Greek Food, part I

When I was 15 years old, my Mother, who had been saving money from teaching pre-teen girls how to dance in toe shoes, said to me, "I want us to go for a fun trip this next summer, where would you like to go?" Since I had been reading exotic books about Greece and Greek history, that was my choice. We spent 6 weeks traveling around Greece (my time in Athens was mostly spent trying to help Mom escape from a semi-lecherous Bell-Captain named George). I fell in love with the food, the culture and all things Greek...with the exception of former vice-president Spiro Agnew. In 1987 when we moved up here from greater metropolitan Lamar, I was excited to find that there was a Greek Restaurant: Tony's. But, much to my chagrin (and that of his relatives who own a great restaurant on Evans and Hampden in Denver), Tony decided he would be more profitable having a bar/night club, and Fort Collins lost the Hellenic cuisine. Renzio's in the mall showed up, but, let's face, that was mall food. In the last year, Zeus has smiled on us and we now have two Greek places--the most recent of which is the Greek Taverna on South College and Troutman. I have been to the Taverna several times now, and I have to admit, my experiences have been up and down. I was literally there on opening day and was thrilled that they had Saganaki: flaming cheese that you mop up with warm pita bread. I had some Moussaka, which is a Greek staple, layers of eggplant and a ground meat/herbed tomato mixture topped with a custard, which was quite good. But then I asked for Greek coffee, and was met with blank looks (the staff aren't Greek). This was sad: Greek (or Turkish) coffee is sort of a post-meal spiritual experience. The next time I went, I had the vegetarian Moussaka, but the veggies were kind of crunchy (Moussaka needs to be fairly mushy), and some joker in the kitchen had decided that Greek potatoes (lemon and butter) would be better with Cayenne pepper. Mistake!! I am all for fusion cuisine, but this was sort of like putting a bra on the Venus de Milo. I asked for Greek coffee again and got it, but with a dollop of whipped cream on the top, which again is something no self-respecting Greek would do. Sure, I got to break a plate (it was my birthday) and watch people dance and yell "O-pah!" but it seemed like it was mostly for show. But there is REDEMPTION. I went again this last week and ordered the Lamb Burger. I realize that many people do not like Lamb, including my wife. For her some of it is worrying about baby animals; I have tried explaining to her that they really aren't babies, more like late teens, and that the best lamb ranches only butcher the lambs that suffer from ovine anti-social personality disorder, but she doesn't buy it. I really think that most lamb-haters had a bad experience with mutton and have never recovered. Regardless, this lamb burger was the best I have ever eaten. It was juicy, mixed with the right amount of oregano and topped with Tzaziki and cucumbers. I was like the pet dog in the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons that, when presented with a dog biscuit would shoot to the ceiling and float down with a moan of ecstasy. In addition, their Mezze appetizer, which included hummus, baba ganoush and a feta/jalapeno mix (some fusion is cool) was wonderul. So...Taverna is now on my good side. and like MacArthur, I shall return. But probably not before I go again to Cafe Athens and the Greek-owned restaurant in Greeley...but that will be another story. Next up: Sushi. All for now, Berm

The dining adventure begins: Red Table

Northern Colorado Restaurant Blog: The Doctor Dines Out. January 22, 2012 OK, my wife claims that I eat out more than anyone she knows, and my friends and acquaintances are constantly asking my advice on restaurants, so this is my attempt as what will probably be a weekly blog. If someone reads this and has a suggestion (please try the great Bulgarian Restaurant in Timnath, for example), that’s cool. So, in the last 48 hours I have been out to eat twice. This last Friday noon I went to the Red Table Café on Linden in Fort Collins. This is one of those places on my “gosh I should really try this sometime” list. First, the owner’s wife used to work with my wife, so that’s a plus. And it’s it Old Town, which despite the great parking search, means that I can wander around afterwards and buy tea or spices or books. I hadn’t been yet because they don’t open until 8am, which for an employed breakfast lover is a negative. You either decide you are going to be late to work or you just look at someplace else that opens sooner. But…as I perused their menu in preparation for going, they serve breakfast all day, which is a secret guilty pleasure. The decore inside is quaint and with a homey feeling. I ended up ordering the "Breakfast at Tiffany's Burrito," which has spinach, onion, mozzarella and scrambled eggs wrapped in a flour tortilla then smothered with a green chile. The green chile has a slight bite to it but is not the kind that overwhelms the rest of the food. The other thing I realled liked was the fact that I got a small fruit cup instead of a ton of breakfast potatoes. This may sound odd, but when you get the potatoes at some restaurants then you mentally go through gyrations of trying to decide how close to that low carb diet you really are going to go. Then the potatoes start calling to you. And, before you regain consciousness half of them are ingested. The Tiffany burrito was a great way to have a something that feels likes it should be bad for you but really isn't--yum! The folks I ate with had the Avocado Burrito, the Potato Burrito and the Patrami Reuben and didn't leave anything behind. If had been my family we would have passed and shared and made yummy sounds together, but these were business associates so I can only surmise that what they had was good. The rest of the menu looks interesting. Nice salads, bagel sandwhiches, and pizza. They had gluten-free bread, which I guess is cool. Haven't quite decided about the gluten thing. It seems to be kind of a dietary badge of importance for our current generation. Not the true Celiac disease folks, but the ones that have had a saliva test that says they should never eat bread again. No wonder church attendance for the standard denominations is down--you can't have communion and be a gluten groupie at the same time, right? But, maybe it is a real thing...I will have to be more open. The only other thing I would have liked food wise would have been something with salmon--gotta have those omega-3 fatty acids. And, my cousin Andrew works for the North Atlantic Salmon Foundation, so it would be anti-family if I didn't have Salmon often. All in all it was a good experience, and I will be back. Coming up next: Greek Food. So stay tuned....Berm.