Saganaki Greektown appears as a signature dish in 1 United States cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Greektown Saganaki (Flaming Kasseri) · Detroit
Detroit Greektown's signature theatre dish: a thick slab of Kasseri cheese dredged in flour, pan-fried golden, doused in brandy and ignited tableside with a shouted Opa. Eaten with lemon and torn pita.
Flaming saganaki was invented at the Parthenon restaurant in Chicago's Greektown in 1968, when owner Chris Liakouras lit the fried Kasseri tableside at a customer's suggestion; the format spread through Midwest Greek-American restaurants in the 1970s. Detroit's Greektown, anchored on Monroe Street since the late 19th century by Greek immigrant families, adopted the flaming presentation early and made it a fixture of the neighborhood's dinner theatre. Pegasus Taverna on Monroe Street runs the canonical Detroit Greektown version with the Opa shout from servers.
Where to eat in Detroit:
- Pegasus Taverna
- Astoria Pastry Shop