FOOD REVIEW -- Ellie's Kitchen & Catering, Friendswood, TX

You asked for it, and here it comes: Restaurant reviews!

The first installment highlights a restaurant I just found rather than one of my old favorites. I'll come back to them later. Watch this space.

I was told of a new Greek restaurant slightly off the beaten path in Friendswood, and since I loves me some Greek food I was all over it.

Ellie is the owner, and she has created a masterpiece of neighborhood dining with this little hole-in-the-wall gem. When you step inside, the walls are painted with images from the Greek isles, with plenty of white stucco and blue highlights. The atmosphere, overall, is warm and welcoming. When Ellie greets you and talks about her food, her home in Cyprus, and the restaurant, you immediately know that she's the source of that welcome feeling. She is absolutely charming. Regulars abound, as it really is a neighborhood restaurant.

But enough about people. We're here to discuss food.

Most of the Greek eateries I've been to in the US have a fairly predictable menu: Gyro meat, chicken, pitas, Greek salad, dolmas, and various other items based on apparently random factors. The flavor tends to be the same, too: dolmas in most Greek places are the same ones I get out of a can from the local middle-eastern grocery. In fact, they're often served right out of the can: cold, clammy, and oily.

Ellie's was a really nice change. Her dolmas are made in house (as is everything she serves), and they are fantastic. Served warm with a tangy, slightly spicy flavor, it was the perfect entre into the rest of the meal. An order of dolmas (choice of meat or vegetarian) includes two plus a tzaziki sauce cup.

I'm a big fan of Spanakopita, or spinach pies as they are listed on Ellie's menu. Light fillo pastry triangles filled with feta cheese and spinach and served hot. Ellie said she thought that most Spanakopita were too tart, so she buffers the tang of the feta by mixing it with ricotta. The result is pure magic. She warned me that I would have to wait about 10 minutes for her to chill the pies before baking, but it was definitely worth the wait. I would have waited 30 minutes and made a meal of them (well, I would have needed more than the two pies that comes with an order, obviously).

Between the appetizers and the main course we got a small Greek salad. It consisted of the typical Greek salad ingredients, but was noteworthy in that they didn't overdo it with the dressing. It had a great tart flavor without the oilyness you get some places.

Main course: Moussaka. Wonderful. It's kind of like a Greek (or middle eastern) lasagna. Also reminiscent of shepherd's pie, only with vegetables and flavor. A baked casserole of seasoned ground beef layered with potato slices, eggplant, and yellow squash (!!), and topped with a creamy, whipped-cheese meringue (well, meringue-like). The serving size was on the large end of the scale, leading to a discussion of whether we'd be able to finish it. Of course, your humble servant had no such reservations. I would order it again the next time I eat there, but alas, there are other entrees I must try.

The sad consequence of my gluttony was that I was unable to try the desserts. After what she created with the spanakopita, I can only dream about what her baklava must be like.

I had to ask the waitress to refill my water. That's a pet peeve of mine.

Overall, excellent value. Great food, tricky to locate if you're not from the area.

Ellie's Kitchen & Catering
102 S. Friendswood Dr.
Friendswood, TX
281-648-2973

Way Overdue

Once again I'm way overdue in posting something to the old blog. Sorry about that -- there's just WAY too much stuff to write about to fit in one post, so I'll shotgun a few posts with my top thoughts.

Let's start with the syphilitic elephant in the room: healthcare. An innocent girl recently died because nobody would assume the financial burden of performing a liver transplant and committing to the long-term care of a transplant recipient. Most are blaming Cigna for her death, and that's appropriate because insurers are nothing more than parasites on the healthcare monster. However, I've heard at least one commenter ask why the hospital (UCLA, if I remember correctly) couldn't proceed with the operation and fight with Cigna over the costs later.

The very discussion of who should pay and how illustrates the problem with the US healthcare system in general. We're spending our time worrying about who's profiting or losing money while the clock ticks on someone's life. Healthcare and corporate profit/loss have no business being in the same discussion. You end up with criminal decisions like whether it's cheaper to redesign the Ford Pinto or pay the damages caused when they explode.

As I've said before, the best solution is to spread the risk of loss equally among the entire population rather than throw us into a feeding frenzy of profit-hungry corporations. We've got a model (medicare) that works. Let's spend our energy expanding that program and fixing its flaws instead of continuing to let Americans die so that some CEO can afford to upgrade his BMW.

