Greece--Day 3 part 2

Headed up the steps to the restaurant

After our morning adventures, we chilled a bit because our evening entertainment was to eat at Soil, a one star Michelin restaurant. To arrive, we took three different taxis. While we left from the same location and arrived at the same location. two of us paid five euros for the ride and one of us was charged fifteen euros!!! Sometimes, tourists get ripped off! 

Napkin and welcome tag

Once we arrived, we were greeted by the staff who showed us the kitchen and garden. The staff was proud to show us all the edible flowers and herbs planted in the garden. The chef's mother, on her acreage, grows the majority of edible items used in the recipes which was fun to learn. 

Table accents

After we were seated, we learned about their no waste philosophy. Our taste buds enjoyed 13 courses of fancy, tiny, and delicious food. Amanda, James, and Nicole opted for the wine parings that accompanied 11 of the courses. It was an interesting experience.

Listening to the description of the wine

Watching the courses arrive, watching as each dish was carefully served, listening to the description of each and watching the empty dishes being removed was an art form in itself. As you look at the photos, many of the decorative finishes came from flowers grown especially for the restaurant. We noted how the plating complimented each dish.

The dance of placing our course

It took us three and and a half hours to eat our meal. We were fortunate to be seated in the private dining room. Although, I imagine staff were aware that a 15 month old's antics could cause other diner's to have a less than stellar experience. It is doubtful they get many young children dining there as there were no high chairs. I also imagine that staff were dubious of a nine and an eleven year old eating each course!

An initial taste test

All of us sampled each dish. Sometimes, someone else finished the dish. Miss A and Miss J ate a lot of the offerings. Miss K was the least impressed with the menu. We all thought that she would be the one to name all the flowers and spices used because she has a sensitive pallet. 

Our menu complete with the chef's signature

The menu:consisted of seven courses of fish/seafood, two courses of meat, one course of bread, two courses of fruit. and three courses of dessert. Note the chef signed the menu!

Shrimp pate with orange and marigold

Shrimp with orange pecan and marigold

First course: the shrimp came two ways--in a spoon as a pate pate accented with marigold flowers. The second way was with a segment of orange on a pecan slice accented with marigold petals. These and the other flowers and herbs were grown specifically for the restaurant.The decorative sauce was sweet. 

Oyster: ossettra caviar, fermented cucumber, unripe fig

Second course: The dish was a take on an oyster. Note the serving dish. It reminded me of an oyster; but instead of containing an oyster, it contained ossettra caviar, fermented cucumber and unripe fig. This was my favorite looking dish. The taste of the unripe fig was delicious.

Amberjack: pickled lemon, clams, kohlrabi

Third course: This dish was clam with pickled lemon and kohlrabi. The dish it arrived in was interesting. The red marigold flower petals brought out the pink in the dish! The artistry in each dish was amazing. We each hated to disturb the surface to eat it! I liked the lemon broth that accompanied the clam.

Tomato: strawberries, basil, pistachio

Fourth course: This was my favorite tasting dish. In addition to the beauty of the dish, the flavor was amazing. Who knew basil, strawberries and pistachio would work so well together.

Eel Mini Burger: guanciale, vadouvan, burnet

The two dishes served together

Fifth course: Amanda liked this eel in teriyaki and miso. Miss J thought the mini burger was the best dish of the night. Guanciale is cured meat from pork jowls. Vadouvan is an Indian curry spice that is mixed with aromatics like onion and garlic. Burnet is a salad green.

Beef: cherry plum, horseradish, ramson caper

Sixth course: Cherry plum, horseradish and ramson capers with beef accented with marigold petals. The Ramson capers are wild garlic seeds although, this dish was decorated with the garlic flowers. Again it was a beautiful dish and the meat was fork tender.

Scallop: lime, grapefruit, kumquat

Seventh course: This scallop was delicious. 

Cod: kombu beurre blanc (photo by N. Knott)

Eighth course: Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the beurre blanc (white butter sauce) that we poured over the dish. The butter sure enhanced the flavor. This is what Miss K and my husband Bob are eating in photo above the menu.

