A Little Slice of Heaven: The Food Foo Foo at Stamna Taverna in Bloomfield

3.28.2011

The Food Foo Foo at Stamna Taverna in Bloomfield

If you thought I was picky about regular food..I am EXTREMELY picky about Greek food. Billy and I have been to a few Greek restaurants in New Jersey. All of them fall very short of even being edible. So all of our Greek cravings have brought us across the bridge into Astoria to either Stamatis or Telly's...until Friday. Billy and I were looking for some place to eat. We looked on
www.restaurantpassion.com and found Stamna in Bloomfield. I was so excited when I saw the menu that I actually said, out loud, "Where have you been this whole time?". We called and made a reservation for 8:30. We arrived at 8:00 and it was already packed. To our surprise, we were seated right away. The busboy came over with a plate of homemade marinated olives and slices of grilled bread with olive oil and oregano. The olives were mixed green and black and were marinated in olive oil, lemon peel and cheese rinds. Usually when we go to a Greek restaurant, we only order a bunch of appetizers but because this was our first time, we wanted to try dinner as well. I had known what we were going to order when we were still at the house so I was ready when our waiter came over. We ordered Grilled Octopus in Olive Oil and Red Wine Vinegar (one of my favorite things!), Saganaki and Tyropita. The octopus and saganaki came out first. The octopus was very tender with the perfect amount of oil and vinegar. We cut it into thin slices and let it soak in the juices which made it extremely flavorful. The saganaki was perfect. It is made using Kefalograviera cheese, which is another favorite of mine....crispy on the outside, soft and perfectly melted inside. We had a few minutes to digest before the tyropita came out. I was pleasantly surprised when the plate was placed on the table that they were little mini pieces and not one large piece. Again..perfection. The feta was mixed with another cheese which made it not as strong as straight feta. The taste reminded me of the tyropita my dad makes. When dinner arrived, we were very full but still wanted to try the food that we had ordered. I ordered the Lamb Kokkinisto, which is braised baby lamb in tomato sauce with orzo pasta and Stuffed Cabbage Avgolemono. The lamb was just what I expected, very tender and was perfect in the tomato sauce. Billy loved the stuffed cabbage. I thought it was good, but I grew up eating my dad's and his is hard to top. We ended up wrapping most of our dinner to take home. We were way too full for dessert but do plan on going back very soon. Next time...just appetizers!!