{"id":19201,"date":"2018-03-28T12:51:08","date_gmt":"2018-03-28T18:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/?p=19201"},"modified":"2018-03-28T12:51:08","modified_gmt":"2018-03-28T18:51:08","slug":"the-dining-divas-dont-have-to-go-far-for-good-mediterranean-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=19201","title":{"rendered":"The Dining Divas Don\u2019t Have to Go Far for Good Mediterranean Food"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lisa<\/a>
Lisa Kampeter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

by Lisa Kampeter<\/h3>\n

I knew I\u2019d be taking a risk again trying what I would call a \u201cnon-traditional\u201d restaurant. What I mean by that is the restaurant did not fall in one of the four main Dining Diva restaurant groupings \u2013 Italian, Mexican, American, and bar & grill. I\u2019m usually safe with those choices. But especially after the disaster choice from last month, you\u2019d think I\u2019d have gone for good old-fashioned comfort food, but I didn\u2019t. This month, we didn\u2019t have to go far even though we went for Mediterranean.<\/p>\n

Although I\u2019ve driven by it almost every day, Kaslik Mediterranean Cuisine never caught my eye until the Newcomer Diva mentioned it. Apparently she\u2019d heard good things about this North County restaurant on Lindbergh in Hazelwood. With a leap of faith (and without checking out the menu online), I made the decision to just go for it, and crossed my fingers that the Dining Divas wouldn\u2019t be disappointed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so nice of you to rent out the place for us,\u201d said the Witty Diva as our table was the only table in use. Well, that was a concern for me even though I noticed a steady group of people carry out food. Had I chosen another lame restaurant?<\/p>\n

Right away, Wasem greeted us, and when he was asked \u201cWhat kind of food is this?\u201d he answered immediately, \u201cReally good food.\u201d And his follow-up answer to the next question was even better. Regarding the food, \u201cWhat country are we in?\u201d He teasingly answered, \u201cthe United States.\u201d Wasem the Gem. That\u2019s what I thought of him for the rest of the night. If the food was as good as he was, the Dining Divas were sure to forgive me for the last restaurant I chose.<\/p>\n

To start, we tried lots of appetizers. Even for the Picky Diva. Hummus was a safe choice, but it was delicious with the fresh pita. The Confused Diva kept thinking Grape Leaves were actually the skins of the grapes. Even though it was out of her comfort zone, she tried the leaves stuffed with rice, parsley, tomatoes, and spices, and was surprised that she liked them. The Arays, or fondly known as Mediterranean quesadillas, and Falafel, deep-fried chickpeas, were other good appetizers. But the favorite was the Grilled White Halloumi Cheese. Real good, just like Wasem said they would be.<\/p>\n

The Greek Salad was on the Dieting Divas approved list, both nutritionally and for taste. The Daring Diva is used to the Greek side of the Mediterranean so it was surprising that she let Wasem decide what Lebanese dish she should try. He brought her out the Beef Shawarma sandwich that she really enjoyed. And we really were grateful because we didn\u2019t want her to turn into the Crabby Diva. The Beef Kefta was another good choice. It was grilled beef and onions and parsley served with basmati rice. For the less adventurous, the Grilled Shrimp marinated in spices and garlic was another safe choice.<\/p>\n

Kaslik was definitely outside of the Dining Divas comfort zone, but we\u2019re glad we tried it. Not only did we enjoy the food, we enjoyed how easily Wasem handled our demanding group with charm. And that says a lot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Lisa Kampeter I knew I\u2019d be taking a risk again trying what I would call a \u201cnon-traditional\u201d restaurant. What I mean by that is the restaurant did not fall in one of the four main Dining Diva restaurant groupings \u2013 Italian, Mexican, American, and bar & grill. I\u2019m usually safe with those choices. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,35,36,9,13,16,17,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alton","category-blackjack-spanishlake","category-florissant-business-news","category-columnists","category-entertainment-travel","category-ferguson","category-florissant","category-hazelwood","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Dining Divas Don\u2019t Have to Go Far for Good Mediterranean Food - flovalleynews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=19201\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Dining Divas Don\u2019t Have to Go Far for Good Mediterranean Food - flovalleynews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Lisa Kampeter I knew I\u2019d be taking a risk again trying what I would call a \u201cnon-traditional\u201d restaurant. 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