It’s Not All Greek To Me Off Topic-The Banter Room Forums

Having sailed our 38’ DownEaster cutter far and wide from Antigua into the waters of Annapolis Harbor, the not-so-magnificent seven of us decided upon dinner at the Rockfish Raw Bar & Grill – where we were delightfully greeted by delectable Sara (or, is it Sarah) the ever-so-pretty hostess.

In addition to drinks, an entrée and dessert, I ordered a Greek salad… which arrived with chopped olives, minus cucumber and onions. Without complaint but merely as an FYI, I informed the 'gentleman' who took our order as to the traditional ingredients of a Greek salad. My observation was met, not only with a display of ignorance, but was matched by the fact, which he made perfectly plain, he could not render a rodent’s rectum i.e. “give a rat’s a – – ”.

The following evening, a somewhat dubious duo, the skipper remained aboard, once again ventured forth in search of satisfactory sustenance and so, for a change of pace, sat we down in Chick & Ruth’s Delly where, on the multi-faceted menu, lo and behold, we discovered… Greek salad. Upon ordering same, we received an inquiry as to what dressing we would prefer… Thousand Island or Ranch? This precipitated much rolling of eyes but wait, there’s more … and it’s not a Ginsu knife! Five minutes later, our waitperson/server returned to inform us, there was no feta cheese and inquired if cheddar would be “OK?”

Déjà vu all over again?

Meanwhile, perusing the menu once more, I noticed an absence of chili by the bowl. Having previously consumed and enjoyed excellent chili in the self-same establishment I was not put out as, when, noticing Delegates 'John Dwyer Jr.' (cheeseburger & chili) and 'Rona E. Kramer' (hot dog & chili), I attempted to ascertain the probability of receiving a bowl of chili (as opposed to what failed to constitute a Greek salad) and was politely informed “No”.

I was about to order when my crew-mate, who is familiar with the workings of my brain (which has a mind of its own) and had foreseen what I was about to utter, pleaded with and prompted me not to continue… “Aye-aye” says I but, I was only about to order a 'John Dwyer Jr.', hold the cheeseburger and 'Rona E. Kramer', hold the hot dog.

At that point, we cast off and departed without so much as a morsel passing our lips nor coin of this here Republic changing hands.

Day 3 and a doubtful duo still in search of provisions. Now don’t get me wrong, I do not expect to find a Greek salad in a French restaurant but when I spied such on the Café Normandie Restaurant menu (minus cucumber) I could not help myself and ordered not one but 2 and, in so doing, pointed out to the embarrassingly beret-bestowed bearer of same, we would really and truly appreciate the addition of cucumber… which he acknowledged in what could only be described as a sullen (or, was it surly) manner.

However, it seems the distance between the table and the kitchen was more than we had reckoned on for the attention span of this particular personality and he delivered cucumberless salads. When asked, “What’s missing?” he had neither a clue nor the curiosity to find out. We gave him a simple reminder and 6 cucumber slices were duly delivered on a saucer whereupon, he was neither seen again nor heard from until the check (or, is it bill) was delivered some time later.

‘tis one thing to be hungry at sea when surrounded by a vast and blue nothingness but when ashore, to go hungry, for want of a Greek salad is just not on… so, that said, we’re setting the sails away from a sunny Annapolis to, yes, you guessed it, the land of the genuine article – Greek salad ho!

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(Greek) Salad Days

Martin,

I truly enjoyed your comments about trying to find a place that could deliver a reasonably correct “Greek” salad. You see my wife and I just returned from sailing to Annapolis… and we had the same experiences (one place ran out of the olives and the other, it was the Feta) but these were two completely different establishments than the ones you mentioned… that makes a total of 5 that can’t get it right!

I have now come to the conclusion that it must be something in the air in Annapolis… but we did find one place that served a truly glorious Greek salad with lots of olives, Feta and cucumber! It’s called the Parthenon Restaurant. Located in Eastport (907 Bay Ridge Road), it is just a short cab ride from downtown. I hope you’ll try it on your next trip to Annapolis.

Until then… enjoy fair winds and calm seas.

Kind Regards,

Art Golden

General Manager/Publisher Nor'easter Magazine

102 Old Mill Plaza, North East, MD 21901