It thrills me that even when I'm not updating, over 100 people a day still come check out FvF.  However, it also makes me feel like a dick for neglecting it - considering I used to top 500 readers a day.

So, dear eaters, I give you a brief food tour of Toledo. Between my work travels and a real vacation, I've had a lot of outstanding food lately (and some I could have lived without) - so it doesn't seem fair to withhold all of these perfectly good recommendations...should you ever find yourself in the city by the lake. In chronological order:

Biaggi's - Levis Commons
Reminded me a LOT of Brio or Bravo.

The major difference was the combination of letters after the B. It was good, but I wouldn't say remarkable. I also didn't order a remarkable dish because it was lunchtime and I'm not an animal. I got some kind of panini that claimed to have gouda, which I couldn't taste - but the tomato bisque was nice. Would I choose Piada over it about any day? Probably.  4/5

Byblos - Holland
Hooooooooooooly falafel, Batman. This salad should be served at all times, at any and all loosely Mediterranean joints. Also, best pickles of my life. Ever. I wanted to fill my purse with them and fill my hotel mini-fridge with them, as to enjoy them my entire stay. If you've never been to Toledo (I can't say I recommend it for a lengthy stay), probably 50% of the eateries put fresh, warm pita bread on the table where you'd normally find a boring loaf of bread. This is another thing most restaurants should start adopting. Right away. Anyhow, the salad was comprised of some kick-ass falafel, fresh cukes, tomatoes and radishes - and as you can see, covered in parsley. It was so good, I didn't even miss the meat. They also have a few Turkish/Greek wines on their list that I may have enjoyed one or a handful of.      6/5


Empire Restaurant - Oregon
Just don't eat here. Really. Just don't. You're welcome.

Tony Packo's - Original Location
A Toledo institution (of the food variety, not mental).

 It was explained very basically to me, and delivered on what was promised - coneys with a split sausage instead of a hot dog. The side of paprikash I got left a lot to be desired, but the dog and sauce were great.     3.5/5


Poco Piatti
Super legit tapas. Meat lollies!!!

The great sangria, beer selection and chorizo tacos didn't hurt, either. Nifty little place, with nifty little plates.
And again, with the fresh pita on the table. 4.5/5

Friday the 13th - Spooky specials at Skyline! Tomorrow, the Dayton Mall location of Skyline chili will be serving up 13 coneys for $13. Get your Pepto ready!

Christopher's Restaurant is continuing their themed Thursday dinner specials, featuring "Miami Valley Grown Meals" for $18.95 per person.

Greek Isles Deli on Airway Rd is now offering a Greek buffet on Fridays. This is word-of-mouth news, so I don't have specifics, but it's on my list of places to check out.

Had lunch at DoubleDay's in Cross Point Center again yesterday, and discovered that they have the best fried pickles...ever. They're breaded in panko and what appears to be grated parmesan cheese. Full of win.

Still working my way through the Dei Fratelli tomato products sampler that I got. Mr. FvF and I both adore these pasta sauces & salsas. No artificial ingredients or preservatives, and much lower sugar content than a lot of their mainstream competitors. They actually taste fresh, like REAL tomatoes, not like doctored up tomato paste. Looks like Dayton-area Kroger stores are carrying the brand now, too!

There's a little place out on Wilmington Pike where I like to buy my dad cigars, browse around their wine selections and peruse the Greek food & novelties in a small freezer area in the back. I always salivate over the baklava, spanakopita and tzatziki sauce, but I'm always on my way somewhere else and have no way to keep them frozen.

As I should have figured, Pa FvF has made nice with the owner of The Marketplace, George, over several years of being a good customer to their humidor. Pa loves to tell everyone about Food vs Face, because he's better than your dad, and proud as a peacock. After telling the proprietor about my blog, George insisted that Pa take one of his gyro kits, along with homemade tzatziki sauce home and pass it along to me to try and review.

