Every year I see the signs and hear the ads on the radio, but every year the last week of August is too jam-packed with events for me to visit the Greek Festival. This year, with my spouse and daughter out of town, things have quieted down, allowing M'hijo and I to take in this meaty extravaganza. Vegetarians, look away now.
Arni psito (Greek-style lamb on a spit):
Here is the lamb guy, holding the fruits of his labour.
I'd love to be able to tell you his name, and how long he cooked the lamb, and where he got the lamb, and what spices he used, and how much he misses his mother in Greece and all that, but you try taking an overactive 20-month-old to a loud and exciting ethnic festival and see how many questions you get to ask people. Aside from "Did you see a baby run by here?", I mean.
My mom and I were very clever and ordered both the lamb and the spanakopita dinners, then split them both. Everything was very tasty, aside from the tomatoes, which were a little hard and tasteless. It's August, yes, but it's been a rainy and cold August and my backyard tomatoes haven't ripened either. I feel your pain, Hellenic Society.
Here is the lamb plate:
and here is the vegetarian plate:
The dessert menu offered a choice of kourambiedes (shortbread), baklava, loukomades (little honey doughnuts), and koulouria (butter cookies), along with Greek coffee. I tried the coffee, the kourambiedes and the loukomades and liked the loukomades best. The coffee, I think, may be a developed taste. I found it way too strong and it also kept me up half the night. Which wasn't so bad, actually, because it allowed me to watch more of Zorba the Greek, which I couldn't resist picking up at the video store on the way home from the festival.
