St. George's Greek Orthodox Festival
St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church is gearing up for its 33rd annual Greek Festival.
Festival hours will be 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5 and Saturday Sept. 6., and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7., at the Hellenic Center located at 510 Liberty St., Schenectady, opposite the Schenectady County Public Library.
The three-day event will feature live music, ethnic Greek food and pastries, folk dancing, arts and crafts, raffles, carnival rides and games for children.
Admisson is free.
Parishioners of the church prepare all year for this event, which features authentic Greek food and pastries.
The dining room will offer dinners including moussaka (layers of eggplant, potato and sauteed ground beef topped with a cream sauce), Olympian kotta (chicken with Greek seasonings and lemon), and dolmades (stuffed grape leaves).
The salad bar will feature Greek salad, spanakopita (spinach and feta cheese between layers of filo dough), and patitsio (seasoned ground beef with pasta and grated cheese, topped with cream sauce).
Also available will be Greek pastries, including baklava (chopped walnuts baked in layers of crisp filo dough and honey syrup) and kourambiethes (sweet butter cookies dusted with powdered sugar — the traditional Greek wedding cookie.)
Outside the Hellenic Center, an outdoor barbecue area will feature souvlaki (skewered pieces of marinated seasoned pork) and gyros (lamb and beef or chicken).
Each evening, live Greek music will be performed under the outdoor tent. Music starts at 5 p.m. each of the three days. In addition the Fotia Hellenic Society, a professional dancetroupe, will perform folk dances in traditional Greek costumes.
Guided tours of the church, featuring Byzantine iconography and architecture, will be hosted by the parish priest.
Wine and Food Festival
The Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s annual Saratoga Wine & Food Festival returns next weekend, Sept. 4-6, with restaurant dinners, a gala on the SPAC stage and a wine-and-food tasting on the arts center grounds. The days, events and details:
— Thursday, Sept. 4: Restaurant dinners. All begin at 6:30 p.m. and cost $120 per person; price includes food, wine, tax and tip. Call 584-9330 ext. 121 for reservations. (Some may be sold out.)
— 677 Prime, Albany, with wine from Clarendon Hills, Australia.
— Prime at Saratoga National, Saratoga; Groth Vineyards.
— Beekman Street Bistro, Saratoga; Jean-Luc Colombo.
— Friends Lake Inn, Chestertown; Catena.
— Marché at 74 State, Albany; Silverado Vineyards.
— Chianti Il Ristorante, Badia A Coltibuono.
— Grey Gelding Bistro & Bar, Raymond Vineyards.
— Friday, Sept. 5: Gala on SPAC stage. Includes 7 p.m. dinner, wine, dancing, silent and live auctions. Dinner only is $150; dinner, admission to Saturday’s grand tasting and auction package, $200. Call 584-9330 ext. 121 for reservations.
— Saturday, Sept. 6: Grand tasting and auction on SPAC grounds, noon-5 p.m. Food from 15 regional farms and a variety of area restaurants, plus wine from 200 producers. General admission, $80; wine seminars cost $25 more. For tickets, call 584-9330 ext. 286.