After a long day of swimming and spotting doppelgangers at the pool last weekend, I invited my friend Tim from YouIndie over to have dinner with us and check it out. I made a little souvlaki for myself, grilled the pitas quickly and oven-warmed the lamb for the boys, and we all made gyros. Since I don't really dig on lamb, I have to take their word that it was a big handfull of "hell yeah." The pitas, although they came to me frozen, tasted as fresh as the day they were made when allowed to thaw and plopped on the grill for a minute. The tzatziki was out this world! The perfect accompaniment, better than Ticket's, and much, much better than any I've ever made. I wonder if I might be able to talk George into teaching me his family recipe?

We'll be having the sauce again tomorrow when we make feta steaks (basically, gyros with sirloin instead of lamb), which I'll have photos of since I missed the chance when we had our first go'round with the sauce.

All of the products still had the price tag on them, and under $10 for 4+ gyros and tzatziki is one hell of a deal. I'll definitely be back in to stock up on a few of these finds. Although I take pride in my culinary craftiness, sometimes it's just better to let the pros do the work. Keep up the great work, George!

I've raved a few times about Tickets Pub in Fairborn and how much I love their Souvlaki. But, I don't always feel like driving across town to get it. Since it's grilling season, I may as well step to my Weber and learn to make it myself, tzatziki sauce included. It was not only easier than I thought, but sooooo much more delicious than expected. Most of the prep is done the night before, in order to let flavors meld and marinate, and even that only takes about 20 minutes.

Follow your nose over to Man B Que and see what all the fuss is about!


Editor's note: the heat index today was nearly 100 degrees, so it hardly seemed grilling weather, but this was so, so worth it.

Whenever I find myself in a recipe rut, I just look for new things I can cram into a chicken. Looks fancy,but it's pretty easy. Tonight's recipe is brought to you by my love for pine nuts and hatred of paying $4 for a tiny jar of them.

Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken
(serves 2, double as needed)
2 boneless chicken breast halves, trimmed and flattened
1/2 C fresh spinach
2 tbsp pine nuts
1/2 C feta (I used basil & tomato feta)
house seasoning
olive oil


There's always more than one way to skin a cat. Sure, you could spend time whacking away at the chicken breast with a mallet until it's flattened, but here's an easier way. Cut the breast in half first, lengthwise. If it's a bit uneven, then you can pound it out covered in plastic wrap until the thickness is uniform.

Lay down a few fresh spinach leaves, then your cheese, then the pine nuts on the fatter end.
Have your toothpicks handy (about 3 per piece) and start rolling them up, fat end first.
Secure with toothpicks on each end, and one in the middle to keep all the goodness from oozing out when they cook.


Once you have tight little rolls, dust them up with house seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder) and brown them in a pan over medium heat in a little olive oil until a nice, light brown crust is formed.

Pop them into the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes to finish the cooking process. Make sure the temp read at last 165 to make sure they're cooked thoroughly.

Today Mr. FoodvsFace and I were in scenic downtown Fairborn to hit Bookery Comics and get a haircut for him and a manicure for me at Chelsea Manor, so we hit Ticket's Pub across the street for lunch. We'd been there for the first time around Halloween when we were gallavanting around the Foy's stores, and I couldn't wait to go back and plow into some of the charbroiled goodness.

They have plenty of standard American fare on their menu, but they also have a good selection of Greek dishes, like Gyros and souvlaki. We shared the Greek hot plate (for 1 - you can order it for two, but it is massive) and a basket of mini corn dogs. The hot plate consists of lamb, charbroiled chicken, souvlaki (charbroiled pork), feta, tomatoes, olives, peppers, and freshly made pitas with a heaping helping tzatziki sauce. I don't dig on lamb at all, so I leave that all to him - but I feel like I still have the upper hand because I get all of the tomatoes. The meat is always perfectly cooked, the pita wedges are fresh and warm, and it only sets you back about $10.

The Greek Cold Plate would be a great option for vegetarians, with Feta cheese, greek peppers, kalamata olives, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers served with pita bread and tzatziki sauce.

I'd love to show you a photo of it, but we devoured it before it even occurred to me to snap a pic. So, do yourself a favor and go check it out for yourself.

5 out of 5 sporks!