The Pappas family brings its big, bold Greek flavor back to Houston with this lively new spot inspired by the family’s beloved matriarch, Yiayia Mary. Come for meze-style plates like dolmades stuffed with beef, lamb and pistachios, sizzling saganaki with pear and date preserves, wood-grilled ribeye souvlaki with pickled fennel and tzatziki, harissa-kissed grilled octopus and house-baked Kalamata olive bread that’s pure heaven; and toast to good times ouzo and cocktails like the Frozen Athenian Spritz or Yiayia’s Tonic.
We choose this year’s winner of the Best Montrose Brunch.
Best Brunch – Montrose: Októ
Another hit from Sof Hospitality (the team behind Doris Metropolitan and Hamsa), Októ has brought its playful, modern Mediterranean flair to the brunch scene earlier this spring. The menu moves from Lox & Latkes with Osetra caviar and Green Shakshuka with spinach and feta, to Octopus Carpaccio and Frena French Toast with blueberry clove compote. Cocktails and luxe snacks like mini caviar-tinis keep the energy high, even when it’s not patio weather.
There is one cautionary note about eating Bermuda buttercup, and it is related to quantity. Like some other plants (sorrel, lambs quarter, and spinach come to mind), it is high in oxalates. Eating a large quantity, regularly, would be anti-nutritional (oxalates bind calcium, making it unavailable) as well as bad for ailing kidneys. If you suffer from any kidney problem, it is probably a food to avoid.
I use no more than a few tablespoons at a time, precisely because it is so sour. Any more would result in a permanent pucker.
Above: Wilted nettles with chopped Bermuda buttercup in a savory custard for a rustic, pizza-like tart. Above: It is very good mixed with Swiss chard, spinach, nettles, or other greens to top a rustic tart.
Leafy Green Tart with Bermuda Buttercup
Recipe adapted from Forage, Harvest, Feast – A Wild-Inspired Cuisine.
Adaptable to any leafy greens, this crisp tart is delicious eaten hot, at once, or cold, at a picnic. If Bermuda buttercup does not grow where you live, substitute sorrel or sheep sorrel. If you use nettles for this tart, blanch them by covering them in boiling water and cooking for about 5 minutes (spinach and chard need much less water, but nettles have those stings).
Filling
1½ lbs spinach, or: Swiss chard leaves (use the stems like this), nettles, lamb’s quarter, amaranth, quickweed 3 Tablespoons chopped Bermuda buttercup stems 1 cup crème fraîche or sour cream ½ cup whipping cream 3 large egg yolks 1 large egg ¼ teaspoon salt Black pepper, lots
Olive Oil Pastry
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
125 ml extra virgin olive oil
½ cup tepid water
The pastry does not need to rest or chill, so make the filling first.
For the filling: In a large pot bring an inch of water to a boil over high heat. Pack in the leafy greens and cover. Cook over high heat for about 2 minuets, then stir. Cook for another 2 minutes. The leaves should be just-tender but vividly green. Drain the leaves through a colander. Refresh with cold water and then squeeze them dry as possible in your hands. Now roll them up in clean kitchen towels to press out any residual moisture. Chop the leaves roughly, and reserve.
In a bowl beat the egg yolks and whole egg with the crème fraîche, cream, salt, and about 15 twists of black pepper. Add the chopped greens and the Bermuda buttercup and stir gently to combine. Dip a finger in to taste for seasoning, unless the raw eggs bother you. In which case…don’t. Add more salt, if necessary.
For the pastry: Combine all the pastry ingredients in bowl and stir to combine. Form into a ball.
To assemble: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Oil, or line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
On a clean surface, roll out the pastry into a disc about 12 inches in diameter. Transfer it to the sheet. Using your fingers, turn up its edges, crimping them to form a lip to contain the filling. Gently tip in the filling and spread evenly. Bake for 40 – 45 minutes until the pastry is crisp and the center of the tart is set.
Impress your guests with this 7-Layer Loaded Hummus Dip! Layers of creamy hummus, homemade tabbouleh, cucumber, tomato, olives, feta and pine nuts is served with toasted naan.
7 layers of deliciousness just waiting for you to dip into.
Impressive and incredibly delicious, this 7-layer loaded hummus dip can be an appetizer shared among friends and family. However, I could totally make a meal out of it too. It starts with creamy hummus and homemade tabbouleh and ends with allthetoppings.
