A happy marriage of meat and pita
Alexandros on the Danforth has tempting dishes shown in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
For a movie rife with ethnic stereotyping, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 has a surprising lack of lamb jokes.
Instead the sequel to the hit 2002 romantic comedy, which opened last Friday, has fun with other Greek dishes. Spell-check changes spanakopita to “spina bifida.” Non-Greeks pronounce moussaka as “moose kaka.”
There are also moments when the on-screen food is decidedly tempting, like the repeated shots of kourabiedes, almond shortbreads rolled in icing sugar. Or that crunchy spanakopita, which Athens Pastries duplicates ($3.75 a slice) with lemony spinach sandwiched between burnished phyllo layers.
Both can be found in Greektown on the Danforth, where the film was partly shot.
Greektown is the obvious eating destination after the movie, especial- ly Alexander the Great Parkette, since fictional patriarch Gus Portokalos is obsessed with proving his descent from the ancient king. The parkette at Danforth and Logan Aves. has more to offer than not just one, but two bronze Alexander statues: This is where veteran takeout shop Alexandros carves some of the juiciest pork gyros going.
The late-night crew at Alexandros knows about the Nia Vardalos movie and its sequel.
“We’ve got the Windex,” says Elisseos Kirillou, brandishing a bottle.
Stacks of chicken or pork gyros, pronounced YEE-ros, slowly rotate against an electric burner. Pork enough for two sandwiches is shaved off. Everything, including onions, tomatoes and tzatziki with visible cucumber pieces, is wrapped in a pocketless Greek pita that barely reaches around. From start to tooth-picked finish ($6), the whole process takes less than two minutes.
The pork shoulder and neck meat is rich and ropy, with delicious pockets of fat and a simply spiced crust made from a secret blend of seven ingredients. The shop goes through two 50pound skewers of each meat a day, switching to 70-pound skewers on weekends.
“In summer, we replace them three or four times a day,” says carver Nick Melegos.
Unwrapped from its foil, the gyro can be held like a Greek taco. I can just hear Gus Portokalos arguing the Spanish word taco comes from the Greek “takos,” or chock, an object that holds something steady.
There you go. Alexandros, 484 Danforth Ave. (at Logan Ave.), 416-461-3073, and one other location. Open seven days, 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. (until 5 a.m. on Friday and Saturday).