Friday 28 November 2014

Mangiamo a Da Francesco!

Da Francesco is considered one of the high-end restaurants in Kalamata and is Italian in every way possible. Not only are the pizzas and pasta traditionally homemade but there are hints of the Italian language periodically sounding from the kitchen. To the Da Francesco staff, cooking is an art. The mushrooms are foraged from the local mountains by the owner himself and we were lucky enough to witness him olive tasting a few tables down from us. The server's eyes would even light up when she explained the foraging, cooking and execution of some of the dishes. There were so many delicious options on the menu that we couldn't chose, so as an exception, the server offered to recreate the portions of the pasta dishes so that we could sample a variety.



Regardless, we ordered way too much food for two people but we absolutely couldn't resist. We decided to go big or go home! The evening started with two different salads, their mixed greens and the tomato and mozzarella salad, and a bowl of their mushroom soup of the day. The next round was a mushroom and saffron dish with freshly foraged mushrooms that they called "little roosters". The entrees followed with  three pasta plates, ravioli with tomato sauce, risotto with wild asparagus and wild mushrooms and finally, half twisted pasta with tuna. I almost forgot to mention the thin crust Prociutto and rocket lettuce pizza that arrived along with the pastas. Every dish was unique in its flavours and paired very well with the house white wine that was served.



Although we were stuffed to the brim after eating almost all of the food on the table, (seriously, very little food was packed to take home) the restaurant was kind enough to treat us to every single one of their desserts! We couldn't object because they didn't ask. They simply brought the desserts to us. The semi freddo chocolate mousse was my personal favourite. Iliana really liked their panna cotta with homemade strawberry syrup.


Overall, we had a great dining experience. We ate way too much and needed club soda to aid our digestion but we left with our tummies satisfied. Da Francesco is located at the Marina of Kalamata and is a great date restaurant for romantic couples. And if I am not convincing enough, they had the champions league football game playing on mute at one end of the restaurant. A smart way to keep both the ladies and gents satisfied without taking away from the ambience of the restaurant. Gracie! Tutto era molto delizioso!

Wednesday 26 November 2014

Πάμε Κούνιες;

Όχι δεν πρόκειται για παιδική χαρά...μην σας γελάσει το όνομα! Πρόκειται για ένα cafe-bar στο οποίο συχνάζει η "κουλτούρα". Εδω θα συνατνήσεις ανθρώπους του θεάτρου, της τέχνης και των γραμμάτων. Κοινός στόχος τους "οι καλλιτεχνικές ανησυχίες" τους. Αυτό όμως δεν εμποδίζει τον περαστικό να γευτεί ένα ζεστό ρόφημα ή ένα ποτήρι κρασί, συνοδευόμενο από παραδοσιακά μανιάτικα καλούδια.



Αυτό που μας άρεσε περισσότερο ήταν η επιλογή της μουσικής. Νομίζω πως για τους λάτρεις της jazz το "Κούνιες" είναι το ιδανικό σημείο! Ακόμα πιο ενδιαφέρον ήταν η έκθεση ζωγραφικής που φιλοξενούσε, κάτι το οποίο, όπως μας πληροφόρησε ο υπεύθυνος αλλάζει μια φορά το μήνα.



Η ατμόσφαιρα ήταν πολύ ζεστή σε σημείο να αισθανθούμε ότι βρισκόμαστε σε ένα bistro κάπου στην Αμερική, ίσως να συντέλεσε το κρύο, ίσως η μουσική, το σίγουρο είναι πως η επόμενη επίσκεψη μας θα γίνει μέσα στο Δεκέμβρη όπου η έκθεση που θα φιλοξενηθεί αυτή τη φορά θα είναι...Δεν θα σας το αποκαλύψουμε σήμερα, για να σας το εξάψουμε το ενδιαφέρον και να έρθετε να την ανακαλύψετε από μόνοι σας!





Sunday 23 November 2014

Sunday Brunch

There are few places one can go in Kalamata for Sunday brunch. One of our favourites, and the one we chose to visit today, is Athanasiou by the Kalamata Port. The Athanasiou chain of pastry shops and cafes has a long history. The original Athanasiou was established in 1938 and since then, the family has expanded their brand not only in Kalamata but as far as Boston and Panama. It began solely as a pastry shop and now caters to coffee, brunch, lunch, dinner and dessert.




One of the many reasons we like to visit this specific Athanasiou location is the view. The shop has a balcony that overlooks the port right along Navarinou Street, and on sunny days it is breathtaking. Today we decided to sample their omelettes off the brunch menu. In the past I have ordered the eggs benedict but for those looking for real hollandaise sauce, this is not the place for you as their version of hollandaise sauce is a homemade mayonnaise variation. I personally was not too impressed. The omelettes, on the contrary, are delightful.  Today we sampled the egg white omelette with spinach, herbs and light goat cheese, as well as the omelette with prosciutto and Provolone cheese. Unfortunately, they were out of Provolone and we had to replace it with Greek Manouri cheese which was delicious nonetheless. We also ordered two Americanos to accompany our brunch.




