tan sauce

Two plates, on a tray

Flat cutlets seared dark at the edges, thick-cut fries, a tomato slice and a raw onion segment under balsamic, dressed leaves, a ramekin of tan sauce. Sent out two plates to a tray.

A long black plate carrying two patties taken dark, thick-cut fries dusted with herbs, dressed leaves, a tomato wedge, a raw onion segment and a ramekin of white sauce dusted red

Two patties, sauce dusted red

Two patties taken dark, on a long plate with fries, a tomato wedge, a raw onion segment, leaves and a lemon wedge. The white sauce arrives dusted red.

A black leaf-shaped dish of thick-cut fries, salted and flecked with herbs, on a pale timber table

The fries, on their own

Thick-cut, fried a light gold, salted and flecked with dried herb. They come with almost everything, and they come alone too.

A wooden A-frame chalkboard on the pavement, GUMA chalked across the top in pale blue above a list of dishes, the first two lines in pink and the rest in white

The board

A wooden A-frame stands on the pavement, the name chalked across the top in pale blue and a short list under it, the first two lines in pink and the rest in white. It is reproduced here as it was photographed, so it can be read rather than transcribed — a chalk list is true for a day, and printing it as a menu would outlive it.