Estiatorio Volos

Last week, my Mom and I went out on one of our mother-daughter nights!  We went to see the National Ballet of Canada perform Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland!  It was a fun night out, I hadn’t seen a ballet in about 15 years!  I am still a Broadway girl at heart, but this ultra modern ballet with elaborate sets and a tap dancing Mad Hatter was entertaining!

But you know that mad scramble to find dinner before a theatre production?  Well we managed to avoid it this time.  Within a two minute walk of the Opera House we came across Estiatorio Volos.  The menu looked promising and it had a pre-theatre prix fix menu to select from so we decided to get a table.

In my gluten days, I used to love Greek food.  I couldn’t get enough of slouvaki, those roast potatoes and Greek salad!  You know, besides baklava, I am pretty sure that those were the only Greek foods I had heard about prior to stepping foot in Volos.  I have always assumed that Greek food wasn’t one of the easiest options when eating gluten free and soy free.  But the staff at Volos was lovely and they made me a delicious, naturally gluten free meal!  Thank you Volos for opening my eyes to delicious traditional Greek food!  No wonder Toronto Life named  Estiatorio Volos one of the top ten new restaurants in 2012!  The restaurant is such a beautiful place – I love that it is an upscale Greek restaurant without any cliche murals on the walls!

Our meal was delightful and we left Volos with happy tummies, I don’t think I have had such an enjoyable dinner out in a long time!  I ended up ordering two flavourful  and surprisingly filling appetizers.  The wild arugala and shaved fennel salad with Mancuri cheese, grilled pear and roasted walnuts was beautifully presented and delicious.  Then I ate Spetzofai, a signature dish from the city of Volos consisting of roasted spicy lamb sausage, red and green bell peppers in an oregano tomato sauce.  Yummy!

Now I am a Greek yogurt fiend, it is my breakfast of choice, so when I saw they had Greek yogurt on the menu as a dessert I just couldn’t resist!  This was real, pressed Greek yogurt and let me tell you, I have been searching high and low for a taste and texture to match this with no success.  The Pressed Greek yogurt and honey with fresh berries was a simple, yet insanely flavourful, rich and creamy dessert!  I am pretty sure was drooling as I ate it!

Since I desperately want to attend The Nutcracker this holiday season to see a traditional ballet, I know where I’ll be going back for dinner!

Wild arugala and shaved fennel salad with Mancuri cheese, grilled pear and roasted walnuts

Wild arugala and shaved fennel salad with Mancuri cheese, grilled pear and roasted walnuts

Spetzofai

Spetzofai

Pressed Greek yogurt and honey with fresh berries

Pressed Greek yogurt and honey with fresh berries