Want a great weekend activity? Try a Delicious Gyro!!!

Come to Colfax Greek Bistro and savor a Gyro with a cold beer from our International beer selection.

Colfax is located in the Gold Country and is a good stop midway from Sacramento and Reno as you travel the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Feel the stress lift as you travel from the fog of the valley to sunny Colfax. Colfax Greek Bistro is located in Historic Downtown Colfax which is hidden from the commercial I-80 fast food stops.

You can even board the Amtrak train for a ride to the past as you travel through the pass where many early California Immigrants traveled in search for Gold.



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Elan Vitkoff
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What is the Difference between Mediterranean Food and Greek Food?

Good question. I happen to be the right person to answer the question since I was born and raised in the Mediterranean until age 13. I am Bulgarian/Macedonian and Greek Orthodox. In my life there, I have eaten plenty of Falafels, Shawarma, and Hummus. These days I am the Owner of the Colfax Greek Bistro in Colfax, Ca. serving Falafels, Gyros¸ Hummus plus Spanakopita, Dolmas, Baklava and Turkish coffee.

So which of those above are Mediterranean and which are Greek? A good Quiz!

Here is my dictionary with the correct answers to the questions.

Gyros are Greek and the Mediterranean form is Shawarma. The meat, whether beef, lamb, combination of both or chicken is placed on a rotisserie ‘stacked’ horizontally. The Gyros are made with the meats ‘blended’ in the shape of a cone that is placed on a rotisserie.

What about Falafels? They are completely Mediterranean. 

What about Hummus sauce which is made of garbanzo beans? Mediterranean. 

What about the Tzatziki sauce which is homemade at the Colfax Greek Bistro? It is totally Greek. The Mediterranean Shawarma has a slightly different yogurt sauce.

What about Spanakopita? They are Greek and what is interesting is that the Mediterranean equivalent is called Fatayer. Both are triangles filled with spinach and feta cheese but the Spanakopita uses the thin Filo dough and the Fatayer uses regular dough.  

Dolmas are both Greek and Mediterranean. Grape leaves, stuffed with herbed rice. They can be vegetarian or can have seasoned ground meat. Allspice is the favorite spice of the Mediterranean variety. I helped my Mom make them on many occasions which brings sweet memories.

Baklava is both. I am often asked about HOW to SAY it. Is it BAKlava, or BakLAVA? In Arabic (my first language) I learned to call it the latter and to make it more interesting, the word is really BakLAWA.

Finally, Turkish coffee. Customers often ask me, what IS Turkish coffee? I describe it best as ‘Espresso but sweet instead of bitter.” Being the youngest of the family, I was the ‘designated’ Turkish coffee maker when we guests arrived. I have sweet memories of my mother giving me a step stool to be able to reach the stove level. What is Greek coffee? It is more bitter and resembles Espresso in flavor.

Come and enjoy all this good food in Colfax at the Colfax Greek Bistro.

Elan Vitkoff

Owner, Colfax Greek Bistro

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The Wonderful Food of Cyprus

As is apt for its multicultural heritage, Cyprus boasts cuisine to make your mouth water. From Armenians and Syrians to their Greek and Persian rulers, Cyprus has retained a part of each; even the Lebanese, French, Italian and British influences are not lost upon the Cypriot cuisine. The fact that they have integrated the influences into a culture of their own is fascinating to watch for tourists. The country has an excellent climate for fruits and vegetables, and the people know how to enjoy those as well, so whether it is a Moussaka or raw vegetables, the food is always delicious and always fresh.

Cyprus is a land of the plenty. Most households have learnt to produce most of their food requirements themselves. While the main dishes, or even styles of serving, remain the same, Cypriot foods are bound by seasonal availability and their seasonal, or religious, festivals. Visit the country in September and witness the wine tasting festival where there is free wine aplenty, or tour during the New Year festivities when the ‘Vasilopitta’, the special cake for the occasion, is served…perhaps you could be the one to find the coin in your slice of ‘Vasilopitta’, luck will be abound for you for a whole year, or so they say.

Perhaps the most fascinating style of serving in Cyprus is that of the ‘mezze’. The combination of up to thirty dishes served in small saucer-like plates deserves a worthy appetite. The locals are a hospitable people to the extent of being almost too hospitable. When they serve you a ‘mezze’ it is only fair that you taste everything, so even eating is an art; you don’t want to run out of space by eating too much of one thing.

Of course the Cypriots love their meats, when they are eating them. There are religious fasts that prohibit the use of meats in the food, so those fasting eat vegetables practically half the year with different reasons for the fasts. If you prefer vegetarian foods, asking for it is more than likely going to see the request being obliged in most restaurants and taverns. A few of the favorite meat dishes in Cyprus are Dolmades (minced meat and rice stuffed in vine leaves), Tava (meat, herbs and onion stew), Kebabs (spiced and skewered meat pieces roasted over charcoal fire), try those and there still will be plenty you missed!

The local national drink is, of course, coffee. The kafenes, or the coffee houses, in Cyprus continue to be a men only affair though. The farmers go there before and after work to enjoy a cup as they catch up on the village gossip. Women and children are only allowed on special occasions like when a puppet show or another for of entertainment is arranged there for the villagers. Otherwise, women have their ‘sketo’, ‘metrio’ or ‘glyko’ – all forms of coffee with varying quantity of sugar- at home.

