Shameless Grounds and Anthonino’s Taverna

I finally had an excuse to go to Shameless Grounds all the way down on Sidney Street when a friend wanted to meet in the city. I had heard about their large selection of vegetarian and vegan dishes, all of which are cleverly named.

I went with The French Kiss, their version of “Salade Nicoise”. Each ingredient was served completely segregated from each other on the plate with only a little bit of lettuce in the middle. Also, instead of raw tuna, they served chunk tuna, which made the dish more affordable. I went ahead and mixed everything together on the plate and I didn’t miss all the lettuce since it just meant more tuna, egg, olives, and potatoes to help fill me up.

I wasn’t expecting my night to continue but my other friends had been planning to go to one of their favorite restaurants on The Hill, Anthonino’s Taverna, which actually has quite a bit of a Greek influence throughout their menu, even on their pizza.

We started with the Meze Platter, which worked out great so I could have several of my favorites: baba ghanoush, hummus, Greek yogurt, peppers, feta, kalamata olives, and pepperoncini with pita bread. This platter could easily be a meal for one or two.

On the list of hot appetizers, you can get a gyro plate and baked goat cheese, which sounds more Greek, but then the list of dinners and pastas all sounded Italian.

For an even bigger identity crises, my friend ordered pizza…but with gyro meat, taztziki sauce, and kalamta olives. (She substituted goat cheese for feta cheese.) I tasted a slice and it was not like anything I had tasted before in a pizza! My favorite part was the melted goat cheese in every bite. Luckily, we had picked a Chianti to help stand up to so many strong flavors at once!

Resources:

Shameless Grounds = http://shamelessgrounds.com/menu

Anthonino’s Taverna = http://www.anthoninos.com/