Saganaki > Hot-ticket item

Saganaki, Blue Dolphin, 502 S. Burdick St., 343-4993

The flaming meal is a retro concept that’s always fun, even for the coolest diner. It imparts entertainment to any dinner and is epitomized by the Blue Dolphin’s Saganaki.

Saganaki is a popular dish among Greek restaurants in which Greek cheese is sauteed, then put on a plate, laced with alcohol and flamed at one’s table. And the Blue Dolphin is one of the few restaurants in the Kalamazoo area that serves Saganaki.

The Blue Dolphin cooks take hard, imported goat cheese rounds, cuts them in wedges, dusts the wedges in flour, then sautes them. The wedges are put on hot plates and treated to a splash of 85-proof rum and then the rum is ignited with the use of a hand-held lighter. The flames are doused by a squeeze of lemon.

The rich, fried cheese tastes both sweet and tart. It can be cut and placed on pita or freshly baked rolls that also are served. The hot plate is key to the preparation of the dish, said Blue Dolphin owner Steve Stamos. The heated plate helps the liquor ignite, Stamos said.

Sixteen years after the restaurant opened, the Saganaki is still the Blue Dolphin’s top appetizer. Most recently, two other flaming dishes, Vegetable Dolmades and Shrimp and Feta, were added.

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