Georgia Kambolis celebrates the arrival of Nu Greek Robson, Tim Pawsey photo
It’s a tasty irony indeed that Nu Greek Robson (542 Robson St., Vancouver) is right next door to Japadog (530 Robson St.) Somehow the notion of having a direct descendant of the city’s original souvlaki mainstay side by side with east-meets-west hotdog heaven adds up to perfect bookends: a capsule of Vancouver’s ethnic culinary evolution over the last three or four decades.
The lilliputian Robson kitchen (if you’re lucky you might be able to belly up to one of two high tables but take-away’s best) is a true Nu bricks and mortar foray downtown that comes hot on the heels of the success of Nu Greek Street.
Robert Clark may be a great chef but Yasmina wins this contest hands down, Tim Pawsey photo
This week’s opening celebration featured free souvlaki and found C-Raincity-Nu exec chef Robert Clark on hand to give the kitchen a hand on the finer points of souvlaki making. Mind you, we think he too was likely schooled by co-owner and long time resto queen around town Georgia Kambolis, Harry Kambolis’ mom and original mentor, also in attendance.
The final touch was an appearance by the strikingly beautiful belly-dancer Yasmina, who found time between dances to also check out the souvlaki.
No question, it’s already a hit. And no surprise: the pita’s bronzed and perfect, not oily, (just as it is at Nu Aegean), and the chicken (or octopus) very tender. Plus there’s even fresh (also Ocean Wise) salmon souvlaki. Most important, the garlic packed tzatziki, appropriately, takes no hostages.
Now all that remains to be seen is how long it takes for the Kambolis family to bring souvlaki—which always was the perfect beach food—back to English Bay.
Maybe quicker than you can say ‘Cactus Club’?
Updated (Oct 16th): While Harry Kambolis says it’s true, he does hope to open at English Bay ‘one day’, he’s already expanded Nu Greek with another location at 1513 Broadway (at Granville)—open today!
Related: You can read more about Harry Kambolis and Souvlaki Place here.
Ultimately, it's really all about the pita—perfected (and shown here) at Nu Aegean, Tim Pawsey photo
Looks delicious! I will be down in Van for the last 2 weekend of October – one for the writer’s conference and the other for Anthony Bourdain’s talk. Very excited! I will be sure to keep an eye out of Nu Greek.
The Wanderfull Traveler
Great! Give us a shout when you hit town. Love your blog btw. HB