Foodie Traveler: Kephi Greek Kitchen, Williamsburg, VA

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Because I vend at Comicons and other fandom conventions several times per month, I get to travel quite a bit and love to try restaurants, markets, and other foodie paradises. I’m also lucky enough to live in and operate my store in a tourist town, so you’ll see a number of reviews from my hometown, Williamsburg, VA.

First up: Kephi Greek Kitchen

This was our second visit to Kephi, but we were ravenous the first time and forgot to take photos! On this visit, we were greeted as soon as we arrived, and the hostess remembered us from our first visit. She seated us at a two-top on the right side of the restaurant that had the perfect amount of space between tables so that no one felt cramped. On our first visit, we sat at one of the high tables in the bar area, which was fun since we had Stephan’s daughter with us.

Kephi has a full bar, but we wanted wine, so we chose 6 ounce pours of the house Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir, which were lovely–slightly sweet, not too heavy, and just what we wanted. Disclaimer:  I’m not a wine aficionado and I don’t claim to know everything there is to know. I would love to take a class at some point, but for now, I’ll take a page from John Cleese’s book and drink what I like.

Our server brought out a complimentary dish of wheat rolls and hummus topped with capers and a drizzle of olive oil. It was SO GOOD! The rolls were light and the hummus was velvety smooth and lemony. We wanted to lick the plate clean, but we restrained ourselves….barely.

The menu is varied and includes gyros, grinders, Greek specialties, seafood, salads, and a variety of appetizers. For our entrees, we chose Arniso Boutaki Me Meli (boneless leg of lamb marinated with garlic, herbs, olive oil, and honey) for Stephan and Kotopoulo Ladolemono (grilled chicken with lemon and herbs) for me. Both were served with lemon herb potato spears; the chicken also came with a lightly dressed salad and the lamb with fasolakia (green beans with tomatoes). Both entrees were superb. The lamb was served in gravy and reminded us of pot roast. It was so tender it almost fell apart on the fork. The chicken was moist and flavorful, and all of the sides were spot-on as well. Kephi is very adept at giving you real portions of food–not so much that you’re stuffed when you leave, but enough that you’re very satisfied and still have room for dessert!

I’m not a coffee drinker, but Stephan ordered a cup before we wandered over to the magnificent dessert cases. The way that it works is that you give your order to the hostess or whoever is at the dessert cases and your server brings them to your table.  We opted for the Tiramisu and the Baklava Cheesecake. Yes, you read that correctly. Baklava Cheesecake. It had a crust of phyllo filled with cinnamon, a rich, creamy cheesecake in the center, and a layer of baklava on top. It was a little difficult to cut with my fork, but it was so worth it! The tiramisu was also outstanding–possibly the best we’ve ever eaten. The cake was light, the filling was dense, and the flavor was amazing.

Kephi definitely earned an A+ from us–we’ll definitely be back. Maybe just for wine and dessert next time… If you find yourself in our town, give it a try! They’re open for lunch and dinner.