Restaurant: Kokkari

Location: 200 Jackson Street (at Front) San Francisco, CA 94111. 415.981.0983

Date: February 9, 2012

Cuisine: Greek

Rating: Really fresh – transported me back to Greece

Yelp pointed me to this excellent San Francisco Greek place — that and I recognized it from the Zagat guide.

Close to Embarcadero.

Inside this is the modern Greek equivalent of a classy reinterpreted Mexican space like Las Ventanas in Cabo. Things don’t really look like this in Greece, but maybe they ought too.

Case in point.

The menu. It’s mostly traditional fare, but the Greek names have been dropped.

Pretty plates that match the decor conceptually.

“Cheese Pies – traditional feta cheese filo pies.” SPANAKOPETA, but particularly artisanal versions.

And same goes for this “Tzatziki.” Not only was it great, tasting of fresh dill and garlic, but the bread was superb and very very Greek. The marinated vegetables were also a nice touch.

“Saghanaki- pan fried Kefalograviera with lemon & oregano.” Melted cheese! I was just bummed it didn’t come out on fire!

“Kokkari Salad – mixed baby lettuces with shaved apples, beets & candied walnuts.”

“Moussaka – traditional casserole of spiced lamb, eggplant, potato & yogurt béchamel.” I love this traditional dish.

And this was easily the best I’ve had in the states (I’ve spent months in Greece). You can see the meat there and it had that lovely cinnamon / nutmeg thing going on which pairs with the rich béchamel.

And on the plate.

Kokkari was a great “find.” In truth flavors are rarely even this pure in Greece, although there was this one restaurant I ate at on Rhodos that was very similar.

For more San Francisco dining reviews click here.