TRAVERSE CITY -- Preparing dinner for 1,600 has become a routine if still challenging endeavor for members of the Traverse City Orthodox Mission.
The 7th Annual Taste of Greece, to be held Thursday, July 24, at Traverse City St. Francis High School has built a huge following in the community since it began in 2002. This year's event will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. and tickets are $14 each and available at the event; dine-in and drive through will be offered.
Event founder and chef John Batsakis of Traverse City believes the loyalty and growing popularity of the event stems from a region hungry for great-tasting ethnic food.
"People like it because it's something that you really can't go anyplace in town to purchase," said Batsakis, who introduced gyros to the area during his 16-year tenure as owner of the U&I Lounge. "There's a lot of influx right now of people that have moved here from downstate that are used to being able to get these items anytime they want and Traverse City is not quite there with the ethnic foods yet."
The Taste of Greece dine-in or drive-through meal will again feature an array of Mediterranean favorites: Greek salad, marinated pork kebobs, spankopita (spinach pie,) tyropita (cheese pie,) roasted potatoes, dinner roll and baklava for desert. Dolmathes, or stuffed grape leaves, are new to the menu this year.
The event is the major annual fundraiser of the Traverse City Orthodox Mission, which a year ago welcomed their first full-time priest. Prior to that, a visiting priest would hold periodic services in town for the small congregation.
"Father Iakovos is a super guy, since then the church has grown just by his being here," said Batsakis.
The Traverse City Orthodox Mission, which meets in rental space and hopes to build their own facility, has a membership of 80 families. Money from the Taste of Greece helps boost a building fund for a permanent church.
More than 50 volunteers will pitch in to put on the dinner, which will also feature an ethnic bake sale and a book sale. Eight captains oversee committees handling everything from decorations and the bake sale to traffic control and meal prep.
Under the guidance of Batsakis, the menu and food has been ordered, and will be prepped, assembled and cooked starting Wednesday. Volunteers will start grilling the meat Thursday afternoon on two grills the church purchased a few years ago.
"We now have 12 feet of grilling," said Batsakis.
The earliest meat cooked will be kept warm in au jus until the event begins a few hours later. Organizers hope this plan alleviates congestion at the popular drive-through option, which has grown to about half the meals served. At St. Francis, volunteers will direct traffic and work the line of cars to take orders and deliver meals right to the car.
"The drive-through is always a big hit and hopefully people will have less waiting," said Karen Kain, a volunteer organizer of Taste of Greece. "This year, too, it's a little challenging because Munson has their summer camp at St. Francis and we can't get into the kitchen until after 1 p.m."
Since it began, the Taste of Greece has been nomadic, starting out at the Grace Episcopal Church -- where the meals prepared for more than 400 diners sold out in a half hour -- to the Central United Methodist Church to the First Congregational Church.
Organizers tapped St. Francis High School in 2006, where they fielded the biggest draw to date. They hope that this in-town location will help set a new record for attendance.
"We're going back to St. Francis because we like the downtown neighborhood setting, a lot of people can walk in," said Batsakis.
Looking ahead, the continued success of the Taste of Greece has organizers pondering the next step.
"Really we hope sometime in the future to have a festival type thing to where it's more than a one-day event, to have dancing and music," Batsakis added.
Tickets for the Taste of Greece are $14 and will be available in advance from church members or at the door. For more information, call the church at 668-6583.
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