Byzantine Restaurant

 Byzantine Restaurant

For the Byzantines food was always related with social class. The way the people in the palace served the food was really different from the way the common people did it. That’s why our restaurant will have three sections: VIP, the normal section and the tavern: a place to eat Greek food and to have a great time.

On the VIP section the food will be serve with a lot of condiment and the dishes are excessively garnished. In this area our guests will be entertained with fruits, cakes and candies. Here you can ask for meet from large animals. This type of meet was very difficult to obtain, only the palace could obtain it. It was really expensive.

The VIP area is only for special occasions like work meetings, wedding anniversaries, birthdays and to impress your girlfriend with a beautiful diner. To have the opportunity to dine in this luxurious area, you have to book a table in advance. The tables in this area are in high demand and always full.

Our VIP menu:

Appetizers

-       Fruits -       Cheese -       Anthotiro -       Kefalintzin -       Garo salsa (our favorite condiment!)

Main course (boiled food is our specialty)

-       Boiled lamb -       Boiled seafood -       Boiled fish -       Sphoungata (omelets) -       Meet from large animals.

Desserts

-       Homey cakes -       Candies

Beverages

-       Cretense wine of muscatel grapes. -       Romania wine -       Exported from Modona -       Malvasia wine -       Exported from Monemvasía

 One of the most popular wine was the Malvasia wine, exported from Monemvasía

Malvasia wine Exported from Monemvasía

Sweet wine produced from Malvasia grapes. It is a white, sweet, fragrant wine, Types: - With strong flavors - Table wine (White wine) - Tan color wine - Red wine (the rarest) - Wine for dessert - Generous or fortified (with more alcohol)

In our common section we have excellent prices. The dishes are not as developed as those in the VIP section, bur they are very exquisite. Byzantine’s middle class was very conservative. The main diet consisted of bread, vegetables, dried fruits, cereals and salad. The salads were very important to them. The meat most common among these people was dog meat and pork. They could last for a whole year eating pork. We base our menu on this Byzantines’ diet.

Our menu:

Appetizers

Salads -       Vegetables (cabbages, beets, onions, garlic and carrots) -       Vegetable soup -       Vegetable stews We don’t have potatoes, green beans, cocoa, tomatoes, corn, pepper and strawberries, pleas don’t ask for themJ -       Bread -       Legumes -       Chickpeas -       Beans -       Cereals -       Rye -       Barley -       Buckwheat -       Millet -       Oats

Main course

-       Birds -       Hawks -       Dogs -       Pork -       Salt pork -       Pork sausage

We don’t have potatoes, green beans, cocoa, tomatoes, corn, pepper and strawberries because Byzantines didn’t have this food because It appeared after the discovery of America.

Garo salsa

This salsa is favorite condiment between the Byzantines. This salsa has: wine, vinegar, blood, pepper, oil or water

The third section of our restaurant is the tavern. This tavern is like a little restaurant inside our restaurant. The taverns were very popular between Byzantines. The tavern is a place where you can go to have a drink and a delicious Greek meal. These places are full of Greek gastronomy and Greek culture. In the taverns life Greek music (Rebetico*) was played. It was really common that people get up and dace Greek dances such as Zeibekiko dance and Hasapoki dance. Nowadays the taverns are really common all around the world because the Greek people emigrated everywhere. Rebetico is the type of music they played.

Tavern menu

Appetizers
Tzatziki		Yogurt sauce, garlic and cucumber
Greek salad
Loaf bread
Pita bread
Melitzanosalata		Eggplant Puree
Tirokafteri		Feta cheese with chili and olive oil
Spanakopita		Salty cake with spinach and cheese
Dolmades (Dolmadakia)		Rice mixed with herbs and pine nuts wrapped in tender grape leaf.
Fasolada soup		Beans, olive oil, different vegetables (national dish)
Pasta
Spaghetti Napolitano
Pastitsio	Thick layers of pasta and minced meat baked, covered with a thick bechamel.
Main course
Fresh fish baked
Cod in Salazon	Fried served with Skordalia (garlic sauce)
Squid
Octopus
Musaca	Eggplant, minced meat and bechamel
Souvlaki	Meat, vegetables, dressing
Beverages
Beer
Liquor	Ouzo, Tsipouro, Metaxa
Wines

The liquors were very popular in this area, but the most populat liquors in the tavern were:

Ouzo	-       Strong sweet taste -       The smell of Regaliz(plant) -       Base: ripe grapes and anise -       Commonly used in weddings, family reunions -       It is transparent -       Prepared by distillation in stills
Tsipouro	-       It is made with the remains of the other wines -       This liquor is distilled twice -       Flavored with anise
Metaxa	-       It is a mix of brandy and wine -       It is made of various grapes: Savatiano, Sultanate and Corinthian -       It uses sun-dried grapes -       Types: -       3 star -       5 stars -       7 star -       12 stars -       Large reserve

-       Our tables are a semicircular couches (Citadium) covered with an embroidery tablecloth

-       We are going to have forks, since Byzantines were the first ones having them.

-       Our tavern opens at 20:30.

-       We have a show at the tavern at 21:30. It is a demonstration of the popular dance Hasapiko.

-       On Saturdays the tavern opens from 18:00 to 20:00 spe ially for classes of Hasapiko. For costumers to learn how to dance it and participate in our dances.