Loula's Taverna shakes the family tree with Greek share plates on Commercial Drive
Long-time local restaurateurs launch the new Vancouver tapas-style dining spot and bar
Loula’s Taverna and Bar is in the former home of the Libra Room on Commercial Drive.
THERE’S A NEW Greek restaurant on Commercial Drive, but its roots in the city go back decades.
Loula’s Taverna & Bar is a joint effort among family and close friends, with 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).
Yianni and Petro are brothers; Bill and Niko are their cousins. Loula is Yianni and Petro’s aunt, and Bill and Niko’s mom.
“She embodies the feeling of our restaurant,” Yianni Kerasiotis tells Stir in an interview. “She’s warm, fun, makes incredible food, and is about as Greek as it gets.”
Kerasiotis’s father was born in a small village a few hours outside of Athens called Prokopi on the island of Evia and immigrated to Vancouver in the 1970s. Flipping through old family albums from their times in Greece, the partners decided to bring family-style dining they had grown up with to East Van, the kind of food that yaya (grandma) and papou (grandpa) would make.
“Greek culture is food,” Yianni Kerasiotis tells Stir in an interview. “They’re inextricably linked. Eating isn’t just about nourishment, it’s about connection and fun and togetherness. It’s how we bond. It’s how we show love. Many of the dishes that we grew up eating are on the Loula’s menu.”
Look for the hot-pink door against the Mediterranean blue of the building that used to house the Libra Room; once inside Loula’s, it feels airy and fresh with its exposed brick walls painted bright white and faux climbing greenery and red flowers.
Chef Manos Grammatikogiannis, formerly of Nammos, highlights dishes that are meant to be shared. While there are items like calamari, spanakopita, and saganaki on offer as at most Greek restaurants, there’s a shift away from stereotypes of the country’s cuisine being mainly skewers of chicken or lamb atop a pile of starch.
“People tend to expect their Greek food to be a huge platter of meat, potatoes, and rice for a very small price,” Kerasiotis says. “This insinuates that our food isn’t worth that much. In reality, it’s quite the opposite. Greek food is family-style tapas made with fresh ingredients. It’s a lot of vegetables and seafood. Our whole concept with Loula’s is to give that fun, almost kitschy Greek restaurant vibe that people have come to know and love, but to take our food very seriously.”
The sea bass is flown in from Greece and served whole. Grilled octopus is dressed simply with olive oil and lemon. Chicken, lamb, and pork are marinated for 48 hours and cooked on a rotisserie; the meats can be ordered by the kilo or half kilo, a traditional way of offering main courses in Greece.
Look for masticha, which shows up on both the cocktail and dessert lists: the crystal, resinous spice cultivated exclusively on the island of Chios is reminiscent of pine, with a musky aroma. It’s said to have medicinal qualities and can be found in liqueur form. The distinct ingredient stands out in Loula’s Ekmek, a syrupy but not overly sweet slice of shredded phyllo topped with masticha-cream custard and sliced almonds. (We could do with out the maraschino cherry, though.)
The wine and beer menus are exclusively B.C. or Greek.
Loula’s Taverna & Bar is 1608 Commercial Drive and is open Tuesdays to Sundays from 3 pm PDT on.
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