In the last couple of years, Greek food has been making a comeback in Connecticut. Mind you, we’ve always had plenty of Greek restaurateurs but, forgive my bluntness, not all of them have put their best foot forward or represented their cuisine of origin especially well. Thus, the rise of restaurants like Eos Greek Cuisine in Stamford and Osianna Mediterranean Tavern in Fairfield has been a welcome development.
Cavos Tavern & Pizzeria on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington is another recent addition that has been giving Greek food a good name.
With just a few booths for the first year,
many customers were forced to take carry-out from the kitchen counter.
But recently, in just a little over a week, the folks at Cavos added a new wing that changed everything.
And Cavos’ ownership
even plans to add porch seating later this year. But the chief reason that more and more space is needed is the great home cooking of Despina Milios, seen flanked by co-owner Margaret.
My friend Bob learned about Cavos when he came across a discussion on Chowhound about where one could get a decent gyro. I know from sad experience that cheap processed gyro meat leaves one needing to drink about a gallon of water afterward. In the process of seeking a good gyro, Bob found a terrific homey Greek restaurant that serves simple, honest, good-quality food.
On my first visit with Bob, we began with a good Greek beer called Mythos.
Cavos also has a mostly Greek wine list, including Retsinas, which I never acquired the taste for but which my parents relished at long-gone and much-missed Basel’s in New Haven. We tried a pikilia platter, which included tzatziki (the ubiquitous cucumber and yogurt dip), hommus (the Greek version of the Middle Eastern chickpea dip) and skordalia (a garlicky potato dip)
served with slices of fried zucchini and pita bread, all delicious.
We then tried a pizza, which you see here delivered by Milios’ very attractive, “one hundred percent Greek” granddaughter, also named Despina.
The Cavos special, which featured gyro meat, Feta cheese, olives and tomato on a white pizza, was probably (apologies to Mystic Pizza, Broadway Pizza in its heyday on York Square in New Haven, and others) the best Greek pizza I had ever tasted.
Enjoy the close-up!
We finished with scrumptious homemade galaktoburiko, a dessert of phyllo dough filled with vanilla custard that the younger Despina said was her favorite.
On my second visit, we returned to try Cavos’ Thursday night mezé menu of twenty-six special appetizers ($3-$6 apiece). We had delicious grilled calamari,
the best spanakopita either of us had ever tried,
meat-and-rice-filled dolmades,
snails stewed with onions,
a Greek salad,
gyro meat with tzatziki,
shrimp Santorini,
and grilled lamb chops.,
all of which we supplemented with a bottomless basket of grilled pita bread and garlic bread.
Is Cavos a welcome breath of Ionian air? Don’t just take our word for it!
Cavos Tavern & Pizzeria, 2414 Berlin Turnpike, Newington, 860-667-9200