The best part is that each can be made or prepped in advance and then the dip can be thrown together in minutes.
To Make This 7-Layer Loaded Hummus Dip You Will Need:
persian cucumber – Lends cool refreshing flavor and crisp and crunchy texture.
tomatoes – I like cherry tomatoes, but you can use your favorite!
olives – I like to use (pitted) kalamata.
crumbled feta – Freshly crumbled is best in my opinion.
toasted pine nuts – Optional (omit if allergic).
chopped fresh dill – Lends a pop of color and bright herbaceous flavor.
toasted naan or pita – For dipping. Instructions for toasting naan/pita in note section of printable recipe (at end of this post).
Add 2 cups of hummus to a large platter. Use the back of a spoon to spread. If you’re looking to make your own hummus, I highly recommend this recipe. However if you’re in a pinch, a family size container of hummus would do just fine. No judgement here.
Next top with 1 cup tabbouleh and diced Persian cucumbers – aka the small cute ones or an English cucumber would work too. I throw on a few whole cucumber slices because it adds a little something. But that’s just the food stylist in me.
Next, top with some halved cherry tomatoes, pitted kalamata olives and crumbled feta cheese.
Lastly, sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts, chopped fresh dill and lots of freshly ground black pepper.
Serve with toasted naan or pita chips and you’re ready to roll.
So pretty!
Grab your pita and start dipping!
However, I do also serve this dip with little knife spreaders to make things easier. But I swear, every bite is a new experience. So GOOD!
Enjoy! And if you give this Loaded Hummus Dip recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Yield: 12servings
7-Layer Loaded Hummus Dip
Impress your guests with this 7-Layer Loaded Hummus Dip. Layers of creamy hummus, homemade tabbouleh, cucumber, tomato, olives, feta and pine nuts is served with toasted naan.
toasted pita (or pita chips), for serving (see notes)
On a large platter or flat cheese/charcuterie board, spread out the hummus with the back of a spoon.
Top with tabbouleh, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, olives, toasted pine nuts, fresh dill and freshly ground black pepper.
Serve with toasted naan or pita chips.
Nutrition Disclaimer:All information presented on this site is intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information shared on SimplyScratch.com should only be used as a general guideline. Note: Nutritional information was calculated using traditional tabbouleh and is for the dip only, and does not include toasted naan/pita.
How To Toast Pine Nuts:
Toast pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium to medium-low until golden and fragrant.
Cut naan into triangles and spray both sides with olive oil. Bake in a preheated 400° oven for 8 minutes or until golden and crisp.
Just across the Balearic Sea from Barcelona, the small island of Menorca is perpetually confused with Mallorca. No one’s complaining; unlike Mallorca and Ibiza, Menorca is not high-profile, but it makes a good living from tourism. With a port that is the second deepest in the world, the island has attracted invaders and visitors for thousands of years but has somehow stayed more or less the same, aided by its UNESCO biosphere status. It should have come as no surprise when international gallerists Hauser & Wirth set their sights on Mahón harbor, promising a garden by Dutch superstar Piet Oudolf, a restaurant, and a world-class art gallery. But would these estrangers understand what makes Menorca special?
Photography by Kendra Wilson and Jim Powell.
Above: You cannot go wrong with butterfly chairs, and their introduction here is an asset to Menorca’s leisure pursuits.
First off, the restoration of the buildings, part of a larger site on a harbor island used as a British naval hospital in the 18th century, is wonderful. Menorca is blessed with luminous marés limestone, used on older buildings in the matter-of-fact manner of cinder blocks. The intention of architect Luis Laplace was to make some clarity in his restoration of the buildings, retaining the scars of what went before.
Above: New concrete and old limestone make a happy combination.
A little bit of glamor in Menorca goes a long way; it is not naturally receptive. But the restaurant at Hauser & Wirth Menorca, called Cantina, has a celebratory quality. Set outdoors in a remnant bosco of slim olive trees, the combination of showmanship and food to write home about is a great success.
Above: Much is made of Melianthus major and its lovely leaves in the grid of planted beds garden between poured concrete paths. Agapanthus is also a key plant earlier in the season; both are South African natives.
Luis Laplace worked with Hauser & Wirth on their British gallery in Somerset, and his work here is part of a wider creative reprise that includes Piet Oudolf. H&W caused a sensation when they hired Piet Oudolf to design the gallery garden in what was once a quiet English county. There has been a tendency in the last decade to jet-wash whatever it was that was appealing to start with, but Oudolf Field is in a league of its own, a showcase of prairie planting with a global renown that arguably outshines the gallery.
