"Great food, great fun, and great people" is how Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church co-chair Deme Stall-Nash describes Saturday's Greek Street Food Fest.
The free admission festival will sell delicious Greek dishes, such as calamari, greek fries, gyro, pastitsio, saganaki, souvlaki, baklava, karidopita, ouzo, beer, and wine. With the original passed-down recipes and made-from-scratch technique, the food is sure to be excellent in flavor. The pastitsio, which is similar to lasagna, takes at least seven hours to prepare just for the noodles.
The church started the Greek Street Food Fest in the 1970s.
The parishioners responsible for creating the dishes come from all over the Bay Area. Church member Kay Nules, 89, traveled from Vacaville to bake her karidopita, which is a honey walnut cake. Fairfield's Magda McPherson, 80, traveled to Vallejo to make her homemade baklava sweet pastry. Saints Constantine & Helen other Co-Chair George Kalis, makes his well-known chicken souvlaki, which is a lemon chicken. Stall-Nash calls the chicken souvlaki a "fan favorite."
Father Ninos Oshaana appreciates the team that is preparing the food for the Greek Street Fest.
"There's certainly very hard-working ladies who have been serving here at this church doing this for many years, decades. One of the reasons people love coming to our event is because they know the kind of quality and the love that goes into making the dishes. We really appreciate the ladies and all the workers who make this happen," said Oshaana.
Stall-Nash enjoys preparing the food, calling it a labor of love."
"We follow the original recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation," said Stall-Nash. "We really want to keep the flavor and the deliciousness of our food. We're very proud of our food and it's all homemade."
During the festival, the Saints Constantine will hold a church tour and the participants will have the opportunity to shop from their orthodox bookstore.
"I look forward to meeting people," said Oshaana. " I also look forward to welcoming people and sharing some community time with everybody here in Vallejo. I look forward to opening our doors to the greater community in the Vallejo area and getting to know all our neighbors and Vallejo citizens."
Stall-Nash says she is "grateful for the community support" the church has received from over the years with the festivals.
"We really appreciate the community supporting us all these years," said Stall-Nash. It's a fun day for us. I love it. We say, 'Come be Greek for a day and enjoy the food, fun, and fellowship.'"
The proceeds of the Greek Street Food Fest help support the ministry and back into community efforts of the church, including fundraisers for sick and lunches for the houseless.
The Greek Street Food Fest will take place Saturday, July 8 at 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Vallejo. Parking will be free. Saint Constantine's services are every Saturday at 5 p.m. and Sundays at 10 a.m.
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