There's a small family-owned Mediterranean grocery and cafe in Bellingham, Washington. The grocery sells about thirty kinds of olive oil, twenty-five pound sacks of rice, several kinds of bread including lavosh and pita, imported teas and jams—including, as far as I can tell, the complete range of Twining's tea in both tea bags, and in tins of loose tea. There's a decent selection of chocolate from Europe, Greek and Lebannese coffee, wine from all over the world at a range of prices, honey, a wide variety of special oils, including sesame, walnut and cottonseed, various canned Greek delicacies, several different kinds of

olives, a selection of coffee sets, and the equipment for making Greek style coffees. They also feature imported Greek and European cookies and biscuits (including McVitie's digestives), and candies. There's a small selection of Greek flavorings, like rose water, and a few seasonings. A freezer case has small slabs of frozen gyros meat, grape leaves, filo, puff pastry, and other basics of Greek cuisine. This is a fun place to shop—with enthusiastic, welcoming staff. I'll definitely be doing some special holiday shopping here. But it's good to know that they have the special ingredients you need for Greek or other Mediterranean cuisines. But you don't have to make your own food; they make it for you!

Inside the store, towards the back, there's a deli counter and a cafe with three or four tables. You can order gyros (beef or chicken), domathas, Greek coffee, baklava, vegetarian kibbe, falafal, hummus, various grilled paninni, baba ghanouj stuffed peppers, homemade soup, and spanokopita (pastry-wrapped spinach and feta), and Greek salad. We ordered gyros, with domathas, and coffee. The gyros was hot, with freshly made tzatziki (a cucumber, garlic and yogurt sauce), feta, and tomatos. The dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves) were drizzled with olive oil, and freshly made. What made the gyros fabulous was the tzatziki sauce. A generous lunch for two was under $30.00, including a tip. You can order at the counter and ask them to wrap the food "to go," then shop while you wait.

The owners, I'm told, are Lebanese sisters, so there's a fair sampling of Lebanese cuisine on the menu, as you can see. We're looking forward to going back and trying the falafal, and perhaps the shwarma. I not that I'm not alone in liking Mediterranean Specialties.

Image credit: Digital Medievalist