GREEK CLASSICS
Culinary escape to Petros
As much as we Montrealers tend to ramble on in summer about how the best place to be is right here in the city, I’m not so sure. Yes, there are festivals; yes, the terrasses make for great peoplewatching; yes, the markets are overflowing with beautiful produce; and yes, the added hours of sunlight make those backyard barbecues all the more memorable. But the truth is, our summer months whiz by so fast that even a week of rain weighs down hard on the old psyche. And let’s be honest: the warmweather season began with a rainy May, a bummer of a June, and now a less than thrilling July. For those of us who have been around to witness this, no doubt some fantasy travel daydreaming has occurred — and for me, a lot of those daydreams have me nibbling calamari and downing copious amounts of shrimp while sipping assyrtiko at a beachside restaurant in Greece.
Of course, a Greek beachside fantasy would set you back a few bucks, so to tide you over until you can make it to Mykonos, Hydra or Santorini, may I suggest a night of escape in one of Montreal’s better Greek restaurants? You may already know the usual Hellenic dining suspects, but to that list I’d add a new estiatorio called Petros. Opened in December, this player on Westmount’s roller-coaster of a restaurant scene also happens to be a bring-your-own-wine establishment. Sweet.
But hold on a minute, you’re thinking: Greek bring-your-ownwine restaurant — that must mean brochettes and swordfish steaks complete with roasted potatoes, rice and salad, as is the norm on streets like Duluth and Prince Arthur? Not so in this case. Petros features classic Greek dishes we’ve all come to know and love, be they spreads like taramasalata, nibbles like spanakopita, olive-heavy salads and a large selection of grilled fish and meats. Add a few sweets to round off your feast, and you have the ideal Mediterranean supper.
The restaurant’s locale at Sherbrooke St. and Grosvenor Ave. will always be remembered by my generation as the location of Spatches, the casual restaurant known for its quiche, salads and muffins where CHOM’s Terry and Patti used to hang out in the ’80s. Several establishments followed Spatches, yet none made as big a splash. But upon entering Petros, I looked around at the spiffy blue and white taverna decor, the pretty tiles, the long terrasse running alongside the building and the fish-on-ice display by the open kitchen in the back, and thought maybe this restaurant has staying power.
We were shown to a table overlooking the packed terrasse, and were warmly greeted by our waiter. He handed us menus and in return I handed him our Greek wine, a bottle of the fabulously food-friendly Domaine Mercouri Foloi 2016. (Sold at the SAQ for a reasonable $19.25, I highly recommend this crisp white or, for a few dollars less, the Domaine Tetramythos Roditis 2016 at $14.95). We chose a little bit of everything and waited with much anticipation.
We started out slow with two dips: the classic tzatziki and another made with eggplant. Both made the ideal dressing for the thick slices of grilled bread; my preference was for the eggplant dip topped with mint, chopped tomato, feta and lots of olive oil, which I’ve already recreated with much success at home.
A plate of fried calamari was the next to arrive, and what a beautiful plate it was. The best calamari are light, tender and crisp, and these fulfilled all those requirements. I probably ate most of the plate, dipping the delicious rings and spiders into the accompanying spicy mayonnaise. Terrific.
A generous bowl of Greek salad was also on point, with ripe summer tomatoes, thick slices of red onion, cucumber and peppers, as well as good-quality olives and feta and just a touch of dry oregano and red wine vinegar. Perfect. I also couldn’t resist the fried zucchini slices with tzatziki, which were just right: firmfleshed, piping hot and crisp.
With so much to love in the first course, expectations for the main course were high. Alas, we didn’t reach the same heights. First came a dish of four lamb chops that tasted great but were well done instead of the requested medium-rare. I returned the dish, hoping for success, but the next chops were raw inside and the vegetable accompaniments were a little sad. Dommage.
A grilled red snapper for one looked promising and was properly cooked, as the flesh was certainly moist. Too bad it didn’t taste of much. Screaming out for more of an olive oil/lemon/ oregano dressing, this $40 fish is a luxury that really has to score at that price. This specimen, however, was the piscine equivalent of elevator music.
Thank heavens for the grilled shrimp. At $36 for four (yes, kids, that’s $9 a pop), these mega crustaceans are another extravagance, but that’s common Greek-restaurant knowledge. Considering the high price of the plate, though, the vegetables once again could have used a little love. The grilled mushroom, cauliflower, greens and roasted potato wedge didn’t play much of a supporting role on this plate.
To end, we ordered a plate of loukoumades (a.k.a. honey balls) and a slice of baklava. I like a good honey ball, but these were on the heavy/bready side instead
of the preferred crisp-shelled tender beignets. As for the baklava, as it’s not made in-house, you have to wonder why they wouldn’t buy a better one. Maybe I should have stuck to a safer dessert, like Greek yogurt drizzled with honey.
Despite the letdowns, I’d recommend Petros because the highs are high, there’s still plenty of the menu to sample, and the service is both efficient and friendly. There’s also no denying it’s great to have a Greek bringyour-own-wine option beyond the usual brochetteries. Next time I’ll book on the terrasse, start the night off with those fried zucchini slices, close my eyes and, for a minute, pretend the traffic noises are the Aegean lapping at my toes. A bit of a stretch, granted, but slow-totake-flight summers like this call for an extra dose of imagination.