Above: The handsome 18th century naval hospital (in the background) is fascinating in its own right, although Piet Oudolf’s contribution does not extend to that part of Isla del Rey.
Menorca is an island of lizards and tortoises, and at Hauser & Wirth Menorca the lizards of Isla del Rey are provided with Helicodiceros muscivorus for food. It’s not the most attractive plant and is tucked away from the more showy staging of this garden. Likewise Phlomis italica, also known as Balearic Island sage, is less in evidence, if it is planted at all, than the non-native yellow Phlomis fruticosa shown here.
Above: Achillea millefolium, with a wide native range, and Echinacea purpurea, from the grasslands of the United States.
Oudolf worked with Menorcan landscape designer Alvaro de la Rosa Maura, who sourced plants with the help of local nursery Horticola Balear. Oudolf’s work is truly international, but as with garden consultants who fly around the world or travel between states, one can’t help wondering if there was a lack of local talent. Fernando Caruncho, for one, has made heart-stoppingly beautiful private gardens on these islands, which are recognizably of this place.
Above: Gaura lindheimeri (American, drought-tolerant), Greek horehound, yarrow, and sedum outside the restaurant and shop.
If the garden, which mainly fringes H&W’s nucleus of buildings, had been more about this specific Balearic island and less of a living art installation, there would be many more pine trees and figs (although a fig tree is beautifully framed by the gallery’s concrete walls), as well as thorny maquis, the default shrubby profile that is seen everywhere — and which is happy to be manipulated for garden purposes. In the end, it is the work of more visitors, and Menorquíns, it is safe to say, will carry on regardless. In the words of an old friend who has known the island well for six decades: “Menorca refuses to be impressed by money.”
Quick-serve Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava, a budding force in bowl-centric dining, will launch its first foray into the Midwest market this week in Wicker Park. The company, which is already teasing a second outpost in the suburbs, will make its Chicago debut on Friday, April 26 at 1484 N. Milwaukee Avenue.
Adored by fans for its wallet-friendly menu laden with nutritious and meat-free options, Cava seems an apt replacement for the location’s previous tenant, local vegetarian chain Native Foods. Its menu applies a familiar mix-and-match approach to its Eater Bowl Bowl-winning grain and vegetable bowls, weaving in Mediterranean-style ingredients like tzatziki, falafel, and spicy lamb meatballs. Cava also features pita wraps with options like Greek chicken with olives and feta.
Fast-casual restaurants have a reputation for fluorescent sterility, a quality that Cava seems intent on bucking with a design style it’s dubbed “Project Soul,” theSun-Times reports. The company tapped Chicago artist Alyssa Low to create a colorful mural featuring local elements like the city’s flag and Lake Michigan inside the 30-seat Wicker Park restaurant, where customers can also expect cushioned booths and soft lighting.
Cava insists that bowls don’t have to be boring.Cava
Cava’s second Illinois outpost is slated for a summer debut in Vernon Hills (coincidentally, also on a Milwaukee Avenue — at 890 N. Milwaukee Avenue in the suburb), co-founder Ted Xenohristos tells reporters. The short timeline between openings may signal that a cascade of Cava locations is headed to the Chicago area, as the brand is in the midst of a nationwide expansion, opening 72 locations last year. If all goes according to plan, it hopes to secure 1,000 restaurants by 2032.
Xenohristos, along with partners and childhood friends Ike Grigoropoulos and chef Dimitri Moshovitis, opened the first Cava nearly 20 years ago in Maryland. In the intervening years, Mediterranean food has gained significant prominence in the U.S. It seems that trajectory has served Cava well, as the company went public in 2023 and touts more than $700 million in annual revenue.
Cava Wicker Park, 1484 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Scheduled to open Friday, April 26. Cava Vernon Hills, 890 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Vernon Hills, scheduled to open this summer.
“The Calanques, a real garden of stones on the edge of the sea.” This is how the famed French rock climber and mountain guide Gaston Rébuffat described the extraordinary dialogue between these dramatic limestone ridges and narrow azure coves of the Mediterranean near Cassis and Marseilles in the south of France. I walked there recently, […]
ROME (AP) — Italian authorities on Tuesday announced the extraordinary discovery of 2,000-year-old bronze statues in an ancient Tuscan thermal spring and said the find will “rewrite history” about the transition from the Etruscan civilization to the Roman Empire.
