First Taste of Loula’s Taverna

One of the cuisines that I adore is Greek and several of the partners behind this new eatery on Commercial Drive are responsible for the rise in Greek cuisine in our city over many decades. This one though is as a passion project for these partners who are either related or best friends and they have hit the ground running.

The team is made up of six partners: Petro and Yianni Kerasiotis (owners of Fraser Street’s Nammos Estiatorio), Bill and Niko Kerasiotis and Marco Mirisklavos (co-owners of the Drive’s Sopra Sotto) and John Pavlakis (who helms Minerva’s in Kerrisdale). Executive Chef Manos Grammatikogiannis is also involved as a partner and the head Chef, he also runs the kitchen at Nammos Estiatorio on Fraser.

The décor features the colours of Greece and it’s bright with its white walls on the interior, and blue tables and chairs, it’s also got faux climbing greenery and red flowers and the interior design comes from another connection who also did the Sopra Sotto eatery down the street. Both the men’s and women’s bathrooms are also well appointed and you have to go and check out both for those iconic pics of yesterday.

Now on to the food which is the highlight and it’s somewhat different than Nammos even though the same head chef is running both kitchens.

The Marouli Salad with lettuce, green onion, dill, red wine vinegar, EVOO is refreshing; while the Lamb Chops with tzatziki, and bread were a delicious start.

I loved both the Hand-Cut French fries with feta and these were crispy and so good along with the tasty Chicken Boutakia that is marinated for many hours and then roasted for 3 hours on the rotisserie.

I also loved the Brocolo – broccolini with a delicious lemon and virgin olive oil sauce; and the Revithada -oven baked chickpeas.

I also tried their house speciality 1/2 Kilo Rotisserie lamb shoulder, marinated and roasted on the spit for 3 hours; as well as a Pasta special with beef short rib with Greek egg noodles.

For dessert I loved the Ecmek shredded phyllo, masticha cream custard, sliced almonds.

Reservations may be hard to come by as they are booked months ahead, but they do keep 3 or 4 tables free each night for walkins, my advice is to go early and go well before they open if you want to ensure getting a table.

Loula’s Taverna is located at 1608 Commercial Drive in Vancouver and you can follow them on instagram @loulastaverna

By: Richard Wolak

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