Kafana

Kafana, a Yugoslavian delight in the East Village, is focused, unwavering, and explicitly Serbian-Croatian, with grilled meats and chopped, crunchy, fresh salads. The staff is fast and sharp, and no one around you at the tables is speaking English; you feel as if youve just wandered into a popular, bustling, low-key supper club in a bohemian neighborhood of Dubrovnik.-Gabrielle Hamilton, Prune, New York Newsweek August 2012 Tasty nuggets on the meaty menu, each $11.95, include walnut-and-cheese-stuffed prunes wrapped in bacon paired with chicken livers wrapped in bacon; and the aforementioned skinless grilled sausages, cevapi, eaten with chopped onions and that buttery, almost cheesy spread, kajmak (pronounced KYE-mack). THE NEW YORK TIMES, July 16, 2008 … But theres nothing sassy about the little rustic bistro, no assumption that carnivory is a misunderstood art, or one ripe for reinvention. Wedged into a cozy wooden seat in the single small room, you can easily believe youve stopped for the night in a rough-hewn Balkan inn… THE NEW YORK SUN, August 20, 2008 Thus it was refreshing to sit down at Kafana, a mid-priced new place in the East Village, and find the food entirely unreconstructed from its Eastern European antecedents, with nary a drop of balsamic, leaf of mizuna, or doodle of fuchsia-colored sauce in sight. This is just the way we eat in Belgrade. THE VILLAGE VOICE, July 9, 2008 People want to be transported. I wanted to make a cozy place that felt like home but that wasnt screaming Serbia at you, says Ocokoljic. Its a formula that seems to be working. Friends, new arrivals can come here and order cevapi (small sausages made with a blend of pork, veal, and beef) and ask for them like we do at home. THE NEW YORK POST, June 2, 2010 Kafana, a candlelit bistro on Avenue Cs burgeoning bar and restaurant row… artfully cluttered with framed ancient postcards and bric-a-brac antiques, and staffed by good-looking young Serbs. Instead