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Saganaki Greek Cuisine and Grill stands above with superb interior design and quality finishes.

The colour scheme is warm and inviting with wood grain and marble textures complimented by shades of red, copper and brown. Fine checkered cloth dresses the tables while elegant crystal and brass chandeliers hang overhead. Floor to ceiling windows make the most of the venue’s prime waterfront position where every table has a great view of Melbourne’s bustling waterways.

While staying true to its Greek heritage, Saganaki also features dishes infused with a Modern Australian twist, using only the very best local produce.

A full page in the menu dedicated to sharing plates makes it easy to sample a little of everything, we recommend the Saganaki Trio with 3 types of pan fried cheese; Kefalograviera, Cyprus Haloumi and Soft Kasseri brushed with egg and flour dusted. Try the Lamb Cutlets for your main grilled medium rare with baked potato and red wine jus. For dessert go the traditional Creamy Rice Pudding.

If you have a group of 6-8 then the Slow Roast Feast is a must try. This all inclusive banquet begins with a shot of Ouzo, Homemade Dips and the Saganaki Trio. Then onto the talk of the table, a Whole Suckling Pig! This free range pork is slow roasted for 15 to 18 hours and served with an array of sides including; baby roast potatoes, vegetables à la Grecque, Horiatiki salad, Beetroot salad, Roast capsicum and grated feta.

Overall the service is first class, presentation is a feast for the eyes and the servings are generous.

Saganaki Greek Cuisine and Grill, 62 NewQuay Promenade, Docklands Vic 3008, Phone 9606 0008, Australia.

Related Links > http://www.saganaki.com.au/index.html

Oakland Gyros is a favorite among OnMilwaukee.com readers.

The votes are in and the winners have been selected for OnMilwaukee’s Best: Eat & Drink, 2007. The results of this readers’ poll, including an editors’ pick, are available in this series of articles that run all October long during Dining Month on OnMilwaukee.com.

Oakland Gyros is a double winner. The venerable East Side restaurant, which recently won the category “Best Late Night Drunk Eats,” also nabbed the title of “Best Greek” in the annual OnMilwaukee.com readers’ poll. Satisfied customers cited Oakland Gyros for being fast, tasty and inexpensive. The fact that it is open late, in a prime location, doesn’t hurt, either.

OnMilwaukee.com editors’ choice: Apollo Cafe

Runners-up:
2. Apollo Café
3. Mykonos
4. Ouzo
5. Grecian Delight
6. Omega
7. Grecian Inn
8. The Gyros Stand
9. Marquette Gyros
10. Acropolis

Oakland Gyros, 2867 N. Oakland Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53211, 414-963-1393

Related Links > http://onmilwaukee.com/dining/articles/bestgreek07.html?13051

If Greek cooking is all, well, Greek to you, a cooking class may be just what you need.

In Sydney, Maria Benardis runs the Greekalicious cooking school and has just released the program of upcoming classes from October to December.

Whether you want to learn how to make traditional Greek dishes, master the art of stuffing ingredients, or celebrate Christmas and festivals in typical Greek style, Benardis, who dreamt up her school while on the Greek island of Mykonos, can help.

Classes are held every Thursday evening and Saturday morning in Paddington and cost $110. They include a full sit-down meal and are made from certified organic ingredients. For more information and to book, go to www.greekalicious.com.au 

Most people think pizza originated in Italy, others say it was created in China. But staff at Serafino Pizzeria are adamant that Greece was the first home of the globally popular pizza.

The Beijing outlet, opened by Greek chef Christos Voudouris last year, features a decor harking distinctly to its Mediterranean homeland. Voudouris has been hand-making pizzas for nearly 30 years, and has owned four Greek restaurants, the latest located in Auckland, New Zealand.

Although the look is not very different, the making of a pizza at Serafino involved a special way of baking, according to the manager. The ingredients also differ, with more than 10 going into the tomato sauce alone. The result is pizza that smells and looks tempting, lending the whole place a seductive aroma. The pizza is crisp at the sides, letting the topping droop as you pick up a slice. The taste is wonderful.

Popular options include Neptune, with mushroom, red onion, eggplant, avocado, smoked salmon, feta and barbequed peppers, and Athena and Venus, two vegetarian choices with mushroom, onion, dried tomatoes, spinach, or artichoke. Another popular pizza is Marinara, mixed seafood pizza with anchovies.

The restaurant also offers Italian pasta, and several typical Greek dishes. There is Meze Plate, with rice and beef wrapped in vine leaf, squid rings and onion rings, and pita bread, matched with eggplant and yogurt sauce. Greek salad has olives, feta cheese, tomato, cucumber and vinaigrette. Besides that, there is moussaka, layers of eggplant, beef, mashed potato, and bechamel sauce.

The restaurant has a smoking and non-smoking area. It is decorated in pleasant Greek blue and white. The walls have paintings of Dionysus, also  known by his Roman name Bacchus, the God of Wine from Greek mythology, and typical Greek souvenirs. Average spending is 100 yuan. A pizza will be ready in 15 minutes. Menu is in Chinese and English.

Serafino Pizzeria, 111-115, Silk Market No 2 Store, 14 Dongdaqiao Lu, Chaoyang District, Opening hours: 10am-2pm, 5-11pm, Tel: 010 6586 5837.