Miss A loved the cod

Miss A thought it was tasty. Although, she thought most of the dishes were good.

Goat: Aspromitko bean from Limnos, wild garlic

Ninth course: Nicole's partner looked forward to his course. The goat was mild and a little tough; but, it was cooked so it contained a tiny bit of pink. The Aspromitiko bean is from Limnos and it isn't easy to produce. Wild garlic was added to the bean mash. 

Lemon: Apple, lemon verbena, citrus leaves

Tenth course: Two dishes were served. A custard like dish featured apple, lemon verbena and citrus leaves. It was mild with some of the flavor coming from the flower garnish.

Bread: caramelized yeast, pumpkin seeds praline, buttermilk

The bread was Miss A's favorite dish. She ate at least a roll herself. . .her mom, her dad and her papa all contributed "bites." Caramelized yeast, pumpkin seeds praline and buttermilk were the ingredients. 

Bread and "custard"

The bread was hot. The crust was chewy. I was surprised to get it at this stage of the dinner as I think of bread coming at the beginning of the meal. I did look up caramelized yeast and how it was made. I found a link describing the process.

Pate de Fruit: chamomile, lime

The eleventh course: This was served before the macaroon. It was fruit with chamomile and lime. Miss K thought this was the best dish of the night. It was light and flavorful.

Macron: cocoa, mint

The twelfth course: This was a macaroon filled with cocoa and mint on a bed of bachelor button dried flowers. I tried the flowers. While edible, they served better as a garnish. The wooden spoon had a bite of gelatin made with Greek honey. There was also a small piece of chocolate. Each offering was good.

Note the setting. In the upper left of the photo is a copy of menu for us to take home. It was tied with a piece of string with a small piece of lavender inserted under the string.

The chocolate box

The thirteenth course: I thought the last course was it. A number of us ordered a cup of coffee. We were surprised when the head waiter brought out a chocolate box! Each person was invited to take a piece. The top row was pepper infused chocolate. I don't remember what the green row was. The third row was different types of chocolate and the bottom row was chocolate infused with fruit. I ate the variety of chocolate piece. While good, it was so rich!

Front cover of the Soil booklet

Before the group left. . .part of us took a taxi and the other part of the group walked, the staff shared a booklet about the philosophy of the restaurant. While I didn't hear the discourse as I was the group that left in the taxi, the report was how important each staff member felt about the sustainability, no waste, farm to table practices the restaurant employs. Nicole's partner actually scored the copy of the booklet telling the staff person that I would be writing a blog about our dining experience!!

What a night. What an experience! I thank Nicole for finding the place and making the reservation.

Greece--Day 3 part one

So much happened on day three that I decided to split the day into two posts! Bob and Nicole's partner ventured out for the coffee run. They not only returned with coffee but six free small waters as well. 

Room at Museum of Illusions--photo B Knott

On this day, our group went to two locations. . .the majority went to visit the Museum of Illusions. 

How can she be so small--photo N Knott

It was a smaller place; but full of exhibits that tricked your eye into seeing a variety of illusions.

Who's taller now--photo N Knott

The Infinity Room was the group's favorited exhibit. Even Miss Ada thought it was a great room.

Amanda and James at the pie shop

Amanda, James and I went on a food tour. We rode the underground train. James did a great job of navigating the platforms to ensure we were headed in the right direction.

The information about the tour warned us not to eat at least three hours before the tour began. It was my first time to take a food tour; but, it won't be the last. We had one other person with us, Freddie. Freddie was from Cambridge in the UK. He was a journalist who while working for a mercy organization produced a short film about refugees living in asylum on the Greek island, Samos. 

Samos On Fire film

The title of the 29 minute film is Samos--On Fire. I found a review on line. On another site, I was able to listen to one song. 

Our guide ordering our samples

We had savory and sweet pastry at our first stop. I thought that the spinach pie would be my favorite until I tasted the cheese pie. This cheese was so delicious that Amanda decided she would look for it at the market. 

Savory pie samples

We also had a sweet version of the pie. It was good; but, I liked the savory version better. 

Sweet pie

As we left the shop, a man was rolling the dough for more sweet pie! It was interesting to watch him work.

