LET THE FEAST BEGIN - Fronimo's Greek Cafe

LET THE FEAST BEGIN

To help get through the coronavirus crisis Bernice Chesi and I want to encourage you to dine out now and then in the comfort of your own social-distance observing home.

Each weekend we are going to order out dinner from an iconic local restaurant, create as much of a restaurant atmosphere as possible at home, pretend we are dining out and report on the experience!

 

Even though some restaurants will be re-opening soon under restricted conditions, some Tucsonans will prefer to wait awhile and see what happens. Enjoying another carryout meal or two at home may be just the ticket.

Everything looks golden inside Fronimo's Greek Cafe after dark.

Years ago Fronimo's Greek Cafe first caught my eye by having the most appealing golden light glowing through those big windows at 3242 E. Speedway Boulevard every evening as I zipped past.

Quickly enough I found Fronimo's parking lot and its rear entrance back behind the restaurant. Now I'm a fan for life. That same welcoming Greek family atmosphere hasn't changed a whit since then (they opened in 1995), staying as magnetic as ever with consistently authentic quality and affordability.

During the coronavirus lockdown Fronimo's has kept the carry-out orders moving. But Bernice and I quickly realized recreating this restaurant's special atmosphere would be a challenge at home.

It was while doing online research for Greek table settings that she suddenly flashed on the idea – since her own community swimming pool has a Mediterranean design with sheltered arches and lines of cypress trees – why not present Fronimo's tasty dishes at poolside using her blue and white table arrangements to recreate our version of a sunny magic carpet resort trip to Greece itself.

Fronimo's sampler plate waiting to be enjoyed in an outdoor Mediterranean setting.

Before you could say “Where's my bouzouki?” Bernice ordered the food and had all the right plates. The weather just before sundown on the evening we chose was lovely. I picked up the food, along with a bottle of the restaurant's Boutari Moschofilero, a crisp white wine that's our favorite.

You can also request curbside pickup from your car or get Doordash delivery. Fronimo's phone is 327-8321, or online at fronimos.com (@fronimosgreekcafe on Facebook and messenger), open daily 10 a.m.-9 p.m.

Nothing left on his plate but a piece of pita.

So with sunset drawing nigh and feeling at one with our Mediterranean spirit, we opened the wine and began passing around the Appetizeer Sampler plate that came with a stack of grilled pitas – a choice of dolmades (a mix of ground meat and rice wrapped in grape leaves), spanakopita (flakey filo pastery filled with spinach and feta cheese), tabbouleh (a blend of Bulger wheat, tomatoes, cucumber, parsley and meat), hummus, Kalamata olives and thick squares of feta.

Surrounded by this heap of full flavors in freshly made dishes, it became fun to see how many different combinations we could come up with as pita dips and olive chasers.

Gathering momentum, we turned to a bountiful salad waiting patiently on ice. The large, rumpled deep green lettuce leaves were glistening with a Greek vinigrette that also brightened the tomato slices, sweet onion rings, cut peppers, cucumber, olives and feta. In this setting we felt the dish was beaming with Mediterranean sunshine as well.

A gyro, a chicken shishkabob and some Greek fries share the blue and white fish platter.

For the next course we shared a pair of chicken kabob skewers and a rolled up gyro of shaved beef and lamb, accompanied by a generous helping of Greek fries (garnished with olive oil, crumbled feta, coarsely ground black pepper, lemon and Greek spices). Over the years, Fronimo's Greek fries have become a house speciality worthy of a drive across town anytime.

We sliced up the gyro into thirds (making it sort of like three smallish Greek tacos...which didn't hurt the flavor any) that went quite well as finger food accompanied by those tender, succulent pulled-apart kabobs and crunchy, salty, cheesy fries.

Finally it was the big moment for the true star of the show, acclaimed by the restaurant's owners as Fronimo's most popular dish, the famed Athenian Chicken, accompanied by its dinner table co-star Moussaka (layers of potato, meat sauce, eggplant and a bechamel sauce).

The famed Athenian Chicken in its moment of greatness, with creamy rice pilaf and a bit of pita.

Remember quadraphonic sound? Today it would be named Stereo 4.0. That's the depth of flavors in every bite of this peppery herbed and precisely baked Athenian Chicken dish, half a chicken with an abundance of moistly melting-on-your-tongue white meat topped with your very own personal chicken wing, extra-crunchy and tender enough to fall from its tiny little bones.

The Moussaka's secret weapon is a robust meat sauce, baked in layers with eggplant and potatoes for that enhanced casserole effect that gets your taste buds swirling, a wall of sound (to continue the music reference) supporting the Athenian Chicken's spotlight aria.

Using Fronimo's food to inspire our dream of a trip to Greece was genius! This Mediterranean meal by the sparkling blue pool became a celebration of freshly made dishes in their natural surroundings of enhanced freshness, carefully prepared using combinations of herbs and spices as authentic and tested by time as the country of Greece itself.

Chuck Graham and Bernice Chesi imagine they are in Greece toasting their dinner from Fronimo's Greek Cafe in Tucson.