Hospitality Plus

-

I'd been looking for an opportunity to use the coupon I had for a Lebanese restaurant so when Nicole invited herself for dinner yesterday I suggested we try Gaby's Grill in Lakeview Heights. Many times I've heard restaurant owners say their goal is to create an atmosphere where you feel like you've been invited into their home. Gaby's succeeds very well. We were greeted at the door by Fay who immediately introduced herself and Gaby, who was seated at the bar. She was so friendly and genuinely pleased to see  us I felt comfortable immediately. She allowed us to choose our table, gave us menus and told my daughter she was "so beautiful."  

The restaurant is cozy and homey and has a small patio on one side.  The beer and wine selection is small, but we easily found something to our liking. It was memories of the Lebanese salad called fattoush that had brought me there and I was pleased to see it on the menu.  When I ordered the salad along with the Falafel, Fay told me salad came with the meals but she would make sure it was fattoush. Nicole ordered shrimp Alfredo and was offered fattoush as well.  

"And Baba?"  Fay asked.  My husband ordered the Shish Kebob dinner and though it came with a greek salad, he went with the fattoush.

Though we hadn't ordered an appetizer, Fay brought us a plate of freshly made dolmades.  I've only had cold ones with rice, but hers were warm and quite tasty with rice and a bit of meat in them.  As she later told us they were made with grape leaves from a nearby organic vineyard. A selection of pita bread appeared after  the dolmades  I was expecting the salad to come on the same plate as the meal, we each received a good sized plate of salad before our main course and it was as delicious as I had remembered.  As she removed the empty plates, Fay encouraged us to save room for dessert as she had made baklava that day.

We all enjoyed our meals and though I couldn't eat dessert without going into a coma, I did have a taste. As you can see in the photo above it was beautiful. We left with full tummys and the take-out menu.  I'm hoping Mike will be needing to go to Penticton soon, so he can pick up dinner on the way home.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pearls of Wisdom

-
Image
On Tuesday, my daughter received her diploma from the University of British Columbia. On Wednesday I was moving documents to my new computer when I stumbled upon a verse I'd copied from a card my mom gave Nicole when she graduated from high school.  I thought I'd post it today along with some photos of my Mom.  Today, is the fourth anniversary of her passing. GRANDMA'S PEARLS OF WISDOM by Becky Netherland I've traveled paths you've yet to walk Learned lessons old and new And now this wisdom of my life I'm blessed to share with you. Let kindness spread like sunshine Embrace those who are sad Respect their dignity, give them joy And leave them feeling glad   Forgive those who might hurt you And though you have your pride Listen closely to their viewpoint Try to see the other side Walk softly when you're angry Try not to take offense Invoke your sense of humor Laughter's power is immense!   Express w...
Read more

My Favourite Childhood Christmas Book

-
Image
Every Christmas, for as long as I can remember my heart has been touched by  The Wonderful Window by Beth Vardon,  illustrated by Charlot Byj.    I believe it was written in the 50's and I would likely have received it for Christmas sometime in the 60's.  It's no longer in print so I hope I'm not violating any copyright laws by sharing it with you.    As soon as the patchwork was tacked into place The angel came in with a smile on his face. And both he and Katie got down on their knees, Praying: Lord, could you spare one small miracle -- please? That night, all the people who happened to pass  Saw a wonderful window of glistening glass! And the light from the candles was shining inside  On the angel and Katie -- both beaming with pride. (Just take a look now, while the happy choir sings...You'll see -- even Katie --- has almost got wings!)
Read more

Currying Flavour

-
Image
When I arrived home from grocery shopping on Tuesday I discovered my husband had already purchased a four litre jug of milk to replace the empty one I had spied on the counter that morning.  I bought one too.  We don't use a lot of cow's milk and a four litre jug will usually last us two weeks.  It's not that we don't like it, we just believe that milk is for baby cows, not people and use almond or soy milk (though someone  prefers cow milk in their cereal).  I've been on a kick to use up the extra milk for the past two days and tonight we are going to consume it in a flavourful curried cauliflower soup.   I used this recipe more or less.  The cauliflower was huge so I added a little more curry, used chicken flavoured vegetable broth and replaced the half & half with a cup of skim milk.  I also left some small chunks of cauliflower in the mix because I like a little texture in my creamed soups.  I also added a couple of hu...
Read more