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Place: Daphne Cafe - on Ellsworth in Shadyside
Date: 5/4/11
BYO'd: Seasonal Variety Pack from Magic Hat
(not the WHOLE case, just enough for a sampling of each :) )
Corkage Fee:  $5 total

"BYO Buzz": Great value (ie tons of food! not a lotta $)
After a slight disappointment in learning that the previous scheduled venue of Paris 66 had obtained their liquor license last October (this knowledge came once we were seated and started to pull out the evenings selections of brews - C'est la vie!) we debated our options and in the end the reusable grocery bag filled with malted barley and hops won, we Urban Spooned it up and found a location close by and one neither of us had tried.

Atmosphere: Cozy (seating for about 40), Casual, Inviting

Service: Attentive
It turns out that when Shia LeBouf is not acting in a Transformer movie, he waits tables at Daphne.  So if you love Mediterranean food and have a thing for Shia, this is the place for you;It is definitely "more than meets the eye". 

Appetizer:  The Mixed Appetizer Platter : Hummus (brown), Mediterranean Dip (red),
and Eggplant with Sauce (not the brown or red one)

The Hummus was just your normal tasty hummus.  The Mediterranean Dip was L's favorite, made up of roasted red pepper, feta cheese, walnuts, and EVOO.  The Eggplant with Sauce was A's Favorite, made up of cubed eggplant, green and red peppers, all in a tomato and garlic sauce.

Served with warm pita, could have been enough for a meal for two! But we had to try a couple other things...
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Entree: Salads
Gyro Salad (A) right
Very fresh tasting, TONS of Feta, tomatoes, little cucumber and nicely spiced warm strips of gyro meat.  Very large portions (especially after all the tasty dips in the appetizer)

only negative, just a few too many onions for my liking (and probably my husband's for when i come home to tell him about this place).  But easily removed!

Mediterranean Salad (L) left (should be called the Feta Lover's Salad)
I'd like to consider myself a Greek/Mediterranean salad connoisseur, having ordered one in the majority of the restaurants that offer it.  When I saw the amount of feta cheese in my salad, I think a tear of joy ran down my face.  I had enough feta to make every bite FETA-licious.  The dressing was good, not great.  Overall, it was a pretty awesome salad.

*Note how L's is still has it's nice presentation?  If it wasn't for her and reminding me, I'd have no pictures... apparently, I'm just too excited to wait!

Dessert: Baklava (Pistachio and Walnut)
Perfect mix of sweet, nutty, but not sticky or syrup-y, both the pistachios and walnuts were very finely ground, enough to make even a nut-hater (L) enjoy

(again, note the lack of waiting.....and the extra feta on the table from our salads)

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The Drinks: Magic Hat Seasonal Variety Pack
A: Single Chair & Blind Faith
L: Wacko & Blind Faith

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AND a flash back to highschool vending machine days...Magic Hat is like the Snapple of beer, there is a nice little message under each cap.
For our "older readers" the bottle caps read....
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(Clockwise from top left)
What's a Sporkener? (hence title of this blog)
Put a glide in yo' stride and a dip in yo' hip (perfect for L and her NKOTB like dance moves)
Got Cap?
In Fermentum Veritas...something in latin....?

And... for all those wondering what the heck a Sporkener is, the powers at google have an answer - Magic Hat has created a handy-all-in-one-never-need-another-utensil-again device that is a spoon, fork and bottle opener all in one!

What more could a girl want?
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Daphne Cafe on Urbanspoon

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