“OPA !”
This is what my wife calls Eos Restaurant because of two reasons: 1) we hear it exclaimed at least three times per night whenever we dine there (there is something about the flaming cheese, aka Saganaki, that makes people want to shout it out -- order it and see!) and 2) she has a lousy memory and can never seem to remember that it’s called Eos. So the discussion goes something like this:
“Hey honey, where do you want to eat tonight?”
“Um, I dunno, where do YOU want to eat tonight?”
“How about.....[face screwed up, trying to remember the name]……OPA!”
And scene.
We like Eos a lot. One whole side of their menu is devoted to Mezedes, which I believe are the Greek equivalent to Tapas, or small plates. The other side has soups, salads and entrees. We always stick to the Mezedes side of the menu, order a few different plates each and get a variety of tasty treats brought to the table. We change it up every time we go, and we haven’t had a bad meal yet.
Some of our favorite dishes include, but are not limited to:
Hummus (chick pea spread), Tzatziki (yogurt, cucumber & garlic dip), Dolmades (my personal favorite, rice-stuffed grape leaves), Loukaniko (citrus infused pork sausage), Kalamarakia (grilled calamari), Octapodi (grilled octopus) and Spanakopita (crispy phyllo dough triangles filled with spinach and feta cheese). I could go on and on. You get the picture.
One of the other great things about Eos is that their wine list includes a nice assortment of Greek wines, which are close to impossible to find in Connecticut. They serve several by the glass, so if you’re unsure about committing to a full bottle of some crazy-grape-named Greek wine you’ve never heard of before (Agiorgitiko? Moschofilero??), I’m sure the staff would be more than happy to give you a little taste first.
As always, I leave you here with a clip. I’ll bet you thought I was going to pick a scene from “My Big, Fat Greek Wedding” – didn’t you? Yeah, well, you’re right, I was. But then I found this one and thought it might get a bigger laugh. Enjoy !
Eos Greek Cuisine
490 Summer Street
Stamford, CT 06901
(203) 569-6250
www.eosgreekcuisine.com
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Showing posts with label Wine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wine. Show all posts
Friday, April 30, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Martel Restaurant in Fairfield for Dinner
If this post has a subtitle it is I will gladly pay you Tuesday for dinner today. When my wife and I went to Martel, I left my wallet home. I only realized this after we ordered. As I began to run out the door to go home and get it, the waiter asked me what was wrong. I told him about the wallet and he kindly allowed us to eat dinner and call him when we got home with my credit card number. Unlike Wimpy, I didn't wait till Tuesday to settle the bill -- I phoned the restaurant the minute we walked in the door.
Martel Restaurant is a French bistro located on the border of Fairfield and Southport. The building that houses the restaurant is a quiant New England style building. When you enter the restaurant, the front half is occupied by the bar and a few bistro tables; the main dining room is in the back. The main dining room has wood paneling up half of the wall. The rest is painted antique yellow. It gives the impression that the restaurant has been there for a while. I am not sure that it has but it looks like it has.
For dinner, I started with the escargot, which was a special that night. Thankfully, Martel did not serve them in the fake snail shells. Instead, they were served with a little oil and garlic over a bed of greens. For dinner, I had the chicken riesling. The name is deceptive. I thought that it was more like a coq au vin made with chicken rather than rooster. It was excellent. It was served with potatoes, leeks, mushrooms and pearl onions. The vegetables complimented the taste of the chicken perfectly. My wife had the seared scallops, which were served with farro, mozzarella, roasted bell pepper and a beurre blanc sauce. It was excellent as well. We finished our meal with coffee and biscotti. Okay, I'll admit that biscotti is not very French and to be honest, we wanted the beignets, but we just didn't have room. (Many a dinner conversation has involved the beignet -- my wife is convinced that every culture has a fried dough-type substance. We are committed to finding and trying each and every one).