The food tasted great and definitely met our expectations. We do, however, have some tips for you. We recommend that you ask for whole wheat bread with your brunch because their whole grain toast is quite good. Also, if you ask for some marmalade with your bread they give it to you free of charge and it is absolutely worth it! It is homemade and they have an assortment of flavours depending on the seasonal fruit. My personal favourite is the apricot but I would love to try the fig jam one day. I have to admit, the service is inconsistent and can be quite slow. The staff is always quick to fix mistakes that they make on their orders and are very friendly so just be patient and enjoy the view as you wait.




Athanasiou by the port has been, and will continue to be one of our favourite brunch spots. If you want to learn more about the Athanasiou brand, please follow the link below. We will be sure to visit some of their other locations and report back here at the Eatery Kalamata.






Tuesday 18 November 2014

Open Kitchen

Το λέει κ'η ίδια η λέξη! Η ιδέα ξεκίνησε ως ένα delivery-εστιατόριο, που θα  προσφέρει πιο "gourmet" κουζίνα σε προσιτές τιμές. Ύστερα όμως από την επιτυχία του ενός χρόνου, το Open Kitchen αποφάσισε να υποδέχεται τους πελάτες του στον ίδιο του το χώρο, αφήνοντας τους να γεύονται την "ανοιχτή κουζίνα" στο ίδιο το εστιατόριο.



Μέσα από μια ποικιλία χρωμάτων και γεύσης, ο πελάτης μπορεί να δοκιμάσει ένα συνδιασμό από φρέσκα προϊόντα βασιζόμενα στην μεσογειακή κουζίνα. Ο κατάλογος διαθέτει 51 διαφορετικά πιάτα τα οποία ανανεώνονται αρκετά συχνά, σύμφωνα με τα λεγόμενα του υπευθύνου.


Εμείς δοκιμάσαμε το Villagio (πιάτο με ζυμαρικά και λαχανικά), το "best seller", Κοτόπουλο Chedder και τη χοιρινή μπριζόλα με σως BBQ. Φάγαμε αρκετά χορταστικά σε σημείο να αρνηθούμε το γλυκό που μας προσέφεραν. Την επόμενη φορά όμως θα ξέρουμε να αφήσουμε λίγο χώρο παραπάνω στο στομάχι μας για το γλυκό!


Παρότι η ατμόσφαιρα δεν σε παραπέμπει σε εστιατόριο, λόγω του περιορισμένου αριθμού τραπεζιών, αξίζει μια επίσκεψη για να σας πείσει πως η γεύση είναι αυτή που μετράει περισσότερο. Το σίγουρο είναι όμως πως πρώτη φορά δημιουργείται ένα delivery-εστιατόριο που όχι μόνο παρέχει μια πληθώρα επιλογών, αλλά και η εικόνα των πιάτων σίγουρα δεν θυμίζει delivery κουλτούρα.


Saturday 15 November 2014

Morning Coffee at 'Bread'

And so it begins with a morning cup of coffee...

Yesterday morning we decided to try out 'Bread Bakery & Deli', one of the popular coffee shops in the Kalamata city centre that is famous for its good quality coffee and its traditional Greek sweets. It is a deli style cafe with little room to sit indoors but a nice corner patio to sit outdoors. In sunny Kalamata, it's always nice to sit outdoors. Iliana ordered a Greek coffee and I had a Fredo espresso; both exceeded our expectations. We also ordered a cupcake to share, and I must admit, it was the first time a Greek establishment made a cupcake the traditional American way with a moist chocolate cake base and the perfect combination of butter and icing sugar on top. Usually what you would find advertised as cupcakes are muffins topped with swirly icing, but at 'Bread', they nailed it!





Our coffee experience was quite pleasant, however, I was quite taken aback when I saw a pigeon fly right into the establishment's kitchen area. The staff seemed quite used to the visitor and continued about their work as if this was a normal occurrence. Another pigeon flew into the sitting area and casually nibbled on any crumbs that had fallen under our bar stools. I must say, although at first I was surprised, the young staff's animal friendly behaviour made me approve of the store's culture and will be sure to return. After all, the pigeons were just minding their own business and were not becoming a sanitation hazard. The coffees and cupcake definitely met our expectations and on our next visit we will have to sample some of their savoury goods like a slice of pizza, a calzone or a baguette sandwich.





Tuesday 11 November 2014

Get Ready to Eat!

Welcome to The Eatery Kalamata! Here, my friend Iliana and I will share our experiences dining out in this warm and dynamic city with you. We love to eat and have found several gems in Kalamata as far as flavours and ambiance go. We hope to dine out regularly and find more hidden hot spots in Kalamata and the surrounding suburban area. In addition, we will also inform you of which food and beverage establishments to avoid. Note: Greece is infamous for its poor food and health inspections so we will take the risk for you ;)

Whether you are a local, a tourist or you simply love food, follow us on our journey as we eat our way through this city's many diverse food establishments.

Ready? Set? Pick up your forks!!