Dinner at Yianni's Taverna

Appetizers: roasted olives and hummus. #yegfood

A post shared by Paula E. Kirman (@livingsanctuary) on Oct 28, 2017 at 4:26pm PDT

I was treated to a fabulous dinner at Yianni's Taverna a couple of weeks ago. We started with the hummus and pita, as well as the roasted olives. The hummus was rich and thick, and likely the best I have ever had. The olives were hot, marinated in seasonings and oil, and absolutely incredible. I could probably have made a meal out of the appetizers.

Rack of lamb for him and roasted chicken for me. #yegfood

A post shared by Paula E. Kirman (@livingsanctuary) on Oct 28, 2017 at 5:14pm PDT

I had the chicken (top), which was a full breast grilled and seasoned to perfection. The vegetables were just lightly blanched while the lemon potatoes were excellent - cooked fork tender and not overwhelming on the lemon. A dollop of tzatziki on the side complemented the chicken well. I also tried a bite of the rack of lamb. While I am not a lamb fan, this was absolutely succulent, cooked to a perfect medium, and a huge portion.

Flavourful Focaccia

Focaccia #yegfood, a photo by raise my voice on Flickr.

As someone who spends a lot of time in Little Italy, I love heading to Spinelli's Bar Italia at the north end location of the Italian Centre for a quick nosh. For a number of months I have been enjoying the focaccia with black olives and ripe tomatoes. This week, I tried a new variety, with green olives, capers, and sun dried tomatoes. The flavours of the capers and green olives complemented each other perfectly (I feared together they would be too salty, but they weren't), while the sun dried tomatoes added a smokiness that added balance.