I could not embed a clip of Wimpy saying his classic line, however one can be seen here. Instead I leave you with a clip of Wimpy singing the Hamburger song. Enjoy.
Martel Restaurant
2316 Post Road
Fairfield, CT 06824
(203) 292-6916
www.martelrestaurant.com
View Larger Map
Martel Restaurant is a French bistro located on the border of Fairfield and Southport. The building that houses the restaurant is a quiant New England style building. When you enter the restaurant, the front half is occupied by the bar and a few bistro tables; the main dining room is in the back. The main dining room has wood paneling up half of the wall. The rest is painted antique yellow. It gives the impression that the restaurant has been there for a while. I am not sure that it has but it looks like it has.
For dinner, I started with the escargot, which was a special that night. Thankfully, Martel did not serve them in the fake snail shells. Instead, they were served with a little oil and garlic over a bed of greens. For dinner, I had the chicken riesling. The name is deceptive. I thought that it was more like a coq au vin made with chicken rather than rooster. It was excellent. It was served with potatoes, leeks, mushrooms and pearl onions. The vegetables complimented the taste of the chicken perfectly. My wife had the seared scallops, which were served with farro, mozzarella, roasted bell pepper and a beurre blanc sauce. It was excellent as well. We finished our meal with coffee and biscotti. Okay, I'll admit that biscotti is not very French and to be honest, we wanted the beignets, but we just didn't have room. (Many a dinner conversation has involved the beignet -- my wife is convinced that every culture has a fried dough-type substance. We are committed to finding and trying each and every one).
I could not embed a clip of Wimpy saying his classic line, however one can be seen here. Instead I leave you with a clip of Wimpy singing the Hamburger song. Enjoy.
Martel Restaurant
2316 Post Road
Fairfield, CT 06824
(203) 292-6916
www.martelrestaurant.com
View Larger Map
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Barcelona Restaurant and Winebar in Stamford for Dinner
When I graduated from law school back in 1998, I took a three week trip to Europe -- well the U.K., Spain and Ireland to be exact. I spent one week in Barcelona and absolutely fell in love with the city. I have not been back since 1998 and have heard from people that have gone more recently that it is not as nice as I remember. Well, I am not sure that I agree and I am looking forward to returning someday to revisit the city that I loved so much.
Barcelona opened a few months after we moved to Stamford. My wife and I had dinner at Barcelona on our second wedding anniversary. Conincidentially, my second wedding anniversary was the second night of classes towards my MBA -- my wedding anniversary was the first night of my Managerial Marketing Class. I remember that my professor was surprised that any place would be open at 9:00 pm for dinner. After having lived in Stamford for a few months I understood what he was talking about.
Okay, one more paragraph of background and then I will get on to the review. When we lived in New York, we lived very close to two tapas restaurants. The first was Sala 19 and the second was Boqueria. Sala was good, but Boqueria was AWESOME. So, Boqueria has become our "gold standard" for tapas restaurants.
Okay, now onto the review. We started dinner with the olive plate. As children, my wife and I both hated olives. In our later years, we have come to really like them. Not sure what it is about olives, but now we are huge fans. The portion at Barcelona is huge and the olives were really tasty. Next we had the Gambas al Ajillo. In English, it is shirmp cooked with olive oil and garlic. My wife and I have made these at home before as well as had them at Boqueria. The gambas are good, however, they could stand to have a little more garlic.
Next, we had hanger steak with truffle oil. The hanger steak was great. It was grilled perfectly. The truffle oil truly enhanced the taste of the meat. In addition, we had a meat and cheese plate as well. Spanish dried meats and cheeses are generally excellent. Barcelona's selection consists of the best of both. I still have dreams about the fuet. YUM!
Finally, being a Spanish restaurant, Barcelona has an excellent wine list. While most of the list is Spanish wine, Barcelona also has a fair bit of South American wines as well. My wife and I never venture out of Spain when make our wine selection. This night, we had a 2005 Priorat. It paired extremely well with the hanger steak and the meat and cheese plate.
