Kefi

Last Thursday I went to go see Nosedive’s production of “A Colorful World”. Based on Alan Moore’s graphic novel “The Watchmen” it was clever, witty and all in all well done. Kudos to all involved with special nods to James, Pete and Patrick Shearer, who is a devastingly talented actor. But this ain’t no theater blog kids. The show was on the upper west side, where I spent many a year slaving over a hot stove and subsequently getting kicked out of Citrus only to retreat to All State Café (R.I.P. to the saddest bar I’ve ever been to)

Now originally I wanted to eat at Ouest or Telepan but it seems that my friends are not nearly as eager to spend all their money on food (weirdos). I had heard good things about it and the chef Michael Psilakis who is now hotter than hot (he also is the chef at Anthos and Mia Dona). I looked up the greek menu online and found that it was pretty inexpensive and right around the corner from the theatre so it seemed perfect.

I rushed in my customary 10 mintues late to find Maria, Marsha and Teresa sitting at the bar waiting for me, which was an absolute joy . The bar is small and the front lounge was filled with people waiting for tables. Our waiter, who was also apparently a manager was quite gracious in giving us a table for 5 (Nadine joined us 5 mintes later after she found a power bar- upcoming blog, my thoughts on replacing a meal with a bar).

The dining room was packed and we got a roomy table in the back. Our waiter/manager told us the specials of the night and was incredible knowledgable and passionate about the food and wine. He recommened a greek red (all the wines are Greek) which was absolutely delicious. Marsha and I decided to start our meal by sharing Sheeps Milk Dumplings with Pine nuts, Sausage and Tomatoes. Teresa ordered the selection of spreads and Maria opted to start with a simple greek salad. The sheep’s milk dumpling appetizer was wonderful . Savory and delcious, the dish was perfectly balanced, and the sausage had a little kick, not too much but enough for me to appreciate. The selection of dips was also a great way to start a meal, served with warm pita bread, I love nothing more than having warm bread with something warm to slather over it. Now I have always loved taramosalata, (creamy fish roe spread), but for me the real revelation was the eggplant caviar spread. I don’t really like eggplant. Growing up my mother would serve it fried, in oil that was never hot enough rendering it into essentially a flavorless oil sponge (my mother is a good cook, just not with the eggplant, I love you Ma), served as a spread it was smoky and wonderfully flavorful.

For entrees I opted for the “broken mouska”, which was basically a free form mouska, Marsha the pork medallions with spicy peppers and capers, Teresa, sheeps milk ravioli with brown butter and sage, and Maria shrimp with orzo and feta. Everything was fantastic, I have only had mousaka at diners so it was a real treat to see the dish elevated into something a bit more special with care towards ingredients and method. Marsha’s pork was the perfect dish for her, peppers, capers, lemon with pork worked beautifully and was perfectly balanced. Teresa’s sheeps milk ravioli were delicious ( I feel like if someone ran in and put brown butter on my computer, I might eat it). And sweet Maria, a practicing vegetarian who for some reason feels compelled to eat fish whenever I’m around, her shrimp with feta and orzo was wonderful. The flavors were fresh and the dish worked wonderfully. Everyone enjoyed the food a lot and we had a great time eating talking and laughing like ladies who lunch (or dinner).

Unfortunatly we couldn’t stay for dessert,we had to run to the show, but Kefi with no entrée over $15 is defiently worth treking to the Upper West Side for.