As Seen on TV: Koutouki Taverna

Ever since The Family Restaurant aired on Food Network Canada, my Mum and I have been itching to visit Koutouki - not for the food necessarily, but in order to see the venue of a television production in person. As I had heard dinners at Koutouki was quite pricey, we decided to swing by for lunch instead.

Our schedules finally aligned, and with a day off on Friday, I made a reservations for my parents and I at the southside Taverna (10310 45 Avenue). Stepping into the low-ceilinged building, I found the space cramped, but in a comfortable, "get to know your neighbour" kind of way, similar to TZiN. I loved the overhanging ivy-like plants, with twinkle lights looped in-between pots - they would, as my Mum commented, be a nightmare to water, but really elicited feelings of romanticism and escapist possibilities. Even more than Blue Willow, pictures of the family behind Koutouki lined every wall (including patriarch Yianni Psalios with Kevin Lowe, and even Muhammad Ali!) and served their function of making diners feel like a part of the establishment's growing history.

While I can't claim to be a huge fan of Greek cuisine, I probably haven't sampled enough of it to really make a fair judgment. It turns out Koutouki doesn't offer a separate lunch and dinner menu, so my delay was for naught. The waitress spoke of two specials, one of which sounded good to me - a pork donair-esque dish ($15.95) that I can't remember by name. My parents opted for the second special, a rack of lamb, also priced at $15.95.

While waiting for our entrees, we were offered bread and Greek salad (feta, tomatoes, red onion, cucumbers, olives) lightly tossed in olive oil. It was a light, refreshing way to start out our meal, and I didn't even mind the feta in the dish.

We did get to see Yianni and his wife Kally - Yianni stepped out to survey the dining room at one point, and Kally was busy refilling coffee and water throughout our time there. Everything seemed so normal and commonplace that it was strange to think a full television crew was once stationed here.

Our entrees arrived and I immediately knew I wouldn't be able to finish the large portion, especially given that this was my first meal of the day. The cubes of pork within my donair tasted tough and overcooked, but I was willing to overlook that if not for the overpowering lemon used in both the sauce and the potato side dish. The citrus was so pervasive that everything actually tasted sour. And though I'm not averse to parsley, overuse of the fresh herb was too much for me in this case. My parents thought the lamb was all right, though they would have happily accepted steak knives instead of the butter knives provided at the tables.

While we were treated to attentive service during our time at Koutouki, I can't say I'll be back. The food really played second-string to "celebrity-sighting" this afternoon.

Restaurant interior

Menu

The Psalios family

Yianni with Muhammad Ali

Certificate from Premier Ralph Klein, congratulating Yianni and Kally on their grand Cyprus wedding for daughter Dina

Greek salad

Donair

Rack of lamb

Random Food Notes

• I'd never really been bitten by the Iron Chef bug, but as with most other Food Network shows, I can watch it if it's on. I was excited, however, to tune in to a battle featuring Canadian chef Lynn Crawford, of Restaurant Makeover and Four Seasons fame (in that order, I suppose), up against the caustically-arrogant Bobby Flay. I thought the secret ingredient of peanuts would be an easy challenge for Flay, with his expertise in Southwestern cuisine, and in the end, he did "reign supreme." And though my dislike of his television personality isn't secret, even I had to hold myself back when he pulled out his peanut butter French toast served with a port wine reduction and concord grapes (an upscale PB & J).
  

• Rachel Ray (or her marketing puppeteers) is selling a line of t-shirts screened with her most annoying -isms, including "Yum-O" and "Got EVOO." Gag me.

• On my next visit to Vancouver, I will have to make a stop at Vij's. Rarely does a week go by when I don't come across some mention of this famous Indian restaurant in my readings. Perhaps I'll have to placate myself in the meantime with his widely-available cookbook, Vij's: Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine. It's a testament to how food can foster and develop relationships. As Vikram Vij said in an interview, "I don't know what other newlyweds talk about, argue about or discuss for hours on end, but [my wife] Meeru and I built our relationship through our recipes. Our first argument, hurt feelings and personal accomplishments all occurred at Vij's while we were coming up with these recipes."

• Over the last few weeks, there has been quite the fervor over a "leaked" memo written by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. A lot of the discussion centres around the contradiction behind wanting to recapture the 'authentic' Starbucks experience with a continued push for brand and location expansion. What do you think? Read it here.

• Speaking of Starbucks, I was happy to get my free cup of brewed coffee on Thursday morning on my way back to work. And I figured now is a good time to showcase my equivalent of a Starbucks shrine on my corkboard at work - a collection of various promotional materials:

Clockwise from top - Christmas 2006 postcard, reminder about Starbucks Coffee Break promotion, and two Akeelah and the Bee flashcards