I recently had to fly to San Francisco to visit some relatives. I had lunch one day with an old friend at Estiatorio Kokkari, a Greek restaurant. Located in the financial district, this was a great meeting point for my friend, Chandler, who worked a few blocks from the restaurant.
From the outside of the restaurant it looked like a tavern. Once inside, I was greeted by a friendly hostess and walked Chandler and me throughout this space that seemed far larger than the exterior would suggest. The bar area had diners seated, the second and third rooms were cozy and intimate, like a living room. The kitchen was off to the right and then the final room had maybe about 5 tables, one of which was for us.
Chandler and I shared the grilled octopus. It's a dish I order in every Greek restaurant. It's like my gauge as to how I think I will like the food. It as good, but a little chewy. It needed a little more grilling time. My main course was the grilled fish and Chandler had the chicken souvlaki. The fish was grilled to perfection and the chicken was moist with a hint of lemon and herbs. We paired this with a glass of assyrtico, a white native blend from the island of Santorini in Greece. Assyrtico is high in acidity (makes you salivate) with citrus (especially lemon) flavors. It's wonderful when it's ice cold on a hot day and paired well with our lunch.
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| grilled octopus |
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| chicken souvlaki |
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| lavraki |
Links:
http://www.kokkari.com/home/