The discovery, in the sacred baths of the San Casciano dei Bagni archaeological dig near Siena, is one of the most significant ever in the Mediterranean and certainly the most important since the 1972 underwater discovery of the famed Riace bronze warriors, said Massimo Osanna, the Culture Ministry’s director of museums.
Thanks to the mud that protected them, the two-dozen figurines and other bronze objects were found in a perfect state of conservation, bearing delicate facial features, inscriptions and rippled tunics. Alongside the figures were 5,000 coins in gold, silver and bronze, the ministry said.
As evidence of the importance of the find, the ministry announced the construction of a new museum in the area to house the antiquities.
A statue is seen at the site of the discovery of two dozen well-preserved bronze statues from an ancient Tuscan thermal spring in San Casciano dei Bagni, central Italy. (Italian Culture Ministry via AP)
Jacopo Tabolli, who coordinated the dig for the University for Foreigners in Siena, said the discovery was significant because it sheds new light on the end of the Etruscan civilization and the expansion of the Roman Empire in today’s central Italy between the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C.
The period was marked by wars and conflicts across what is today’s Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio regions, and yet, the bronze statues show evidence that Etruscan and Roman families prayed together to deities in the sacred sanctuary of the thermal springs. The statues, including depictions of Apollo and Igea, the ancient Greek god and goddess of health, bear both Etruscan and Latin inscriptions.
Archaeologists work at the site of the discovery of two dozen well-preserved bronze statues from an ancient Tuscan thermal spring in San Casciano dei Bagni, central Italy. (Italian Culture Ministry via AP)
“While there were social and civil wars being fought outside the sanctuary … inside the sanctuary the great elite Etruscan and Roman families prayed together in a context of peace surrounded by conflict,” Tabolli said. “This possibility to rewrite the relationship and dialectic between the Etruscan and Romans is an exceptional opportunity.”
Some of the two dozen bronzes are entire human-like figures of deities, while others are of individual body parts and organs which would have been offered up as votive offerings to the gods for intervention for medical cures via the thermal waters, the ministry said in a statement.
A statue is seen at the site of the discovery of two dozen well-preserved bronze statues from an ancient Tuscan thermal spring in San Casciano dei Bagni, central Italy. (Italian Culture Ministry via AP)
The discovery comes 50 years after the Riace bronze warriors were found by a recreational diver in the waters off southern Calabria and went onto become one of Italy’s most spectacular archaeological finds. The 5th century bronzes, currently on display at the national archaeological museum in Reggio Calabria, feature two naked life-sized and life-like Greek warriors, with rippled muscles and intricate, curly beards.
SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 12, 2018 (Newswire.com)
– Come and celebrate the grand opening of Jyros Twisted Gyros on March 15, 2018. Jyros is doing things that have not been done before with Greek and Mediterranean food. A couple “twists”: Jyros uses naan (a fluffy white Indian flatbread) in addition to the traditional Pita bread and Jyros is also doing an Al Pastor (Mexican) pork, Sriracha sauces and things like our Garlic Mayo and Twisted Fries (with meat, toppings and sauce). Get a Gyro, Bowl, Salad, Twisted Fries or Medusa Nachos.
This is owner Jared Katzenbarger’s first independent concept. “It was fun to develop the concept on my own, taking the foods I love and creating a fun, new and exciting concept. I have been a franchisee for years and you do not have the flexibility and creativity that your own concept allows.” Katzenbarger elaborated, “For example, the first couple weeks we were open I received a lot of feedback. I was able to make immediate changes and the guests were appreciative of us keeping their suggestions in mind.”
Jyros is doing things that have not been done before with Greek and Mediterranean food.
Jared Katzenbarger, Owner, Jyros Twisted Gyros
On Thursday, March 15, Jyros will be offering 50 percent off all food items and also doing $2 beer and wine. In addition, they will be giving away prizes and swag, and for anyone that dresses up in a Toga, they will get a free Sando. Please visit us on Facebook /JyrosTwistedGyros or Instagram /jyrostwisted.
1901 J Street, Sacramento, CA 916-462-1002 11a.m. – 9 p.m.
Jared Katzenbarger, 916-546-4399, jared@jyrosgyros.com
