Blog - Lavinias Dining

3 Mediterranean Foods You Must Try

2018-06-18 Erma Pires

Mediterranean foods are known around the world. They bring a tasty and beautiful experience to each person’s table. With the fresh veggies and the various meats, they bring a healthy and beneficial cuisine to the world of cooking. If you have yet to try Mediterranean foods then try the top three that we have listed below to have an experience that is worth having. Your pallet will thank you after you are done with the meal. Here are the top three easy to make Mediterranean dishes that are popular today.

Meat Pistachio

Meat Pistachio is exceptional when perfected in the kitchen. You will feel as if you are in the Mediterranean while you indulge with this dish. Numerous recipes can be made; however, there are some fantastic Mediterranean restaurants that have introduced this dish on their menus that are incredible. Try one next time you are there, you will not be disappointed.

The dish is made with a variety of meats and topped or cooked with pistachio to add a texture that is a perfect addition to the cuisine. You can make the dish at home and give your family a delicious new entrée that might make you want to travel to Greece, or you can experience this style of dish at a restaurant to open your mind to new ideas of Mediterranean foods. You will fall in love with the first bite.

Feta Shrimp Skillet

The Feta Shrimp Skillet is extremely popular in Greece. It is made all the time for the locals, so why not try the dish at your home. You will have an experience that you will not forget. This dish is made on a skillet. It includes ingredients such as onions, tomatoes, white wine, shrimp, feta cheese, oregano, and parsley.

There are a few different variations that you can add or take away to make this dish, but as a whole, it will be a tasty memory. Sprinkle a little crushed red pepper to give it a bite to the cuisine. Try out a few different recipes to find the best one you like, and then invite you friends and family over to experience Greece in your own home.

Baked Red Lentil Falafel Salad

This dish is perfect for a side entrée or even as a main course. It is a healthy dish that has many benefits. Using greens in your meals always makes dinners more delectable and this dish will be the perfect add on to any main course that you are looking to achieve. It is simple to make, with just a few ingredients of lettuce, red lentils, tomatoes, parsley, olive oil, sesame paste, and chickpeas. There are additional recipes that you can use to enhance the dish; however, it tastes great no matter how it is made. Try this dish for a healthy alternative to your normal salad and see that you will continue to use it over and over again.

In conclusion, Mediterranean foods can be a new concept to some, but once you try them, you will not be disappointed. They bring a variety of styles and ingredients to each person’s dinner table that can take you away to another world. Your friends and family will be waiting impatiently when you tell them what you are making. Experience it one time and you will want to create more and more Mediterranean dishes in the future.

Local Restaurants Chain Restaurants, food

Why Local Restaurants Are Better Than Chain Restaurants

2018-05-22 Erma Pires

If you live in a big city, you are familiar with the term eating on the go. Fortunately for people that are in a rush, there is an abundance of establishments that offer food that one can just walk in pick up and be out in less than 5 minutes. While this is precisely what some people are looking for, we can slowly see that local restaurants are slowly losing their place in the food service industry due to being out competition by the chains. That can be for a variety of factors, but the two most common reasons are that the chain restaurants are cheaper and that they prepare food faster.

However, just because chain restaurants have those two things going for them, does not mean they are a better choice for you!

More likely than not, the chain restaurants are a worse choice!

Here are a couple of reasons why local restaurants are a better choice for you and your family over the chain restaurants.

– The quality of the food

Food quality in local restaurants is miles above the chains. Usually, you can pick up something tasty in the chain ones, but they have a limited offer, as their menu items are the same wherever you go, and so they don’t order the best of the best when it comes to meat products. Additionally, most of the local restaurants don’t freeze their food for many months as they order from the local market. For this reason, they have a better menu, and better over quality. Remember a burger can never be better than the T-bone steak prepared with love and experience.

– The service

Another thing that you can spot in the local restaurants is the way service is being handled. When it comes to customer complaints every response is genuine, and they do tend to take care of any issues with the best ability they can, but when we talk about chain restaurant responses, all of them are scripted as every employee is required to answer the same, and they never go the extra mile to make you feel welcomed. Due to that tightly knitted group mentality, you have in the local environment you also think that their ambiance is more pleasant. Whenever you go out to eat in a local restaurant you will want to come again, and you will probably well like a part of a big family, while in the chains it’s all about not being hungry in the next 20 minutes and the dining experience is completely forgettable.

– You are not in a hurry

Eating has become this task that must be performed in order for us to continue doing other things. The sad part is if you place your meal time on this track your body will soon show increasing signs of wear and tear and will not be healthy or feel healthy. Meal times should be a calm period where you can relax and turn off your brain from the busy world and focus on other things, like talking or reading the newspaper.

The local restaurants just have that vibe where everyone who came to eat is not in a rush, while in the chain restaurants you can feel like you have to eat fast so that others can sit where you are sitting, thereby becoming anxious while you eat. Which is highly undesirable during meal time.

Restaurants and Bars Dress, Eating and Drinking

Eating and Drinking Etiquette In High-end Restaurants and Bars

2018-05-10 Erma Pires

Ever wanted to go to that high-end restaurant where you have to make reservations months in advance and you never could? Until you got lucky and either got invited by somebody else or you finally landed that reservation and can now hope to enjoy the service and menu that they provide in their establishment.

However, if you wanted to become part of the usual’s that sit there almost every day, then you would have to have some different habits than you usually have in your chain restaurants. The fact of the matter is that chain restaurants have automatic responses for dealing with certain situations, and their philosophy of running the said restaurants are always the same. The high-end restaurants and bars will have their unique service and will deal with any issues in their own way. So, how can you fit in right the first day, well that’s easy, we will explain some eating and drinking etiquette, so you don’t come off as a snob or as a simpleton.

– Dress for the occasion

The first impression you leave is when you enter the establishment. If you have booked a dinner or a late evening drink you can’t come with shorts and a t-shirt to a high-end restaurant or bar. Dress for the occasion and don’t overdress as people easily go from one end to the other, which is as bad as doing nothing. If you are wondering what kind of attire is considered ok in the restaurant, you can do some research online as there will probably be enough reviews from other visitors. This brings us to the next part

– Be polite

While you could get away with a certain behavior in small restaurants or in chain bars, here it’s not expected of you to be a show off when it comes to being rude. If you consider something to be below your desired level, ask for the waiter and explain in a lower tone exactly what your issue is. Making a big spectacle in a high-end restaurant will not only bring in judgmental stares from the rest of the guests, but it will usually lead to you being asked to leave the establishment.

– Don’t be afraid to ask

High-end restaurants don’t have issues when their guests are interested in knowing what they are eating and how it is prepared. Every waiter should be educated enough about the ins and outs of the restaurant so that he can answer any and all your questions. So, don’t be scared to ask as you won’t come off as a snob just because you want to get all the information about a particular dish before you order it.

– Have a favorite wine before you visit

As they are thousands of wines on the market today, it’s tough to have them all stocked inside all the restaurants all over the country. However, a good waiter will know what comes close to your taste if you can give him the name of several wines you enjoy drinking. Learn what kind of wines you prefer before you order a bottle, as you can only return opened bottles that have a bad smell of mildew.