Recap of Fish & Seafood Dinner at Kritamos

As of August 2014, Kritamos has been closed.

January is a month to eat lighter, away from all the meat and rich dishes we indulged in this past holiday season. So, we’re focusing on lighter fare and that means the best of the Mediterranean…fish and seafood.

This past Tuesday, I held my first Supper Club at one of the Danforth’s newest addition, Kritamos. This cozy restaurant prides itself on preparing each dish from scratch and I wanted to organize one of my dinners here. A sold out crowd of fifty attending this fish and seafood extravaganza.

Special thanks to Brian Li of Kritamos and the staff who made myself and partner Paula Costa (Dragons Kitchen) feel at home in their kitchen.

Thank you to Krinos Foods of Canada for furnishing many of the ingredients used in preparing the dishes.

A hearty thank you to Selonda Aquaculture for sending the via air freight the fresh European sea bass for this memorable dinner.

One of Greece’s specialties from the islands is Astakomakaronada or lobster pasta, I will prepare it just like I had it this past summer while in Greece.

Hard to believe but the showstopper was the Lavraki (European sea bass), flown in directly from Greece and generously provided by Selonda Acquaculture of Greece. Selonda produces and distributes farm-raised fish throughout the world.

I used an ancient method to cook the sea bass by baking it is coarse sea salt. The salt perfectly seasons the fish (not salty) and we will demonstrate how we prepare and then crack the salt crust and plate your whole lavraki on your plate.

Served family style was a warm fingerling potato salad tossed in scallions, mustard, parsley, dill, capers and extra-virgin olive oil.

Here’s some more of the dishes:

Appetizers

Grilled calamari with Greek-style chimichurri sauce

Fried Simi-Style Salt& Pepper Shrimp. This shrimp are seasoned with salt and pepper and fried until crisp. You eat everything…head, tail, shells…all crisp, all delish!

Steamed Mussels with Shallot-Caper-Citrus Sauce. These were steamed, cooled then served on a half shell dressed with a zesty and tangy Citrus-shallot-caper sauce.

Housemade Bread

First course – Fennel, Kritamo and Grilled Octopus salad. Kritamo is known as sea asparagus and also the name of the restaurant. This edible succulent grows nears rocks near the sea and it was one of the components of this salad.

The dressing was made of pureed cured white anchovies (pasto gavro), shallots, capers, mint, Greek oregano and Minervera extra-virgin olive oil. The salad was made of shaved fennel, kritamos, chick peas and grilled octopus.

Dessert – Karydopita with Kaimaki ice cream

All this delicious food was washed down with fine Greek wine, selected by Canada’s largest distributor of Greek wines, Kolonaki Group.

Next month will see the beginning of Apokries or Greek Carnival and I’m planning a Greek menu that will entice and satisfy all the other “kalofagades” out there who love grilled and roasted meat.

Seats are on sale now for the Greek Carnival Dinner will take place on Tuesday, February 18th. Gather your friends, this dinner will sell out quickly. 

Meanwhile, enjoy this slide show from this past Tuesday’s dinner. See you next month!