Malibu 5/21/2012

Greek Dining And Wine Tasting With The Gang (5/21/2012)

Every few months we go north about 50 mionutes from Seal Beach and end up at Taverna Tony's for lunch... A leisurely laugh and giggle session where we terrorize the wait staff. Afterwords we head into the mountains looking for distilleries where we can sample to goodies the Malibu mountain folk make. Join the fun.

A Comical Overview

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

In Detail

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
We arrive

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
All smiles

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Herbie is ready to dine

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Ed wants some of this great wine

\ Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
A real Greek red wine!

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Mathew (Irish and Portugese) is making our Saganaki

Did You Know? - Saganaki (Greek ????????, literally little frying pan) refers to various dishes prepared in Greek cuisine and is named after the single-serving frying pan in which it is cooked.

One popular example is an appetizer of pan-seared cheese. The cheese used in saganaki cheese is usually kefalograviera, kasseri, kefalotyri, or sheep's milk feta cheese. Regional variations include the use of formaella cheese in Arachova and halloumi cheese in Cyprus. The cheese is melted in a small frying pan until it is bubbling and generally served with lemon juice and pepper. It is eaten with bread.

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Call the fire department

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Mathew even backed off

Did You Know? - The first fire extinguisher of which there is any record was patented in England in 1723 by Ambrose Godfrey, a celebrated chemist at that time and to this day. It consisted of a cask of fire-extinguishing liquid containing a pewter chamber of gunpowder. This was connected with a system of fuses which were ignited, exploding the gunpowder and scattering the solution. This device was probably used to a limited extent, as Bradley's Weekly Messenger for November 7th, 1729, refers to its efficiency in stopping a fire in London.

The modern fire extinguisher was invented by British Captain George William Manby in 1818; it consisted of a copper vessel of 3 gallons (13.6 liters) of pearl ash (potassium carbonate) solution contained within compressed air.

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Must be good... Thumbs up!

Did You Know? - During World War II, pilots on U.S. aircraft carriers adopted the thumbs up to alert the deck crew that they were ready to go and that the wheel blocks could be removed.

The gesture's popularization in America is generally attributed to the practices of World War II pilots, who used the thumbs up to communicate with ground crews prior to take-off. This may have originated with the China-based Flying Tigers, who were among the first American flyers involved in World War II. The appreciative Chinese would say "???" ("ting hao de"), meaning "very good," and gesture with a thumbs up, which in Chinese means "you're number one."

High officials in Chinese government see it as a sign of respect. Any person from China will recognize this numerical gesture, and it can be seen in movies and photos of the era, though this has not been verified in print by American Volunteer Group (AVG) pilots. American GIs are reputed to have picked up on the thumb and spread it throughout Europe as they marched toward Berlin."[4] Combat pilots in the United States and around the world still use this gesture.

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Can I have the menu, please?

Did You Know? - The first restaurant menus arose roughly one millennium ago, during the Song Dynasty in China - the only region of the world at the time where paper was abundant. At this time, many merchants often congregated in city centers and had little time or energy to eat during the evening. Because of the large variation found in Chinese cuisine from different regions, the restaurants could no longer cater to the local palates, giving rise to the menu.

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
"I promise, he won't take the menu"

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
"Phone: What should I order for lunch??"

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Our standard table OR are we put here because of our behavior???

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Dessert is served

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
I have a cousin.....

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Ed has the giggles

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Herbie is up to something....

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Great shirt

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
It's called "The Wine Collector"

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Matthew was just great

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Painting on the wall....

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
It's a beautiful restaurant

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
We could have sat right here....

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
We about to leave

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Great display of our colors

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Ladies... We are heading for wine tasting....

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Another Eight Miles North

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
The fog has departed

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Up into the mountains we go up Kanan Dune Road

Did You Know? - Like Topanga Cyn., Kanan Dume is more of a cut-through or commuter road than a place to test your skills, but that doesn't mean that the road is boring. It is considerably longer than most other roads in the area, but at 12 miles isn't exactly a long stretch of pavement. Still, when playing in Malibu a relatively long road that can be taken at higher speeds is the exception rather than the rule, so Kanan can be a nice change of pace after the shorter, tighter roads that surrounds it.

At the northern end Kanan intersects Hwy. 101 and can be used as a quick way to get down into the heart of Malibu. With most of the gas stations along PCH closed, the top of Kanan can also be a good place to start the day or take a lunch break.

While far from a straight, boring road Kanan is certainly a much straighter than just about anything else in the area save the freeway. This allows for the possibility of some higher speeds, although there is typically a fair amount of traffic on this stretch of road so getting caught behind a slow moving vehicle is certainly a possibility. However, while there aren't a lot of them, a few passing lanes are available and can be used to great advantage.

Another plus for this road is the fact that it intersects both Mulholland Highway and Latigo Canyon, two of the best roads in the area. Latigo intersects at about the halfway point between PCH and the freeway, with Mulholland crossing just a bit north of that.

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Tunnels ahead

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
We can see light at the end of the tunnel

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
The horses greet us

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Herbie exits the limo

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
All out for wine tasting

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
All ashore thats going ashore....

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
We is arrived

Did You Know? - A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of tanks known as tank farms. The oldest winery in the world found to date is a 6,000 year old winery in the Areni region of Armenia, which is still a wine making region today.

Herbie was there when it opened for business....

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Reach for the sky

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Identical twins except for the bodies

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Wine????

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
A real 1929

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
The place if full on weekends

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Herbie is tasting wine

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Great chandalier

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
It was warm

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Interesting grounds

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Hopped right up on the table

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Kathy thought is was Ed... The shirts you know....

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
The Limo awaits

Greek food and wine tasking 5/20/2012
Heading towards 101