BudBurst

I've never been to Greece but consider it one of the essential places in the world to go.  Like Africa is the birthplace of humanity; India, the spiritual mother; Greece is the cradle of all Western philosophy and literature.

Despite my lack of personal experience though, I had managed to assume terrible prejudices and stereotypes about Greek food. Even a favourite famous food critic who travels the world and unflinchingly attempts to swallow anything put on his plate (they always like inexplicable body parts), once dismissed the entire country's cuisine as cold rice wrapped in leaves. I read this at a formative time and believed this must be true.

So my enthusiasm was steeped in scepticism as I approached a tasting menu from The Real Greek matched with - oh horror! - Greek wines.  The menu was put together by Paloma Campbell, the co-owner and Operations Director, who also carefully selected wines to match each dish. At the restaurant, the staff are trained to help you make appropriate choices depending your preferred style of wine, and the list is sensibly organised into Good All-Rounders, Fish & Crustacea, Poultry & Pork, Red Meat & Game. Paloma's enlightened attitude has reds and whites in each category.

The food, oh the food! As befits a country with such varied landscape, the range was astonishing from coastal to mountain, each with traditions of local produce embellished, modernised and beautifully presented by a truly talented kitchen under Theodore Kyriakou, Paloma's partner in the restaurant.

All the things you might expect such as feta dressed with olives, tomatoes and oregano; dolmades stuffed with rice, sultanas and pine nuts - this served with one of the plumpest,  sweetest, most affectionate scallops you could ever put in your mouth; taramosalata - the pink fishy stuff I could never bear to go near was transformed into a pale, creamy, silky textured burst of fresh, salted not smoked, roe flavour.

Then there were surprises, not for Greeks just for English sceptics. Giant beans with courgettes, spinach and yoghurt - rich, strong, confident; octopus roasted with olive oil, rosemary and garlic - though it was the large, meaty variety it was as tender as a sigh and just as endearing; hand-picked (?) crab meat delicately lifted with chives, olive oil and lemon juice; Santorinian fava, split peas with spring onions and oregano served with a slice of duck sausage and a morello cherry spoon; and lamb cutlets with tzatziki - again the "supermarket" flavour of all taztziki that had gone before had not prepared me for the intensity, yet delicacy and satisfaction of the simplest of dishes.

All the dishes were handled with sureness and aplomb. The flavours were convincing but never overpowering and purposfully combined. It felt modern and traditional, light and rich and filling. It was a real pleasure.

White Wines

Domaine Spiropoulous, Mantinia VQPRD 2005 (Grape: Moshofilero 100%) Perfumed, aromatic nose. Really quite high acidity which cut the sweetness and richness of the crab well but might prove a bit searing on its own.

Ktima Biblia Chora, White  VdP 2005 (Grape: Sauvignon Blanc 60%, Assyrtiko 40%) The Sauvignon dominates the nose but there are more layers which penetrate through on the palate. It was good at holding and complementing the individual flavours in the beans.

Ktima Biblia Chora, Ovilos VdP 2005 (Grape: Assyrtiko 50%, Semillon 50%) Rich and full flavoured, amazingly well-blended. Good balance. Didn't overpower the scallop & dolmade, my personal favourite dish.

Domaine Hatzimichalis, Veriki 2005 (Grape: Robolo/Chardonnay - percentages not given) There is a sharp, prickly saltiness (not unpleasant) to the palate which is given structure and body by the chardonnay.  Holding fingers rather than hands these two, will need some convincing of each other's charms. This is one of the domaines which forged the 'boutique' winemaking style in Greece.

Red Wines

Dougos Winery, Methistanes 2003 (Grape: Xinomavero 50%, Krasato 25%, Stavroto 25%) Spirity but rich. Violets. Dry, tannic structure, spicy, a bit short. Went well with the lamb.

Ktima Pavlidis, Tempranillo 2004 (Grape: Tempranillo 100%) Purplish, rich and ripe. Violets and blackcurrants. Coconut sweetness, this wine was aged in 50% American and 50% French oak which is still a bit obvious. Paloma surprised me by putting this with the feta and it really worked together with the creamy saltiness.

Domaine Skouras, Cuvee Prestige VdP 2005 (Grape: Aghioritiko 90%, Cabernet Sauvignon 10%) This wine is served lightly chilled which suits its light bodied structure. Good aromatics with pleasing tannin presence. Very good match to the octopus which had been marinated in red wine overnight before being roasted.

Creta Olympias S.A., Mirambelo VQPRD 2004 (Grape: Kotsifali 75%, Mandilaria 25%) Light bodied, a smoky tobacco flavour which complemented the gaminess of the duck sausage.

Dessert Wine

Union of Winemaking Co-operatives of Samos, Vin de Liqueur Samos Phyllas VQPRD 2005 (Grape: Muscat of Samos 100%) Straw gold, powerful nose. Unctuous texture, baked Mediterranean oranges, candied citrus peel and ginger. Great acidity cutting the sweetness. Perfect with the Baklava with its honey, nuts and spices. A great way to finish.

Go there, really, go there. The Greeks weren't just clever, they were hedonists too.

http://www.therealgreek.co.uk/