Kokkari, San Francisco

I’ve been to and enjoyed Kokkari, on the edge the financial district, many times in the past. The other day, I went there with some of the WC crew for a fun mid-week dinner.

peeking in at Kokkari

The restaurant is visually stunning! There is a huge bar area that’s always crowded with stylish folk. The restaurant is divided into a few dining rooms. The one by the entrance has an enormous fireplace that’s always burning, at least the times that I’ve been there. The décor reminds me of someone’s living room; with plush chairs, eccentric Greek dishes and pottery, and lots of exposed wood. In the “second” dining room, there’s the massive open kitchen, always busy with the chefs and wait staff bustling to and fro.

giant bean appetizer

I was the second to arrive that evening so I met David at the bar for a cocktail. I’m uncreative with these so went for my standard: a Manhattan with Blantons burbon. We took some pics of one another enjoying ourselves until Janet and the rest arrived. They sat us in the second dining room, by the kitchen.

This is a Greek restaurant, though a very upscale one. They’re especially well known for their lamb chops, though obviously I didn’t have these. I’m really fond of their appetizers. In fact our whole group loves the traditional dips that they offer: Melitzanosalata, Taramosalata, Tzatzki, Favosalata and Tirosalata. We ordered them all. These are flavorful dips with lentils or yoghurt and numerous other things. My all time favorite is the taramosalata made from carp roe. It’s salty and tangy with a yummy taste of the sea. Kokkari serves them with pita bread, olives and some pickled Greek peppers and house made dolmathes or stuffed grape leaves. Very good.

Chateau Julia Merlot from Drama, Greece

We also had the Gigantes, an oven-baked giant bean dish with tomato sauce, olive oil and herbed feta; and Kalamari, which here are small feta-stuffed squid that are served grilled. I skipped the main course and instead had the Fakes Supa, a lentil vegetable soup, and more appetizers. David and I shared the Marithes Tiganites, deep fried smelts with a flavorful dip. I also had the Octapodaki tou Yiorguo, or grilled octopus; and the special mushroom appetizer that was made with chantrelles.

The wine list is interesting in that there are a variety of Greek wines that I don’t really see elsewhere. We started out safe, with a bottle of the Prisoner, a blended wine of zinfandel from Napa. Then we tried the Ex Umbris, a syrah blend from Washington State. Finally the table was feeling adventurous so we went for the Chateau Julia Merlot from Drama, Greece. Of course I selected the merlot because of the “drama.” Our waiter, who I have to believe was Greek because of the way he was “educating” me about the city of Drama (apparently it’s on the Turkish border), puzzled me. Why did he keep taking the wine menu away?

My group loves the desserts at Kokkari, particularly their ice cream sundae. We had that with an order of the Galaktoboureko, a semolina custard in filo pastry served with pistachio ice cream. By then I was completely stuffed so I could barely touch them.

kokkari menu