Cavos

As shocking as this may sound, I don’t make millions by being the HFG. I do, however, at least have the benefit of a pretty steady stream of restaurant recommendations from friends and regular readers.

On Friday, a friend and former co-worker called me and said he had found the best Greek restaurant in the area. That sounded interesting, so he picked me up at my office and we took a drive down the Berlin Turnpike to Cavos, which is on the east (northbound) side, just north of the Stop & Shop plaza.

Honestly, if it had been almost any other friend, I would have been pretty nervous because the Berlin Turnpike is one of the most God-awful places around and among the least likely places in the area to find something good to eat . The original highway between Hartford and New Haven, the Turnpike was among the first victims of sprawl and there isn’t a whole lot on the Turnpike these days except chains, chains, and more chains.

My friend, however, is a true Italian-American and a practitioner of la dolce vita. He has a genuine love of good food and wine so I was confident that he had somehow found a diamond of a restaurant among the rough of 2nd rate chain stores and no-tell motels.

The interior of Cavos is nothing special. In fact, it is a bit dark and cramped. The service, however, lightened it up considerably as our waitress was friendly, prompt, and high-energy.

Although Cavos has a full menu with all sorts of classic Greek dishes, my friend and I decided to order several small plates for a tapas-style lunch that would allow us to sample a bunch of different things. To start, my friend and I ordered some spanakopita.

The pastry was perfect – light and flaky. The spinach was fresh and not overcooked so as to be wilted and tasteless. The contrast in textures and flavors was wonderful.

We also had an order of tyrokafteri, which is baked block of feta with tomatoes, red peppers, and garlic. While baking cheese sounds strange, doing so seems to take the edge off the flavor of the feta, which would otherwise be overpowering in such a large concentration. It also allows some of the flavor from the peppers, tomatoes, and garlic to find its way into the feta. Delicious.

We also had a skewer of pork souvlaki and a skewer of chicken souvlaki. Sometimes people cooking flesh over an open flame tend to over-season, perhaps because they think that unless they are doing something besides watching the grill, they aren’t really cooking. In the words of a famous philosopher, however, “keep it simple stupid.”

Cavos definitely follows that advice. Its souvlaki was seasoned just enough to add some punch, but not so much as to detract from either the delicious chicken and pork, or the lovely char that formed on the exterior of the cubes. :> x 15.

For desert, my friend and I each had Greek coffee and we split a piece of baklava. The baklava was unbelievably good. Unlike a lot of baklava, it wasn’t heavy or too sweet. It also was brilliantly made with alternating layers of filo (pastry) and sweet syrup filling, rather than a bunch of filling surrounded by some pastry. There were also almond slivers scattered throughout, giving the dish a wonderful mixture of textures and flavors. Our waitress asked us whether it was the best baklava we’d ever had and if it wasn’t it couldn’t have been too far off.

When we were finished, our waitress brought over the bill ($52.40, including a generous tip) and we had a short conversation:

Waitress: “Are you Greek?”

HFG: “No.”

Waitress: “Well, you look Greek.”

HFG: “Sorry, I am half-Portuguese.”

Waitress: “Oh. Same thing.”

It is hard to get any more Greek than that and it is hard to get more Greek than Cavos. I haven’t eaten at every place in the area that serves Greek food so I can’t say that Cavos’ food is the best. I can tell you, however, that it is damn good. I can also tell you that it is well worth a drive down the Tacky Turnpike.

Here’s the link to Cavos’ website - http://cavostavern.com/