Blu Kouzina - Nice Greek Food and Wine in Sarasota

My wife and I recently enjoyed a delightful Greek meal with friends at Blu Kouzina Greek restaurant (http://www.blukouzina.com/US/menu.html) on St. Armand's Circle in Sarasota. Since the evening temperatures were very pleasant, we sat in the open covered dining area. Not only was the food delicious, but the restaurant had an exceptional Greek wine list.

Interestingly, this restaurant is one of a pair - the other is in Singapore.

My wife had an appetizer of Dolmades Gialatzi - grape leaves stuffed with rice and with a side of Tzatziki sauce for $12.50. They were prepared the way we like, with firmer rice than one often finds with Greek grape leaves. (The style we prefer is the Levantine style, especially when it includes lamb. It's a matter of what we're used to.)

Her main course was Pastitsio - Greek macaroni with ground beef and covered with bechamel sauce for $18. She thought it was good, but not great. However, when I had her leftovers at home the following day, I thought the taste was terrific.

My main course was Paidakia Stin Shara - grilled lamb chops with mixed vegetables for $32. This dish was fantastic!!!!!! The taste of the lamb was out of this world. (For those trying to pronounce the word "Shara," the "Sh" is not pronounced like the "sh" in "share." Instead, the "sh" represents two separate consonants - "s" like the "s" in "sigma," and the "h" represents the Greek letter "χ.")

For desert, my wife had Greek rice pudding, which she thought was nice, for $8.

I had the Galaktoboureko, custard in a crispy phyllo shell, for $10. It was really delicious.

The wine I chose was a Domaine Mercouri Letrini (red) which is 85% Refosco grapes and 15% Mavrodaphne, for $56. Domaine Mercouri is an interesting winery that produces a nice set of wines.  It is in the western Peloponnese not far from Olympia. It was founded by a member of the Mercouri family in 1864, and has been run by the family since. The founder had worked for the Cunard Lines. We visited the winery several years ago while on a cruise. The winery is near the port of Katakolon. We managed to visit both the winery and Olympia on the same day. Our outing was made very easy by our local driver, George Letsios, whom I would highly recommend.

The restaurant's wine list is superb. It has about 52 wines, of which all are Greek except for a couple of sparkling wines. For those not familiar with the current state of Greek wine production, the quality has improved dramatically over the past couple of decades.

In addition to the Domaine Mercouri wines, I would recommend the Domaine Sigalas, from Santorini, and the Skouras and Alpha Estate wines. I am sure there are other nice ones as well.

Another nice feature of Blu Kouzina is that their superb olive oil comes from their family estate in Greece.

Our server, Martina, was very nice.