For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/17/2007
What do diners in the Marietta area want? More beef and fish, says Stefan Bencik, owner of the now-defunct Slovakia Restaurant across from the Cobb County Courthouse near the Marietta Square. After six years of offering ethnic dishes from his homeland, Bencik has re-worked the concept and created Stefan's Off the Square.
"We decided it was time to make some changes," said Bencik, who runs the eatery with his wife, Ivana. "We still have most of our dishes from before on the menu, but we've also added more steaks and seafood."
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| Stefan's Off the Square restaurant serves
pecan-crusted trout with a variety of vegetables and strawberries. |
A sign outside shows off the new name. Inside, a few decorating changes have given the space a fresh look. The tables are topped with double black and white linens and lit with Tiffany lamps. The exposed brick walls and hardwood floors are still in place, as is the long wooden bar just inside the door.
And there's still a nod to Bencik's heritage, with native costumes and beer steins on the walls around the main dining room.
MORE OPTIONS
Stefan's new menu gets to the meat of the matter, starting off with filet mignon, topped with garlic butter; a 14-ounce rib eye; boneless pork chops; a New York strip with a peppercorn and shiitake mushroom sauce; and beef Wellington, tenderloin topped with mushroom and veal pâté and baked in a pastry crust.
Seafood options include salmon fillet flambéed with cherry wine and roasted pecans; romano-crusted grouper; fried pike; pecan trout; crab cakes; fried scallops; shrimp scampi; and coquilles St. Jacques.
Diners who adored the halusky (potato dumplings with goat cheese), fried smelts, pirogues and sauerkraut soup will find their favorites still on the menu. Several main dishes with a Slovakian slant also survived: sauerbraten; eye round of beef in a dill sauce; Hungarian goulash; and wiener schnitzel. The restaurant's signature — half a crispy roast duck with dumplings — is a holdover that Bencik couldn't give up. "We're the only ones around here doing that," he said.
FROM THE BAR
The wine list features more than two dozen bottles, largely from California with a sprinkling from Washington state and Italy. Beers drinkers get a more global selection, with brews from the Czech Republic and Slovakia making the list.
FUN FACT
Stefan's may have some of the area's most cutting-edge restrooms. Those who excuse themselves to powder their nose will find that they can do so without touching a single surface: Everything is touch-free, including the "hand sanitation station" that dispenses sweet-smelling, germ-killing lotion.
