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.