The recipe for success often calls for the honor of tradition with an infusion of new tastes and flavors, and that is exactly what new and frequent customers can experience at Fovero! Greek & Homestyle Kitchen.
The restaurant opened this past April in the Tara Plaza. New owner Lori Kitta Long explained she purchased the previous restaurant, Grecian Gyros, roughly a year ago before remodeling. Keeping many of the original menu items while providing diners with newer options, Long said Papillion's reception to the new restaurant has been tremendous.
"They have been very supportive," Long said. “We've had an unbelievable amount of positive comments."
While not Greek herself or raised with Mediterranean recipes, Long said that she had begun helping out at the former restaurant, and she got to know the previous owners, becoming acquainted with Greek-inspired recipes. Then, when she purchased the restaurant, she decided to keep the Greek options as many enjoyed them, and she chose to make most of these recipes from scratch in the Fovero! kitchen.
"It's the only thing that has been here and the only Greek around the area, so I thought, 'We are for sure keeping it!'" she said.
Within its first six months, Fovero!—which translates to "Amazing!" in Greek—has already won such accolades, with first place for Best of Omaha's top new restaurant and earning the rank of third-best Greek restaurant.
"I couldn't believe it when they called," she said.
The owner credits the restaurant's success to the steady folding of the restaurant's roots and the addition of new menu items. For instance, long-time customers can return to find old favorites such as gyros, a meat and pita sandwich, but can find some new and already popular options that Long refers to as "Good Ol' American" food, which includes pork tenderloins, burgers, baked goods, Sunday breakfasts, a rotating Thursday special, and more.
"Those are the kind of things I was brought up on," Long said. In another nod to tradition, the owner said her mother's cooking inspired her to open a restaurant, something she long wished her mother, Susie Kitta, would do as a kid.
"She's no longer with us," Long said. "There are certain recipes I make that are my mom's, and those are the ones I try to bring here. Her food is still enjoyed by people."
A former educator at nearby St. Columbkille Parish and in Omaha Public Schools, Long also said her former academic career prompted her to research and find homemade recipes for many of the restaurant's Greek items. Citing a visit from a customer who hailed from Greece, Long said she was challenged to make an authentic Greek salad.
"Because of my education, I researched it," Long laughed, adding that an authentic Greek salad is chopped vegetables and a Greek vinaigrette. Making everything in-house, Long said customers took to it quickly.
"If I'm doing it, I'm going to make it," she said. This list of homemade goods extends to other Greek items, including the spanakopita (spinach pie,) baklava, tzatziki, and more. "We try things so many times until we get the taste we want. And we do it that way, all the way to the salad dressings. It is how I was brought up."
For fans of the previous Americanized Greek salad, Long said they can find the restaurant's long-time salad option still on the menu, as many have requested. Fovero!, she said, strives to keep menu items people like while being open to suggestions and "give the people what they want."
For instance, coming from a Polish background herself, one repeated request is for the Polish dumplings.
"We haven't done pierogis yet, but we will do it!" she said. "That will be a special someday."
Long's only minor concern, she said, was that many folks in the community are still learning that Fovero! is open and where they are located. Recounting a post from the Let's Talk Papillion Facebook Group, she said many were surprised to learn that the restaurant was open and offering homemade baked pies. However, she said she felt confident as people were spreading the word.
New customers can visit Fovero! at 839 Tara Plaza in Papillion on Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. or enjoy breakfast on Sundays from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Readers can also find more information online at foverokitchen.com or view the daily and weekly specials through social media by following Fovero Greek & Homestyle Kitchen on Facebook and Instagram.
"We try things so many times until we get the taste we want... It is how I was brought up."
"There are certain recipes I make that are my mom's, and those are the ones I try to bring here. Her food is still enjoyed by people." - Lori Kitta Long on her mother, Susie Kitta's, influence on the restaurant
