Patates Plaki

Some of you may be still salivating at the steak dish I posted just a couple of days ago but the side dish served with the meat is no slouch either and it’s one of family’s favourite during the cold months. Potatoes are big around here and when we agreed to cook-up some steaks for […]
Halvas Farsalon

Most Greeks are named after patron saints (others given ancient Greek names) and each person celebrates their “name day” on the day their namesake (patron saint) died. The saint’s memory is celebrated along with all those named after that particular saint on that particular day. There are name days practically every day in Greece (many […]
Taverna Spiridoula, Lefkada

During the past week I’ve been vacationing on the island of Lefkada, located on the Ionian side of Greece. Lefkada is one of the few islands where a ferry boat is not used to reach it. Mainland Greece can be seen from the east side of the island and the other side faces the west, […]
Estiatorio Volos

Torontonians know and love The Danforth for the string of Greek restaurants, cafés and bakeries that line Danforth Road and spill out on Pape Avenue. Next month the Taste of the Danforth opens up the streets and shop fronts and over a million people pass through Toronto’s Greektown to sample the best of what the […]
Purslane Tzatziki

One person’s weed is another person’ dinner. Purslane grows amok in Greece and the other nations that surround the Mediterranean. This succulent can be found growing in gardens, roadside and yes, even at the farmer’s markets. In Greece, purslane is often made into a salad (or a salad component), stewed or simply added as a […]
Thessaloniki Mustard

One of my favourite condiments is mustard and my affinity has nothing to do with that yellow ballpark stuff most of you are familiar with but it from my first taste of good mustard…in Thessaloniki of all places! My first trip to Greece was in 1974, accompanied by my mother who had not seen her […]
Spatchcock Chicken

This dish instantly takes me back to Thessaloniki (and Greece) – just this past May. I stayed for about a week at my favourite uncle’s place, “Theo Mitso”. My uncle saved his drachmas, built a wonderful new home in the suburbs and surrounded the family with a lawn, gardens, olive and varied fruit trees. In […]
Nea Folia “Η Νέα Φωλιά”

Tucked into one of the narrow roads in the Turkish Consulate neighborhood of Thessaloniki sits “Nea Folia” or “new nest”. Nea Folia is near the intersection of Kassandrou and St. Sophia and then you have to locate its actual location which is at the corner of Aristomenous & Kassandrou. Get to the area and park […]
The Serraikon Bougatsa

When I woke up this morning I was a little confused. I get this way the first few days of a travel destination. I realized that I was a) not in Canada and b) no longer at the Sani Resort but c) here in Thessaloniki, Greece. I spent the day roaming the Kapani central market […]
H Ntomata (The Tomato)

When I heard that one of the restaurants we would be dining at was called “Tomato”, I thought it to be be rather boring. Upon reading Chrisanthos Karamolengkos’ bio and his notoriety for playing with Greek classics, I had no idea that he would also show us his love of the tomato by using the […]