Best. Wedding. Ever.

An informal poll of the attendees I was with yielded a unanimous vote that the wedding in PV, MX was absolutely the best wedding any of us had ever attended.

It wasn't one of those "coronation ceremonies" that some girls like, with hundreds of guests and tens of thousands of dollars spent on decorations. It was a family-oriented, fun-filled vacation that culminated in the joining of two wonderful hearts. The bride and groom seemed as interested in having fun as they were in getting married, but the ceremony was an emotional, meaningful one that did not dilute the significance of the event.

The setup for the wedding itself was conducted in "local time," meaning the guests were assembling while they were still fitting the covers on the seats at the starting time. It didn't bother any of us (non-family guests), but I can imagine that the bride was anxious. The groom confided to me that she was a little nervous about the details during the lead-up, but every time I saw her she was happy and excited. Oh, yeah, and she looked absolutely gorgeous during the ceremony.

The bride and groom made certain that everyone was well taken care of -- nothing was left to chance, and they helped us maximize our enjoyment. The hotel arrangements were fantastic, the weather could not have been better, and the Spouse and I made some new friends that I hope to keep in contact with. We had a lot of laughs, saw some beautiful scenery, and just relaxed and enjoyed being with our friends (old and new). A few days in paradise.

I know we all told her how great a time we had. I hope that meant something to her, but most of all I hope she has as many wonderful memories of that day as we do. It was her day, and of course it was much more than a vacation to her – it was the start of what I hope will be a long, happy, and loving marriage. It couldn't happen to a better couple!

We asked her to please consider renewing her vows next year, but she wouldn't commit.

Vallarta Adventures

Today we took a boat from Nuevo Vallarta south to a private reserve called las Caletas, owned by an entertainment company called Vallarta Adventures. They offer several excursions around the Puerta Vallarta area, including jeep tours of the Sierra Madre mountains, dive trips to the Marietas islands, and an outdoor adventure trip that includes ATVs, donkey rides, rappelling, and other unnatural acts.

Our trip was tame by comparison. We went to the Vallarta Adventures HQ, caught the small catamaran to las Caletas, and disembarked. Las Caletas is a beach reserve with trails up into the hills, several bars, and a restaurant. The trip price included the boat transport, breakfast, lunch, snorkelling, a monkey & parrot interaction, and the chance to get away from things for a day. We did get a couple of extra excursions (i.e., they cost extra). The spouse got a massage and I snorkelled with a 320 lb sea lion. Very interesting.

I considered diving, but the dive master talked me out of it. He said that although some people were doing their open water dives, certified divers would not enjoy the dive because water conditions were so bad. He was correct: I cut my snorkelling trip short because all I saw was murk. I generally have better vis in our freshwater lakes than I saw at las Caletas! Apparently, good dive conditions are several months off.

We had good paella, and some fantastic flan and tres leches.

So far, for an "all-inclusive" vacation, we're spending a lot on extras. Oh, well. It's Spouse's only chance to travel this year since she didn't have any vacation built up. We're having fun, though!

Mas mañana!

¡Puerto Vallarta!

I know it, I'm a shit. I get absolutely no sympathy from anyone, and why should I? Australia, Cozumel, Dives in the Gulf of Mexico, the Galápagos, now Puerto Vallarta. Poor KevDiver. :(

We're here for the wedding of one of the spouse's good friends, so my excuse is that it's not my fault we had to go to México. Not my fault -- remember that!

We flew in today, spent most of the afternoon trying to figure out how to eat (it's an "all inclusive" resort, but with serious restrictions on the "all" part). We finally figured it out, and it didn't involve raiding the parrot enclosure or harpooning the very delicious-looking ostriches (or their eggs).

Bright & early tomorrow we're catching a boat to an island called "Las Caletas" for some peace. I'll snorkel & maybe dive, get a massage, take some photos, and basically just unwind far away from civilization. Looking forward to it, especially since I will be working wicked hard as soon as I return to work through the end of the year.

I have access to the 'net (obviously), so I'll try and do better than I did during my Galápagos trip.

Really wish my Spanish was better. I was able to get two pool towels without using a word of English!

Hasta Mañana!