Nashua’s St. Philip Church presents pop-up event
Last October, St. Philip Greek Orthodox Church in Nashua held a first-come, first-served gyro and baklava pop-up, its first food event in a year, and it far exceeded organizers’ expectations.
“We sold out twice during the day, had to make an emergency run to get more supplies … and still ended up having to close up,” said Christina Eftimiou, who co-chaired the pop-up with fellow parishioner Tina Alexopoulos. “I think we really underestimated just how much people missed having our annual festival and the Greek food that we put out.”
A second pop-up highlighting Greek pastries and cookies followed, just ahead of the holiday season, and was also a resounding success. Now, Eftimiou and Alexopoulos are organizing a new pre-ordering event featuring more favorites like pastitsio (Greek lasagna), keftedes (Greek meatballs) and spanakopita (spinach pie). Online orders are available now through April 30, with pickups on Saturday, May 14, coincidentally falling on the church’s normal festival weekend.
“We didn’t want people to not be able to get the food that they wanted,” Eftimiou said, “so at least by having the pre-order end about two weeks before the actual pickup date, we’re going to be able to make exactly what we need so that everyone who places their order is going to get it.”
Planning for this new pop-up began in February. When coming up with a menu, Eftimiou said she and Alexopoulos looked both at what some of the bigger sellers were from previous events, and which items they could produce in bulk and in a reasonable amount of time. The pastitsio, keftedes and spanakopita are all available to order as dinners with rice and Greek string beans baked in a tomato sauce. Those same dinner-sized portions can also be ordered a la carte.
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Pastitsio is a Greek-based pasta dish with ground beef and a béchamel sauce. The keftedes, also prepared using beef, are cooked in a tomato sauce and come three per order, while the spanakopita has layers of spinach and feta cheese. The church’s own freshly baked baklava, made from an old recipe, is also on the menu a la carte — that comes in a pack of four per order.
A cookbook of recipes collected by the church’s Agape Ladies Society is being sold too.
When ordering through the website, you’ll choose a pickup time between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
“We’re trying to plan so that the food is coming out of the oven fresh, so that we’re able to package and deliver it to people hot and ready to go,” Eftimiou said.
Next year will mark the church’s 50th anniversary. Eftimiou said she hopes the festival can be brought back to its traditional format by then, and a gala is also in the planning stages for the fall.
Greek food festival pop-up
When: Pre-orders are available now through April 30; pickups will be on Saturday, May 14, between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Where: St. Philip Greek Orthodox Church, 500 W. Hollis St., Nashua
Cost: Foods are priced per item; see ordering form for details
Visit: nashuagreekfestival.com
Featured photo: Pastitsio (Greek lasagna). Courtesy photo.