One of the biggest questions that have come to us over the years is: who is open on Saturday afternoon? The question is so frequent because so few places are open on Saturday afternoon. But like everything else post-COVID hours and days open seem to always be in flux.
Last Saturday in the frigid cold we decided to go have lunch after we were pleasantly surprised to see The Greyhound in downtown Covington open. It was late for lunch, and I hoped we’d still be there when Happy Hour rolled around. The big wood-fired oven that is the focal point of the bar turns out gorgeous Neapolitan pizza pies, and from 3-5 on Saturday they sell for half price.
But I didn’t go there for pizza. On this very cold day I went for something I saw online on the menu...Hungarian goulash. A few years ago I had the very best beef stew I’ve ever encountered on St. Patrick’s Day. It was the special that day, but I’ve never seen it since. I hoped this goulash would be similar. But like the delectable chicken pot pie I’ve had here, it vanished from the menu. There was nothing now that would warm me to my toes.
An appetizer caught my eye that would not be soul-satisfying, but it would satisfy my curiosity. I saw a “deconstructed” stuffed artichoke. As I have said many times, I am a fierce traditionalist, and I expect things to be what I know them to be. But the owners of the Greyhound are unpredictable, and they think outside the box. I had to see this. We also got the roasted feta cheese bake with pita. And ML got a burger, mainly because she wanted the great housecut fries here. The fries usually come as a large side with three accompanying sauces: curry mayo, chili mayo, and garlic sauce.
The artichoke came and while it was beautiful, it was not what I expected. But what should I have expected from a “deconstructed” stuffed artichoke? Artichoke was stuffed all right, into a baking dish, filling it with leaves crammed together that were so tender they could be eaten. Owners Torre and David Salazzo spent some time cooking in Italy, where magic happens with carciofi, as they call it.
There were breadcrumbs and olive oil and herbs, but the heavy garlic essence present in the popular local version of the Sicilian dish was not here. And the cheese on top of this was practically impenetrable. Still, what’s not to love about roasted artichokes with cheese and olive oil and breadcrumbs, no matter how it is assembled?
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The roasted feta came to the table with the most interesting pita bread. It was the size of a seat cushion and about as high and puffy. I know everyone with a wood-fired oven wants to show off their pita, but Alon Shaya did it best and first, and none can touch the pita at Shaya. This would have been far better with roasted crostini, in my view.
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There were large chunks of feta cheese, little olives, herbs, grilled vegetables, and lots of olive oil. I wound up pouring this oil into the artichoke baking dish, and left most of this ridiculous pita. (I realize I am a lone dissenter on this popular bread.)
The burger came and it was one of the everything burgers. At least it wasn’t a smashburger. But here was a thicker burger, single patty, covered in fancy cheese that had melted into the meat, a cheese crisp, fancy mayo, a pile of arugula, and grilled onions.
The fries are still housecut the old-fashioned way. It’s not a bistro fry, but the thicker kind that is ½ inch square. Inside is fluffy and outside golden brown and greaseless. These seemed slightly different than the ones we used to get. They seemed to be Yukon Gold or some fancier spud rather than basic Idaho Russet. They were still very good.
The meat in this burger had a very nice flavor all by itself, and it had the perfect grind. Fancy cheese that melts so completely into the meat isn’t as appealing to me as basic Cheddar. A bite of this ensemble had a lot of flavors, but the overall combination was nice. I still prefer a really great classic burger, but those are becoming ever more elusive.
They were pretty busy for this late Saturday lunch. I guess the others in there feel the same as I do. The menu is "eclectic" (or weird) but I find the creativity interesting. The raw materials are always great, and no matter what concoction they’ve come up with, the execution is always great. The end result may be puzzling or disappointing, but never boring. That’s something, and on a Saturday afternoon one could do a lot worse.
