I'd like to think I've gained some wisdom over the years since then, today when ever I experience a great meal or specially prepared food I try to get the recipe if at all possible, like most recipes gained from people who have been making specific dishes over long times, they usually can't be recreated perfectly.
I'm a fly by the seat of my pants cook, I learned from my parents and grand parents that recipes are only basic guides or outlines, that the true flavors developed by the cook are created by tasting and adjusting to ones own palate and by knowing how different foods and seasonings react with one another.
Back then my priorities were different, I lived in the moment and it never dawned on me that George and his Gyro's would not always be there, so I didn't think to ask for his recipe, the one thing I do know is that they made the meat loaf, sauce, and flat bread from scratch in their small kitchen without the aid of any specialty appliances or cookware.
I'm thinking that his recipe and methodology were probably handed down from his folks, I've gathered some recipes and ingredient lists and several different cooking methods using an oven and another hanging the loaf on a vertical skewer in a barrel cooker, most home recipes call for baking the loaf in a conventional bread pan, at the moment I'm remembering Wolfy's method of baking his round sausage loaf in a slow oven wrapped in aluminum foil.
Before I actually try making one I have to get more info on the possibility of meat substitutions, I'm pretty sure I have the seasonings right and the method needed to prep the meat which calls for grating and squeezing the juces from the onion, and processing the regular ground meat down to a more paste like texture, then blending all the ingredients together thoroughly, compacting the mixture into a pan or bowl and and placing it in the fridge overnight to allow the flavors to develop and blend.
The mixture is then made into a loaf and baked in a medium oven for about an hour or so depending on how big it is, once cooked it has to cool undisturbed in the baking pan to room temp, then placed back into the fridge for another over night rest before it can be used if you want to experience the best results.
The sauce is made using grated onion, grated cucumber (which again, both have to have most of the juice removed by squeezing out as much as possible by wringing it out through a porous towel), then adding that to some plain thick Greek styled yogurt, a little lemon juice, and a couple of other seasonings, mixed well and refrigerated overnight.
This may seem too labor intensive for some folks, but I'm thinking of it as an adventure in cooking and have to try it at least once, if it turns out good I may make it more often.