Folding the dough for more pies

We walked through narrow streets as we passed through the meat and the poultry markets on our way to the next stop. 

Narrow streets

Regarding the narrow streets, when motorcyclists pass cars, they often drive on the lane line of the street. It isn't unusual to see them clip the mirrors of other vehicles when they pass!

Rabbits and poultry for sale

At the meat market, each vendor artfully displayed their goods. Rabbits with their furry feet and plucked chickens hung in one stall. 

Head, tongues, livers and lungs

Lungs, livers and hung in another stall. Of course, there were the usual cuts of beef, lamb, pork and chicken on display.

Fish market display 

One vendor at the fish market posed the fish so a number of them appeared as if they were swimming in the ice. We saw a lot of octopus and squid displayed. The area where these vendors was large. With so much variety, I imagined  navigating dinner options every day had I lived there!

Brewing coffee in a table of sand

We left the fish market behind and headed toward our next stop which was to experience a cup of Greek coffee that was made on a sand table. This was my favorite stop of the day.

Coffee ready to be served

Under the metal table are a couple of burners which heat the sand. The coffee which is ground to a dust as fine as flour is placed in a copper pot with a long handle. In the cup is also sugar, if you want it, and water.

Then the barista moves the little pot around in the sand until the coffee comes to a boil. This is the point that the pot comes to your table. You pour the liquid into your cup and wait two minutes for the sediment to settle. We learned this was how the Turks and Greeks in the dessert made their coffee!

Honey and gelatin treats

We also received a honey gelatin treat which was delicious and a Greek delight which reminded me of Aplets and Cotlets but what our tour guide said was heavily influenced by Turkey. The Greek Delight was good. The sweet items were a good accompaniment to the coffee.

Greek Delights

After coffee, we tasted Greek donuts. These are fried in oil and contain three ingredients: flour, yeast and sugar. The name of the shop we went to was Kpivos. Open the link, the video describes what we thought about the donuts.

Donuts with a Greek honey and cinnamon glaze

The business has two locations. You can purchase take away at the kiosk. You can also walk a couple blocks more and eat your donuts at a table. The company has been at this location and been in business for over 100 years. Before serving donuts, the building was a pharmacy. These taste a lot like beignets except they are a little crunchier than the beignets.

Walk up kiosk

As we left the bakery, our guide pointed out graffiti that was painted with a permit. 

Permitted graffiti

We also saw graffiti that wasn't permitted. Greek people have a lot to say, hence all the spray paint!              

Non permitted graffiti

At the next stop, we learned about olives. This small shop contained so many different olives. There were stuffed olives, as well as a variety of marinades as well as a variety of olives! There were olive oils too.

Olive shop

I found that I liked the flavor of the smallest olive best. All the olives were delicious.

Olive assortment

Next door to the olive shop was a deli. We were able to sample a variety of dishes. Our guide selected a variety of options which were placed on plates which we shared. 

Deli options

I enjoyed the orzo salad. It had sun-dried tomatoes and mint in it. 

Clockwise from center, orzo salad, bread, olives and chicken

The fried calamari was a hit as was the eggplant. 

Clockwise from lemon: deep fried calamari; mussels in a mustard sauce; grilled sardines; marinated chickpea salad

I also was pleasantly surprised that the mussels were mild. 

Clockwise starting a spoon: butter beans and yams in a tomato sauce; chicken; 
steamed potatoes and carrots drizzled with olive oil; roasted eggplant salad; cheese spread

The cheese spread was delicious. The butter bean and yam dish was good too. All the items we tasted were good!

Display of herbs available for sale

Next we walked by some herb vendors on our way to taste some vinegars at a hotel. Amanda and I liked the purple version best. It is different to taste vinegars. These vinegars were made to sip which is an unusual concept for me. Although, after tasting each, I could see how one could sip each!

Vinegar tasting

Our last stop of the day was to purchase a gyro sandwich. This establishment deep fried the pita and then stuffed it with meat and a special tomato ace. It was delicious. Unfortunately, I didn't snap a photo of the sandwich.

It was a great tour. I'll post about our evening activity next Wednesday.