For a long time Athena was the only Greek restaurant in Beijing. It is still the city’s largest Greek eatery.

Established in 2000 by two Chinese people, the restaurant is located conveniently within Sanlitun diplomatic area. The majority of the guests, apart from the increasing number of Greek diplomats, students and business people, have been Europeans.

Its blue fences and roofs, as well as its inside tidy combination of yellow and white, does bring people back to Greece. The walls are decorated with pictures and paintings of famous Greek scenic spots, such as Metropolis, Santorini, Mykonos windmill, and the bronze triumphant charioteer.

According to owner Wang Tong, the restaurant had Greek chefs in the first three years, but now employs Chinese chefs. The present chef has 20 years of experience in five-star hotels in the capital.

Greek salad or Horiatiki is a good starter, with cucumber, tomato, olive and cheese. Dolmades, vine leaves stuffed with rice and beef is a traditional main course. So is moussaka, oven baked layers of eggplant, minced meat and grated cheese in tomato sauce. Gyros, grilled lamb pieces on pita bread, is a delectable choice, as well as Greek souvlaki, beef, pork or lamb kebabs on pita bread. As an alternative, try cheese and spinach pies, tyropita and spanakopita, or tzatiziki, a cold appetizer of homemade yogurt, cucumber and olive oil. For seafood there is grilled fresh snapper with feta cheese, and calamari, deep-fried squid with olive.

The restaurant also offers great desserts such as Greek yogurt with honey and nuts, as well as baklava, the sweet crushed walnut and almond pie with filo pastry. There is also halva, a traditional dessert made with semolina. For drinks, try the unfiltered Greek coffee, Ouzo, Greek brandy Metaxa, or choose from a couple of varieties of Greek wines. Average spending is 150 yuan. Menu is in both Chinese and English.

Athena, 1 Sanlitun Xiwu Lu, Chaoyang District, Opening hours: 11am-11pm, Tel: 010 64646036.

The finest Greek and international food, charming relaxed atmosphere and a bit of Greek mythology…. Aeolos… a truly unique Greek restaurant in Skipton, Gateway to Dales.

Aeolos only opened its doors in April 05 and has had a fabulous reception from locals and visitors. This old Victorian building has been decorated sympathetically with pergulars, vines and grapes but still keeps all its beautiful grand house features.

Upstairs an elegant bar makes a great meeting place for pre-dinner drinks, a chance to make your menu choices and look through the wine list of lovely wines from Greece and around the world. After dinning join back up in the bar for a coffee and then a…. Metaxa or two..

The restaurant can currently seat approximately 70 people across two floors. Their second floor dining room can also be used as a private function room, Tuesday to Thursday.

Aeolos Restaurant, 1 Cavendish Street, Skipton, BD23 2AB, England, tel 01756 791996

Related Links > http://www.aeolos.co.uk/index.html

Twins Pizza and Steaks in LaFayette has been recently given a facelift in an effort to create a more family-oriented establishment and to bring a little bit of Chattanooga dining to LaFayette.

Known by his friends as “Key”, Kyriakos Koukos, owner of Twins Pizza and Steaks in LaFayette, left his home country of Greece in 1971 in order to have political freedoms and to live the American dream. Koukos became a U.S. citizen in 1975 in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., where he opened and ran his first restaurant called The Gondola House. He put in about a 15-hour workday at his restaurant, experimenting with various ingredients to make the perfect sauce and dough, and began his dream to become a successful U.S. citizen.

During the recession in 1980, business was not good for the new citizen, so in 1981 he closed his business in Lawrenceburg and moved his family to LaFayette. Upon moving to LaFayette, he was welcomed by many families who believed in his dream and gave him the support he needed to be successful once again, including the Abneys, Danas, Gilberts and Jacksons.

In 1983, he opened his first restaurant in LaFayette, The Western Sirloin located on Highway 27. He stayed at this location for about a year and closed it due to the Western Sizzler Steak House opening down the road.

After closing the Western Sirloin, he decided to go back to his specialty, which was making fresh pizzas daily from scratch. He opened his next restaurant called Gondola Pizza on North Main Street. He stayed at this location for seven years and had hoped to pass the business on to his brother-in-law while he opened another restaurant in LaFayette. While building the new location, his brother-in-law decided not to make the move from California to Georgia permanent.

He built a new restaurant in the LaFayette Center on North Main Street and changed the name of his restaurant once again, the new name being Twins Pizza and Steaks. The name “Twins” derives from the buy-one, get-one-free pizzas he sells.

Key stayed at this location for four years until a plot of land was for sale on North Main Street. He purchased this land and had his second Twins Pizza and Steaks built. Twins Pizza and Steaks has been at this location for the past 12 years. Being at this location the longest, he has recently given his restaurant a facelift, trying to create a more family-oriented establishment and trying to bring a little bit of Chattanooga dining to LaFayette.

This year marks Koukos being in business for 25 years. He has employed three generations of families, all of which could tell a story or two about the “loud Greek man.” Patrons are invited to check out the new look and food, and say “Yasou”, which in Greek means “hello,” if they see Key.