Saturday, June 14, 2008

Greek feast

I love trying new cheap date places, and luckily, Peter is incredibly good at finding them.  Last night we went to Kefi on the Upper West Side.  They have delicious Greek food, an enthusiastic wait staff, and a cozy navy and white decor that felt cool and relaxed and just a little bit special.  And it boasted a Food & Wine best new chef.   What more could you ask for from a cheap date place!
  
Because we cook so much at home, I always feel impressed by the appetizer side of the menu when we go out.  Lately we've just dug in, ordering two or three appetizers and then sharing an entree.  We first got the warm feta with Greek olives, tomatoes, capers, and an anchovy served with pita bread.  The feta was spread out in the bottom of a small baking dish and was just a little bit warm -- not hot -- which was delightful on a summer night, even if we were sitting in air conditioning.  

Then there was the sheep's milk dumplings with lamb sausage.  It came in a lemony tomato sauce that had nicely toast pine nuts, tomatoes, and a bit of feta crumbled on top.  The sausage was a little too spicy for me (Peter adored it), but I fell in love with the dumplings.  They were light and pillowy, the way a good bite of gnocchi should be, but the sheep's milk was a little tangy, and when I swished them around in the sauce, it was heavenly.

We were just a little bit adventurous with our third starter and decided to try sweetbreads for the first time.  They came breaded and fried with roasted garlic and spinach, and looked fantastic, but I was nervous.  It's not everyday that I eat thymus glands.  Peter went at it first. After one bite, he was glowing.

"It will be like the best chicken nugget you've ever tasted."

And it was!  They were light and white and swam in lovely lemon sauce. Our entree was a lamb chop special, and while the lamb was fantastic, I absolutely loved the rice and spinach that came with it.  The rice was wet and buttery with large pieces of parsley and small pieces of spinach mixed in.  Like everything else we had, there were strong lemon flavors mixed in, which made it taste fresh, despite all the butter.  

Definitely a spot to return to!

 

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