Last night’s dinner was probably my most ambitious to date…record sold out crowd of over 60 guests, a menu with a over a dozen items and all this being cooked in a kitchen I have never worked in before. My first Tsiknopempti dinner was a delicious success with lots of Kechribari retsina, Babatzim Ouzo, Alfa [...]
A friend of mine told that a new Gyro joint opened on the Danforth and I immediately headed into Greektown to check this new spot. After a spate of Greek shops having closed, this news made me smile. I’m optimistic. Maras Gyro & Grill is located on the south side of the Danforth, just west [...]
Last week I was given the opportunity to set-up a pop-up/vending stand for Father’s Day apres-bike ride along Toronto’s scenic Don Valley. The event was held at the Evergreen Brickworks and the challenge for me was to step-in last minute to fill the shoes of another chef who couldn’t keep their commitment to cook for [...]
Recently I had the pleasure of attending the re-launch of the Hogtown Gastropub, the Old Auld Spot at 633 College in Little Italy. My first visit here last year was for a meeting and a couple of beers and this time I was spolied with platter after platter of pub-grub. With a term like gastropub [...]
Tomorrow’s Tsiknopempti in Greece, a day that means “burnt Thursday” with all the meats being grilled/cooked on this Dionysian Carnival day. Backyard grills are pulled out, charcoal and/or wood is lit and the long train of varied meats are laid-out and grilled and just when you thought you were full, another plate arrives at the [...]
This dish was first inspired when I saw Anthony head back to home territory (New York) and tour the city’s great old-skool eateries. If you’ve ever been to New York you know that there’s an endless selection of places to eat with every culture and cuisine present and a combo of trendy and traditional restaurants. [...]
When I head into Thessaloniki (from Halkidiki) it’s to grab a bite with some family and friends and each and every time – a culinary surprise waits for me – guaranteed! A conversation with my friend Yianni goes like this: Me: I’m coming in to the city, what’s new, what’s hot – where shall we [...]
I’ve been enjoying this method of preparing chicken for years now. I have yet to find anyone not like it…what’s not to like about moist chicken with crispy skin? Beer can chicken works as such: open a can of beer, drink about 1/3 of the beer, you may add add aromatics into the beer like [...]
I would be a damn fool if I told you that Greece had a banner year for tourism. It didn’t. In most of the places that I visited you couldn’t tell there’s was a major drop in business, although business owners were harping about the drop in receipts. From the perspective of the tourist, it [...]
Last year I was given a review copy of Vefa Alexiadou’s book, “Vefa’s Kitchen” and the recipes in this heavy tome are endless! I could easily do a recipe a day (a la Julie Powell) and probably still have a few recipes to take me halfway into the next year. The recipe I want to [...]
