Nea Folia “Η Νέα Φωλιά”

Tucked into one of the narrow roads in the Turkish Consulate neighborhood of Thessaloniki sits “Nea Folia” or “new nest”. Nea Folia is near the intersection of Kassandrou and St. Sophia and then you have to locate its actual location which is at the corner of Aristomenous & Kassandrou. Get  to the area and park your car nearby or just take a cab and ask locals for the intersection – there are lots of dizzying one-streets with an incline but you’ll get here and…this joint is worth the effort.

We arrived to find a bustling old-skool taverna that looked as if time stood still…thinking 70’s to early 80’s. It’s as if Nea Folia had been uncovered and open for business after all these years. It was 8PM and this taverna was already half-full (many Greeks eat later) and so we grabbed a large table that would fit our orders.

The first dish to appear was a dish of wild greens (stamnangathi) served with kritamo (samphire) and these teeny green olives (likely from Crete). We also ordered some house red and white and we decided on drinking the red all evening. Also, do ask to try the restina from Evia as this too was a rare find and everyone at the table loved it!

Up next was a smoked fillet of mackerel that was served with roast tomatoes and arrives at the table flambed with Cretan raki. Readers of this blog know I love all things smoked and this dish rocked!

This dish is “fava” or split peas ( I know, I know – a little confusing). The chef chose green split peas rather than yellow and they were creamy, buttery and perfect for swiping bread or dried rusks into.

The boys (dinner guests) though that some cheese was missing in the mix so we ordered a baked “chloromizithra”with hot peppers, tomato and oregano.

One of the specials on the menu was “Soutzoukakia” made with mince buffalo meat. Soutzoukakia are sausage-shaped meats – very common at Greek tavernas. Mince buffalo meat….not so common. These was an easy pick from the menu and damn was it good!

Before I introduce this next dish, I must tell you how I learned about Nea Folia. The original purpose of my trip was to report on the Sani Gourmet Festival and through those events I met the folks who own and operate Ergon Fine Greek Products. The fellas highly recommended New Folia as they were treated to a dinner with chef Dimitris Skarmoutsos. The boys insisted I order the steak, served with two kinds of mustard and butter. It’s cooked to any doneness you like and I converted a couple of Greeks to liking “medium-rare”. If yo go to Nea Folia, order the steak!

The fellas at the table wanted more meat…so meat they shall have! They ordered pan-fried calf liver with roasted artichokes. I don’t like liver, I tried it and it still wouldn’t go down my throat. The consensus from the rest at the table was that this dish was also delicious.

We were stuffed by this point and I ordered some ice-cold raki (as is tradition at the Cretan table). I know we were very far from Crete but I could see some Cretan influences in the cooking here.

Another reason to go to Nea Folia is for their collection of cheeses….many of them aged and worth ordering.

By this point, we were drinking some more and drinking breeds more hunger…an order of fries was called for.

As is customary among finer tavernas in Greece – the management will treat you to some dessert. Nea Folia’s strawberry granita ran out so they sent us some more cheeses and more of that delicious retsina from Evia.

Bottom line? I just loved Nea Folia for its nostalgic decor with modern, innovative dishes. All the ingredients are Greek (especially the cheeses), there is no rush to order, eat or leave and the atmosphere, staff are wonderful and time flew by as we left at around 2 am on a weeknight!