The evening was hosted by local Westwood restaurateur and West L.A. Chamber of Commerce President Roozbeh Farahanipour.
On May 31, Westwood restaurateur Roozbeh Farahanipour closed his Greek restaurant, Delphi, on Westwood Boulevard, to allow a dozen food bloggers to sample the Hellenic restaurant’s fare.
Despite the fact that Farahanipour is in fact Persian, and there are a myriad of Persian restaurants in the area, Farahanipour wanted to maintain the authentic Greek cuisine of the restaurant, when he purchased it back in 2009.
He told Century City-Westwood News that even the Greek Consul General of Los Angeles, who is a regular at the restaurant, says it’s the best Greek food in town.
And, as if on cue, the Greek Consul General Gregory Karahalios showed up for the evening’s festivities, and happily chatted away with the other invited guests.
With four different types of bottled water on the table (from four different regions in Greece), Farahanipour, who is also the president of the West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, proudly stated, “We are the only Greek restaurant in Los Angeles that serves this many types of water.”
The water flowed freely as did plenty of wine, appetizers consisting of olives, hummus, eggplant, tzaktziki and Taramasalata.
Guests dined on everything from falafel plates with grape leaves, to fish, chicken and pork, although lamb chops seemed to be a popular choice.
The spirit of Greece was also alive and well in the airy restaurant, with its blue and white checkered tablecloths, the clinking of glasses and plenty of shouts of “Opa!”
Farahanipour was a generous host, refilling glasses in record time, while his wife, Suzanne, brought out flaming plates of sizzling fried cheese doused in cognac.
Suzanne is also a pastry chef and diners made sure to leave room for the baklava (complete with little Greek flags), alongside decadent cheese and chocolate cakes.
As Consul General Karahalios noted, “I’ve met a lot of Greek restaurant owners but here we have a special case [with Farahanipour]. He’s not Greek, but he loves Greece so much.”
Delphi Greek Restaurant is located at 1383 Westwood Blvd. Tel: 310.478.2900.
