Meze Ora

Be it weekday or weekend Stella's remains busy. A testament to great talent and to the RVA eating public. And even though reservations can be made via Open Table, we always seem to attempt to eat here on a whim. Each time we are eating early and there are only places at the bar or the communal table. We chose the bar.

Arriving early (before 6 PM) is rewarding in itself due to Meze Ora. That golden time of the evening where small plate specials eagerly greet diners. These are truly small bite-size offerings and bring back the true concept of appetizers. We enjoyed the Prawns with Skordalia (a thick intense garlic sauce). The shrimp were large, plump, and meaty. Just the right bite while enjoying a cocktail before dinner.

And speaking of cocktails, Stella's offers a plethora of Greek-influenced libations. Hubby was bold and ordered the Siga Siga (Slowly, Slowly), a concoction of ouzo, fresh basil, homemade syrup, and soda. He thoroughly enjoyed the strong anise flavor. This overwhelming and sweet drink definitely needs to be sipped not chugged.

I took a more lofty approach with the Sophia: prosecco, aperol, and citrus. Very refreshing.

As Meze Ora melted into the evening, we turned our thoughts to dinner. Stella's only offers Greek wine. Kudos to them for doing this. Only a place with a great reputation (and the exquisitely tasty food to back it up) could take this leap. Since we do not know anything about Greek wine, it makes for a difficult choice. And the bottles listed were not the same as the bottles offered, which added to the confusion. We eventually settled on a Cabernet with some assistance from our bartender. Decent, but what we ordered the last time we thought was better.

Dinner, as always, was divine. I ordered the old nostalgic standby - Stella's Filet, grilled with a sherry dijon crab cream. Yummy, yummy. Medium rare with nice chunks of crab (no skimping on the seafood aspect here). I loved this dish at the old Stella's and I love this dish now.

Hubby enjoyed an equally satisfying dish (at least for him) - Pan Seared Salmon with spanakorizo (braised spinach and rice with olive oil and lemon).

After dinner we were checking out the bottles at the bar and espied something we were not familiar with. When we inquired of our bartender he presented us with Skinos Mastiha and poured a wee bit for us to sample. The spirit is derived from the mastiha tree resin. The resin harvesting only takes place on the island of Chios. The spicy-sweet clear liquor was a revelation. Stella's uses it in cocktails, including a Greek sazerac, but it can be sipped after dinner as well. If you are into spirits and are up for trying new things, I highly recommend it.

One day we might plan ahead and make reservations to eat at an actual table at Stella's. In the meantime we will stop by on occasions to check out the bar and revel in the Greek-influenced deliciousness.

Greek Grill Cafe

Greek Grill Cafe opened January of this year at 2313 Westwood Ave. They claim to have "The Most Authentic Greek Cuisine in Richmond." I don't know if this is true or not, but we did have a very satisfying meal there last week.

The building once housed an Indian restaurant and then a myriad of other short-lived places. The coat of paint with blue accents and murals featuring Grecian scenes (along with a tongue-in-cheek nod to visiting tourists) give the place a fresh and appealing character. And our waitress was both warm and genuine as she informed us of the specials and greeted friends at the door.

We shared a small Greek Salad (definitely more than enough for two!) featuring lettuce, tomato, feta, kalamata olives, cucumbers, onions, green peppers, pepperoncini peppers, and their signature Greek dressing. We received a generous portion of feta and briny olives. The Greek dressing was particularly delicious and I used it not only for the salad, but also as a dipping sauce for my bread. Next time, I plan to request the dressing for my bread even if I am not ordering a salad.

We then tried the Greek Grill Specialty Pizza. 14 inches and a very thin crust with feta, onions, black olives, chicken, green peppers, and mushrooms and red sauce. The feta added a creamy richness to the pizza. The mushrooms did not come from a can. The chicken presented a different, tasty touch. Because of the richness, we definitely had to box up part of it and I had yummy lunch leftovers for a couple of days. All of the pizzas come with feta and can be served with olive oil or red sauce.

We had a nice dinner and I am interested in returning to try Souvlaki or Santopini Spaghetti with feta and shrimp. The Greek Custard and Greek Coffee sound tempting as well.

100 Cloves of Garlic

Have you ever had the urge to go to the extreme? Try something so outrageous that you just know it won’t work? And no, I’m not talking about sports. The last adventurous sporting event I did was whitewater rafting on the James. Scared the bejeezus out of me. Never again.

I’m talking about cooking. This weekend I pawed through The Olive and The Caper cookbook by Susanna Hoffman and tried Skordostoumbi. This recipe called for 100 cloves of garlic. Yes, you read that correctly…100. I really like garlic and so does my hubby, but did we have what it takes to prepare and consume a dish with 100 cloves of the aromatic bulb? Could it possibly turn out to be yummy? Would our friends and co-workers talk to us or hang around us the following day? We said who cares?

And now I will share our plunge off of the deep end. I ever-so-slightly modified the recipe.

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil



2 ½ - 3 pounds boneless beef roast (I used bottom round), cut into 2 inch chunks

100 garlic cloves (8-10 heads), separated and peeled

48 Kalamata olives, pitted and roughly chopped

4 cups dry red wine (something you would not mind drinking) Note: It will take more than one bottle

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 bay leaves (home grown!)

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon dried basil (home grown this Summer and dried)

Egg noodles

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot begin searing beef in batches until browned all over. Place browned beef chunks in a heavy enameled pot.

Pour the wine into the hot skillet and deglaze the pan. Add the garlic, olives, tomato paste, bay leaves, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to dissolve the tomato paste. Pour the liquid over the beef in the enameled pot. Add the dried basil and stir.

Place top on enameled pot and put in oven. Cook the beef for 2 – 2 ½ hours, stirring the mixture every half hour to begin incorporating the softened garlic into the wine to form a sauce. When the beef is tender and the garlic has started to breakdown, take pot out of the oven and set aside with lid still on to rest. Boil egg noodles. When the noodles are done, drain and serve the beef over the noodles.

We really enjoyed this dish. It was garlickly, but nothing we could not handle. The garlic melted into a thick sauce and the beef fell apart when prodded by a fork. We drank glasses of 2006 The Prodigal Son Petite Sirah from The Big House Wine Company.

The next night I placed the leftovers in a big pot, added 3 cups of beef broth, 3 cups of water, a chopped up carrot that I needed to use and let the mixture simmer. Once it was hot I threw in ¾ cup brown rice and let the mixture simmer until the rice was cooked. Now I had a rich, thick, meaty soup. Yummy. And we once again took the meal to the extreme by enjoying it with a 2000 Chateau La Galiane Margaux. The wine had just a hint of barnyardiness. The olives countered this aspect perfectly.

Amazing what 100 cloves of garlic can produce. And great dishes for Winter.

I submitted this post to Grow Your Own.