Big thank you’s to Despina Kreastoulas and Greg Pappas of the Greek America Foundation, who approached me to organize a dinner to coincide with the 3rd Annual Greek Film & Foto Week. Our guests loved the space, we all proudly wore our “I love GR” pins and some proceeds of the dinner will go to the Project Hope Fund.

The ambiance of the evening was rounded-out with the warm candle supplied by Neo-Image Candlelights. Thank you John! The wine was was furnished by Kolonaki Group and pairings selected by Steve Kriaris. The wines were splendid with the dinner, thank you Steve.

This dinner also had a couple of new collaborators: the first one being Kallikori olive oil from Messinia. Effy and Spyro have been friends for a few years and it was wonderful to finally have their product used in one of my dinners.

Keeping with the Messinia theme, many components of the menu were made with Navarino Icons products from Messinia. This company is world-renowned for its Costa Navarino luxury resort and now they’ve branched out to market and promote the local food items of of Messinia. A warm thank you Peter Poulos for his generous support.

Before you scan through the photos, a friendly reminder that the next dinner is set for Saturday, June 15th at the Cherry Street Restaurant. We’re going to be dining outdoors and feasting on whole lamb on the spit! Half the seats are already gone so gather your friends and book your seats soon.

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© 2013, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

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Join me on Saturday, June 1st as I cook up a 5 course dinner inspired by the cuisine of Chios and its unique spice, Mastiha. It’s a resin from trees that only grow on the southern part of Chios and during Ottoman times, the punishment for anyone caught stealing it was death. It was quite literally worth its weight in gold!

Guests will be seated in Amali’s skylight room and the evening will begin with passed appetizers and cocktails made with Ya Mastiha liqueur. The dinner will also include Greek wines paired with each course.

The final ingredient to making this dinner a delicious success will be the the full backing of mastihashopNY, who will provide me with all the ingredients from Chios that can be found at their shop. 

Mastiha/Chios Dinner at Amali, June 1st, 8:30PM

Passed Appetizers:

Kolokithokeftedes with Mastiha-scented Tzatziki

Drunken Keftedakia in Chios Ouzo

Braised Octopus canape on fava with mastiha olive oil, pickled fennel

1st course:

Artichoke salad with mastiha-scented roasted cherry tomatoes, capers, sun-dried olives, kritamo

2nd course: Calamari stuffed with orange blossom & with shrimp, mastiha “butter”, tomato

Main: Braised lamb with honey, Chios sun-dried tomato sauce, mastiha, thyme

Dessert: Ekmek Kataifi – a terrine of kataifi pastry and Chios sour cherry spoon sweet.

Mastiha loukoumia

Dinner plus wine pairings $95 per person. Seats may be purchased by emailing the restaurant at events@amalinyc.com

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© 2013, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

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Let’s kick off the summer season with an dinner set in Toronto’s Port Lands with Toronto’s skyline as the backdrop. This evening will be unforgettable as we watch the sun set over Toronto’s skyline, dining outdoors and enjoying a five-course dinner that will capture the essence of Greek evening.SOUVLA! The centerpiece menu item will be whole lamb on the spit, Greek style over charcoal…a rarity in this city unless you’re invited to a Greek friend’s home!

I am delighted to be cooking at the historic Cherry Street Restaurant located in Toronto’s Port Lands, in what used to be a Toronto Dominion bank. Owner/proprietor Louis Anagnostakos has converted this landmark into a warm, casual restaurants with a great view of Toronto’s skyline.

One of the most enjoyed Greek delicacies is whole rotisserie lamb, slow cooked over glowing embers and here’s your chance to have another taste of Greece. This specialty from Roumeli (central Greece) has been embraced throughout Greece and this evening will be your chance to enjoy one of my favourite dishes!

All courses will be paired with Greek wines from Kolonaki Group.

Entire menu cooked using Acropolis Organics extra-virgin olive oil.

Appetizers:

Psomotyri – Grilled Bread with Warm Cheese & Herbs

Jerked Pork Gyro Sliders & Slaw

Fried Zucchini & Eggplant Chips With Smoked Tyrokafteri

First Course – Greek Gazpacho With Feta & Olive Oil Ice Cube, Homemade Bread

Second Course – Grilled Manouri Salad with Crispy Sweetbreads & Kalamata Olive Dressing

Main: Whole Ontario Lamb on the Spit *(Souvla). Tzatziki, Greek Roast Potatoes & Briami

Dessert: Trigona Panoramatos filled with Creme Patisserie with Toasted Almonds

Tickets for full dinner plus wine-pairings for the entire meal is $75.00 (plus handling fee).

Tickets for full dinner (NO WINE) are $60.00 (plus handling fee).

Prices include HST.

Menu is subject to change.

*No menu substitutions

This is a RAIN OR SHINE EVENT| (Guests will be moved indoor in the event of rain)

Payments will be accepted through PayPal but those wishing to use credit cards may still click onto the PayPal page which allows you a credit card payment option.

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© 2013, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

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One of the basics of Greek cuisine is to eat seasonally, eat local and of course, use quality products. All of dishes for this menu were made using Acropolis Organics Olive Oil from Crete. I would like to once again thank Panagioti and the staff at Acropolis for their generous support!

I would like to thank John Douldouras of Neo-Image Candelight for furnishing the plant-based candles for the dinner. The ambiance would not have been the same without them!

My dinners are always paired with Greek wines. My friend Steve Kriaris of Kolonaki Group pairs the wines to be served with each menu and the result? A evening elevated by Greek wines that stand up to the best in the wine world.

A big thank you to Paula Costa of Dragon’s Kitchen for her tireless help in the kitchen and behind the scenes to help make this dinner and others such a success. Thank you to my servers Thurka and Amanda and to Aaron who the dishes coming for course after course!

Thanks to all the guests who attended last night. It was a joy to make some new friends and see some of the “regulars” who come to each dinner.

My next Greek Supper Club takes place on Tuesday, May 14th in downtown Toronto at the historic Burroughes Building at Queen & Bathurst. This dinner is being held in conjunction with Greek Film & Foto Week and some proceeds will go to Project Hope for Greece. Seats are on sale, reserve your spot for a dinner that will sell out!

In the meantime, enjoy some photos from last night’s dinner.

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© 2013, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

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My first Tsiknopempti dinner was a delicious success with lots of Kechribari retsina, Babatzim Ouzo, Alfa beer and Cool beer to wash down the food.

Many thanks to Paula, Amanda and Thurka for their stellar serving of guests, Cool Beer for providing the kitchen and dining area, Kolonaki Group for the wine and spirits and Acropolis Organics for donating the olive oil and balsamic vinegar for the event.

Tsiknopempti translates to Burnt Thursday and it’s a huge day of eating grilled meats during the Carnival (Apokries) period for Greek. That’s what I gave my guests. The menu was inspired by menu items often served at Greek tavernas and the dinner service was by and large family style.

I’ll allow the photos to do the talking…capturing the food, the new friendships that were made and the usual fun, casual atmosphere I try to create for each dinner. I hope to see you at my next dinner on Tuesday, April 16th where I cook up a Sarakostiano (Greek Lenten) dinner with ladera (vegetarian) and seafood dishes.

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© 2013, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

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