Word to the budget conscious -- on Sundays, Barcelona offers 50% of selected bottles of wine. If you are unfamiliar with Spanish wines, the Sunday deal is a great way to sample some Spanish wines for relatively inexpensive prices. Personally, I think that Spanish wines are one of the hidden gems of the European wine world. Barcelona does an excellent job of uncovering many of those gems and presenting them on its wine list. I hope that you will agree.
Finally, for your viewing pleasure, I leave you with a clip from Pedro Almodovar's All About My Mother. In All About My Mother, the main character leaves Madrid after her son dies and returns to Barcelona, where she left after her son was born. (Don't worry, I didn't spoil the movie for you -- all this happens in the first 15 minutes of the film). Almodovar's movie shows off the beauty of Barcelona. An added attraction is that the theater shown in the film was across the street from the hotel where I stayed when I went to Barcelona in 1998. Enjoy.
Barcelona Restaurant & Winebar
222 Summer Street
Stamford, CT 06901-2303
(203) 348-4800
www.barcelonawinebar.com
View Larger Map
Barcelona opened a few months after we moved to Stamford. My wife and I had dinner at Barcelona on our second wedding anniversary. Conincidentially, my second wedding anniversary was the second night of classes towards my MBA -- my wedding anniversary was the first night of my Managerial Marketing Class. I remember that my professor was surprised that any place would be open at 9:00 pm for dinner. After having lived in Stamford for a few months I understood what he was talking about.
Okay, one more paragraph of background and then I will get on to the review. When we lived in New York, we lived very close to two tapas restaurants. The first was Sala 19 and the second was Boqueria. Sala was good, but Boqueria was AWESOME. So, Boqueria has become our "gold standard" for tapas restaurants.
Okay, now onto the review. We started dinner with the olive plate. As children, my wife and I both hated olives. In our later years, we have come to really like them. Not sure what it is about olives, but now we are huge fans. The portion at Barcelona is huge and the olives were really tasty. Next we had the Gambas al Ajillo. In English, it is shirmp cooked with olive oil and garlic. My wife and I have made these at home before as well as had them at Boqueria. The gambas are good, however, they could stand to have a little more garlic.
Next, we had hanger steak with truffle oil. The hanger steak was great. It was grilled perfectly. The truffle oil truly enhanced the taste of the meat. In addition, we had a meat and cheese plate as well. Spanish dried meats and cheeses are generally excellent. Barcelona's selection consists of the best of both. I still have dreams about the fuet. YUM!
Finally, being a Spanish restaurant, Barcelona has an excellent wine list. While most of the list is Spanish wine, Barcelona also has a fair bit of South American wines as well. My wife and I never venture out of Spain when make our wine selection. This night, we had a 2005 Priorat. It paired extremely well with the hanger steak and the meat and cheese plate.
Word to the budget conscious -- on Sundays, Barcelona offers 50% of selected bottles of wine. If you are unfamiliar with Spanish wines, the Sunday deal is a great way to sample some Spanish wines for relatively inexpensive prices. Personally, I think that Spanish wines are one of the hidden gems of the European wine world. Barcelona does an excellent job of uncovering many of those gems and presenting them on its wine list. I hope that you will agree.
Finally, for your viewing pleasure, I leave you with a clip from Pedro Almodovar's All About My Mother. In All About My Mother, the main character leaves Madrid after her son dies and returns to Barcelona, where she left after her son was born. (Don't worry, I didn't spoil the movie for you -- all this happens in the first 15 minutes of the film). Almodovar's movie shows off the beauty of Barcelona. An added attraction is that the theater shown in the film was across the street from the hotel where I stayed when I went to Barcelona in 1998. Enjoy.
Barcelona Restaurant & Winebar
222 Summer Street
Stamford, CT 06901-2303
(203) 348-4800
www.barcelonawinebar.com
View Larger Map
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