Located in the two-block stretch of Halsted between Van Buren and
Adams, Greektown is chock full of restaurants where you can find all
the Greek classics like gyros, lamb and, of course, everyone's favorite
flaming cheese -- saganaki!
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Venus is the newest addition to Greektown! Open for about a year,
this is the first and only restaurant in Chicago celebrating both
the Greek and Cypriot cuisine.
Athena is a great place to check out, particularly in the summer
where you can dine in their massive outdoor patio, complete with
a burbling fountain.
Santorini is an eatery known for satisfying seafood and a charming
rustic setting.
The oldest spot in Greektown is the Parthenon. Christos Liakouras
opened this longtime Greektown favorite 38 years ago!
"We thought that the Greek food is very tasty and there were over
200,000 Greeks that were in the Chicago area at that time…so we
figure by introducing more Greek food, the Greeks would support
it in the beginning and then the Americans they would like it because
they was tasty food," said Christos Liakouras, Parthenon owner.
Believe it or not, in 1968 the Parthenon was the place that introduced
gyros to the United States! It is also the place where flaming cheese
favorite, sganaki was invented!
"Well actually in the beginning we didn't flame it. The first
week we start with the cheese in a hot platter, sizzling platter
& we squeeze a lemon on it. And, about 3 4 days later I was serving
the saganaki like that to 4 friends, 4 lady friends and one of them
come up and say why don't you put a hot of brandy on and flame it?
It says it's going to be a better show. Aye, I says you got it!
And then I ordered another saganaki at that time and I started up
right there flaming it, and they started up with the opa and everything
going," said Liakouras.
To make saganaki you whip up some eggs with a little milk and
then dip the kasseri cheese in the mixture and then cover it in
flour. Add olive oil to a hot platter and then fry the cheese in
the oil.
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