NEW ORLEANS – This year’s New Orleans Greek Festival on the banks of Bayou St. John will feature a couple of new treats.
First, look for a new menu item called “meze.” Festival spokeswoman Laila Marcos describes it as a small plate of finger foods– in essence, Greek tapas.
The meze plate will feature tzatziki (a yogurt and cucumber dip), chickpea salad, dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), and pita bread.
“Meze translates to appetizer,” says Marcos, “to accompany an alcoholic beverage.”
And that brings us to the second new menu item: a wine spritzer called “Dionysian Delight.”
Both the wine and the meze ingredients will be sold in the popular Greek Fest “grocery” in the lobby of Holy Trinity Cathedral.
As always, there will be gyros stuffed with roasted lamb, and plenty of syrup-y baklava crowned with cloves– not to mention a dozen other traditional Greek pastries, mounded high with powdered sugar.
And once again this year– the 44th– you can watch Hellenic dancing, take a tour of the Cathedral, learn to make Greek dishes in cooking demonstrations, and buy imported Greek jewelry and clothing.
The Festival runs Friday through Sunday and tickets are $8. Information on times and events is available at: greekfestnola.com.
If you wear a “tasteful” toga on Sunday you’ll get admission, and don’t forget to pick up this year’s whimsical Greek Fest poster, by News With a Twist artist Simon.
The poster features “saganaki” (flaming cheese) under the words that only Simon would say with a wink: “It’s all Greek to me!”
