Annual Greek Food Festival

[johnnyd]

It's that time of the year when the venerable Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church at the top of Pleasant street shuts down traffic for their annual, weekend-long street party. This is the second oldest church in Portland. Built in 1828 by the Methodists, the steeple once housed a bell cast by the Paul Revere Foundry - it was damaged by fire and removed but the bell is in the church lobby.

I stopped by this afternoon for a look (and a snack) before the place starts hopping.

By nightfall, this street will be full of people dancing, rain or shine. The band plays classic greek instruments and gets the crowd really whipped up. Food is served around the tent perimeter with lots of seating in the middle.

The grill crew is ready for a busy weekend...

As usual, I couldn't help chatting up the boys and pretty soon I had a classic Gyro in my hand. The tzaziki was really good!

Other items available (at modest prices - all donated to the church) includes:

Lamb Souvlaki - kebobs looked great

Loukaniko - pork sausage with orange zest and spices

Moussaka - Hamburg, tomato sauce, onions, cinnamon, eggplant, potatos

Pastitsio - baked pasta, ground meat, romano, greek spices and bechamel

Dolmathes - Famous stuffed grape leaves

The boys at the bar were ready too:

They had cases of Retsina (telling me the crowd who come are in-the-know), as well as Mavrodaphne, Metaxa and ouzo.

The desserts were endless, some of which I had never heard of:

Loukoumathes - fried dumpling balls with honey syrup and walnuts

Finikia - walnut spice cookie, date center and dipped in honey syrup

Kourambiethes - butter cookies rolled in powdered sugar

Thiples - flaky pastry dipped in honey, topped with cinnamon and walnuts

Koulourakia - braided butter cookie topped with sesame seeds

Paxemathia - a kind of greek biscotti

Karidopeta - honey walnut cake.

"All the food and pastries are hand-made by our Parishioners from scratch!", proudly reads a line in the program provided. They also wrap anything you want to-go.

The atmosphere at this party is legendary. If you can't make it this year, it's held every year on the last weekend in June, Rain or Shine, 133 Pleasant Street near the Old Port in Portland.

Opa!

Edited June 24, 2006 by johnnyd (log)

[johnnyd]

It's that time of year again!

This year's Greek Festival runs from today, Jun 21st through Saturday the 23rd at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 133 Pleasant St. Portland. 11:30am to 9:30pm

Click here (or scroll up) to see pictures and commentary from my visit there last year.

Yassou!

[johnnyd]

It's that time of year again!

This year's Greek Festival runs from today, Jun 21st through Saturday the 23rd at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 133 Pleasant St. Portland.  11:30am to 9:30pm

Click here (or scroll up) to see pictures and commentary from my visit there last year.

Yassou!

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This year's Greek Festival runs Thursday through Saturday, June 26 - 28.