Mid-Cities Greek Foodfest offers full bellies and fuller hearts

Just before noon, sunlight spilled through the cloudy weather in time to light up the Mid-Cities Greek Foodfest. The smell of rain was overcome by the savory smell of fresh gyros and grilled souvlaki being served to incoming visitors alongside a celebratory “Opa!” — a Greek expression of joy, excitement or surprise. 

“It’s a very homey feeling,” said Shane Pratt, who attended the festival with his partner, Grace Cannon. “It’s a really good community and it’s all in support of good things.”

St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church hosted their annual Greek Foodfest in Euless, attracting visitors from across Tarrant County throughout the weekend for a slice of Greek culture. The festival featured local vendors, tours of the church, Greek-inspired folk performances, delicious Greek dishes and the culture’s signature hospitality.

“I love to see our church family come together as volunteers, and then I love how we welcome the community from outside in,” said Michael Eftimie, a chef at the event. “We call that philoxenia, the love of the neighbor or the stranger.”

Eftimie said their culture expresses love through food. The festival included a variety of edible tokens of affection, like pastitsio, moussaka, saganaki, gyro, lamb chops and souvlaki. The dishes were served alongside Greek coffee, ice-cold Fix Hellas beer, a selection of Greek wines and traditional ouzo, a distilled spirit flavored with anise and known as Greece’s national drink. After eating their lunch or dinner, guests stopped by the pastry and dessert tent for a baklava sundae or a box of the classic pastries to go.

“Greece brought to you by Texans,” said Luca Tudora, one of the lead performers. “You got Southern hospitality with Greek food — that’s essentially what’s going on here.”

Tudora is a member of the Fotia Dancers who performed throughout the weekend. Tudora partners with dance instructor Zoe Ruppel to choreograph and run their dance for the festival — the two have been dancing together since they were little. While dancing was something their parents originally made them do, they’ve grown to use it as a way to connect to their peers, culture and community. 

“We have so much fun in our practices with each other and we all just laugh and we get to try new things out and be creative,” said Ruppel.

In addition to the Fotia Dancers, other groups included youth dancers with members as young as 5 years old, bringing a variety of performances — with some including the audience to participate.

Other than the dancing and food, Ruppel and Tudora said another staple in the festival is their church. To Tudora, it is one of the most beautiful buildings in Euless and in the metroplex.

Tudora’s father and the parish’s presiding priest, the Rev. Vasile Tudora, hosted tours of their church throughout the weekend. Those who joined the tour were led to the front pews of the church under the building’s dome, which was painted a seashell blue with depictions of angels dancing around Jesus and the apostles. A golden chandelier accented the room, emitting a warm light against the rest of the altar where the priest explained the details of the architecture and history of their faith.

After nearly 35 years, the festival remains a much-anticipated annual event, with everyone invited to enjoy the food with the church’s community. 

“This parish as a whole is very much Balkan and a melting pot of different cultures. What I love about it is that even if you’re not Greek everybody comes together and gives their love to this festival.”

Through these tours, the Rev. Tudora hopes that visitors will bring home an understanding of the Greek Orthodox faith along with their full bellies. 

“I hope they will bring one thing, the fact that we don’t make a separation between our life in Christ and our regular life. We don’t hang our faith at the door when we go home. We try to live in a way that is appropriate to that life in Christ every day.” 

Mica Magday is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mica.magday@fortworthreport.org. 

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