I didn’t grow the spinach. Came from one of the farmers at the market Sunday. Fresh cut that morning & she had a case left. Came with a dozen or so big fat leeks. Yum!
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I had my first (and last) Fish House Punch in high school. A friend’s father made it. Whoa - strong!
Your dinner looks fantastic. I love Greek food, but it’s hard to find in the SF Bay Area.
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@TheLibrarian28’s comment reminded me of an extraordinarily talented engineer who worked for me many years ago. He took me to a Greek festival in Seattle where they had a retsina tasting. To me it was like trying to decide which paint thinner was best (least bad?). The locals seemed to discern differences.
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Which part of the Bay Area? I only ask because my Greek side of my family lives in the Bay Area, and we’ve tried several places when I’ve visited. Unfortunately, I haven’t been to the Bay Area since 2017, when I was there for a big fat Greek wedding. Most of my Greek restaurant visits were 10- 15 years ago, mostly small places in the East Bay, one on Piedmont Ave in Oakland, another closer to Orinda, and one in Emeryville.
The only fancy Greek restaurant I have tried on the other side is Dio Deka in Los Gatos, and that was closer to 15 years ago.
My cousin who lives near Los Gatos buys her Greek groceries in San Jose afaik.
Souvla in San Francisco had caught my eye at some point.
Thanks @TheLibrarian28 - we haven’t cooked much Greek food in the year plus of Covid, so it tasted especially good. Not sure I could ever get tired of dolmas and spanikopitas…
Yes, the Fish House Punch was strong indeed, but we were careful. I enjoyed reading up on the stories about it.
Yes, it’s getting hard to find great Greek food these days, even in the cities. Our favorite one, in Seattle, closed last year, right around the lockdown, due to losing their lease. I’m hoping they reopen somewhere, but it’s far from certain. Fingers crossed.
With regards to Retsina - while I don’t quite think it’s the liquid, alcoholic equivalent of lutefisk, I do agree it’s vile stuff, but with a kick, at least. A big plus is that you don’t go blind from it either! 
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A story on topic to share. When I bought a condo after college (a story in itself) my cooking increased dramatically - I could already cook but had never cooked for myself two or three times per day week in and week out. I was trying hard to cook rice so it came out well every time and running out of ways to eat it. I bought a good sized jar of grape leaves planning to make dolmades. Somehow I never got around to it and found the grapes leaves in the back of my pantry seven years later when I sold and moved out. It’s only been in the last fifteen years that I’ve returned to wrapped food like dolmades, burritos, Thai summer rolls, etc. They generally look okay individually but each is a different unique work of art … yes, art, let’s say art.
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I simmered the leftover keftethes in a light tomato sauce with lots of garlic and artichoke hearts, served over orzo with feta bits. πάλι Όπα!
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Lots of questions! What is the Greek place you liked in Seattle? Also, do you typically make dolmas with or without meat? Finally, leftover dolmas - how to resuscitate them? We bought more than we could eat at a Mediterranean deli recently, and refrigerated the rest. But when we took them out to eat again, the rice had that quality when you refrigerate rice - kind of cold/crunchy/crumbly. Not soft and supple. One doesn’t want to nuke them. I like my dolmas room temp or slightly cooler.
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Sorry for the belated reply @Sasha; firstly the Greek place we loved was Plaka, in Ballard. Not only was the food great, but we were always welcomed warmly by the owner, and thanked for coming. I see I was mistaken they closed last year, as it’s been actually two. Here:
[](https://seattle.eater.com/2019/5/30/18645891/plaka-estiatorio-in-
ballard-will-close-at-the-end-of-june)
We do use meat, along with rice, in our dolmas, although I’ve had delicious vegetarian ones.
To reheat, I’d put them in a steamer insert, and steam gently til warmed through. Then let cool to the desired temperature. If you want to put a little spin on them, they’re good with avgolemeno or tomato sauce. Leftover dolmas is a good problem to have!
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A recent Greek-ish meal we enjoyed. Double cut lamb chops, green beans, and pasta with browned butter sauce, and mizithra cheese; oh my, could anything be better?
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It’s a mystery to me why myzithra is just not available here in the East Bay, CA. I sometimes substitute halloumi, but it doesn’t grate very well.
I can find it here, but usually not at the regular grocery store. We get it from specialty markets, and sometimes the annual Greek Festival too. IME, there’s not really an adequate substitute either. Have you tried Kasseri in place of the myzithra - thinking that may be good in a pinch.
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I haven’t looked for kasseri. I grew up with it on spaghetti, but grew to prefer myzithra. Pecorino romano is what I go with these days.
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We love Skiatos and have friends who actually live on the island most of the year. The dishes were photographed in Santorini, a gem of an island off season …
Here are some photographs of some plates - we enjoyed on our last trip over, prior to Covid.
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I lived on Skiathos for a couple years in the early 90’s. Should have stayed.
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Could you describe those dishes, Barca? They don’t look familiar.
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It was 3 or 4 years ago prior to Covid Lockdown in Spain 13 / 03 / 2020.
The Athenian Modernist Chef, at a well known hotel in Santorini, and definitely not the typical classic Hellenic mezze. – it seems to be approx 3 or 4 years years ago. We really do not remember his name.
So doubtful. One is obviously sea scallops.
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