Elan Vitkoff

Owner, Colfax Greek Bistro

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Barbecue the Secrets of the Greek Way

I have taste grilled meats around the world. Before i will guide you to the various technologies (gas barbecues, charcoal barbecues, Mongolian, sauces, recipes) i will tell you about the Greek way. We Greeks like good food so I will start from the meat. Whatever the technology, the recipe and the sauce, if the meat is from a producer which feeds his animals the traditional way the taste will be superb. Period.

There is no equivalent of a natural rosen meat of beef, lamb or pork. The taste is magic! If you come for holidays in Greece you will see in the morning or in the afternoon the old lady with the two or three cows , or goats. These animals will be served in the local taverna. For this meat i am talking about. If we talk about the islands where the goats are drinking sea water and eating the local wild weeds we are talking about a superior quality meat almost pre-salted.

If you ever go in CRETE taste it, you will remember my words. In case you will visit northern Greece try local Veal stake. You can locate the good food where you will see no foreigners at all.

So lets move around Athens and check the best ones. One of the best barbecue taverns in Athens area is Telis in Evripidou Str.

Telis is the master of pork chops. This is his specialty. If you order for a plate you will notice about four to five pieces above fried potatoes. He is all day open and very economical also. It’s a kind of fast pork steak food. It is a must taste since you visit Athens. Another must taste is Thanasis kebab souvlaki in Thision. It is mixed lamp and veal chopped meat over charcoals. You may eat a plate of four of them, with grilled tomatoes, or you might taste the traditional way in a pita. Any way it’s very difficult to eat only one. If you like hot papers ask them.

One more must eat souvlaki in Athens is LEIBADIA in KANIGOS SQUARE. There you can have the traditional pork souvlaki with all the village bread you can eat. They produce all day long so whenever you will be there you will taste it straight from the charcoals.

All around Greece we like to barbecue on charcoals. The device we choose must be proven in producing our favorite taste. Our meat is pre-marinated with olive oil, salt, pepper, origanon. During grill we add a little of olive oil-salt-origanon mix in order to produce the tasty smell, which gives this delicious aromatic taste to the meat.

The fire must be strong but not so strong to provoke fires under the meat. For this purpose we have a bottle of vinegar to extinguish it in case of. We add fresh lemon just before we consume them. We don’t take out the fat before we grill our meat because we like the taste of the smoked meat.

One more famous place for barbecue souvlaki is the Corinth Bridge. This is the bridge which you enter Peloponnesus. Do not pass the bridge and miss the taste of this souvlaki. Thousands of people stop every day to taste this local delicacy.

Elan Vitkoff

Owner, Colfax Greek Bistro

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Athens: Likely to be the Best Vacation You’ll Ever Take (part 5)

No vacation would be complete without learning about the culture and the people you’ll encounter or the food you’ll be eating…

Dealing with Athenians

Athenians (or perhaps Greeks) are a one of a kind type of people. Very talkative, not inhibited and most of all very curious. Now, of course these are my opinions and they are highly personal to what I have experienced, so anyone who disagrees with this view should bear this in mind.

This mannerism has proven rather out of the ordinary on many occasions. Almost everyday, I went to the same small family-owned restaurant in Kifissias called ‘Ta Salona’. Besides having good quality food, it also had very curious owner. Every night, we’d sit down over a bottle of Greek beer ‘Mythos’ or a glass of ouzo (killer stuff!) and discuss where I come from, life in Athens, food, drink… etc. It really made for enjoyable evenings.

Another example of this extrovert nature freaked me out a little bit. On a couple occasions while walking in the Plaka, I asked a person walking by what time was it, or how to get somewhere and after receiving the answer, the person said ‘You want to go to bar, drink ouzo?’ Now… I’m sure there is nothing wrong with asking someone to go drink with you, but it took me aback a little bit. Coming from the US, I was feeling that if I accepted an offer like this from a complete stranger, I’d probably end up in a biker-bar, arm wrestling with a 300 pound guy called ‘Bulldog’. A British woman I met couple days earlier on a cruise to the islands told me that she was approached a couple of times on the street by complete strangers either asking her out on a date or making remarks like ‘She’s tall! I bet she’s real good’.

If I drew any conclusions from this occurrence, if you ignore the person, they will in due course drop the subject. But in a location like a restaurant or a bar, it actually proved really fascinating to talk to the locals and find out a little bit about their daily lives.

Plaka

Plaka is the tourist’s heaven. It’s very similar to Paris’ Montmarte district. There are hundreds if not thousands of modest souvenir stores, taverns, liquor stores, small churches and open air stands where you can buy everything from produce to ceramic vases to olive oil soap. It’s a place you have to visit on your last day in Athens when you want to load up on cheap souvenirs. You’re not really going to see all that many locals here, at least proportionally to the thousands of tourists passing by every minute. And by Goddess, don’t forget to bring a map! Plaka is a labyrinth, a network of streets that all look alike.

There are plenty of places to eat in Plaka, but most of the fancy looking ones tend to be terribly costly and don’t really offer that good of the local fare. Little take-out places or little restaurants are the best bet for food there. Their Gyros might grease the wrapper, but they taste fine and you’ll have money left over for those souvenirs.

One thing I discovered when buying souvenirs in Plaka, that the price of the item is almost never the price you’ll pay if you play your cards right. In some stores, the owners will tell you right away ‘Today discount 20 percent’ or ‘More you buy, bigger discount’. But as a general rule, you should barter. You’re stupid if you don’t, because you’ll simply overpay for everything. Everyone bargains here, both locals and tourists. And if the store owner is reluctant to make a deal, put down the stuff you’re looking at and say you’ll look somewhere else. They will most likely change their tune and offer you money off right away!

Elan Vitkoff

Owner, Colfax Greek Bistro

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