Smyrna Restaurant

A MEDITERRANEAN OASIS ON DRESDEN ROW

BY LAURA OAKLEY
PHOTOS MICHELLE DOUCETTE

Open and shut was the theme for Smyrna Mediterranean Restaurant’s first few months in business. The restaurant persevered despite having to close down for dine-in and switch to doing only takeout just two weeks after the grand opening in November of 2020. Chef-owner Michael Toker and his wife Lucia continued to serve Mediterranean mezze plates and build a following at their cozy spot on Dresden Row in downtown Halifax. The space that formerly housed Hali-famous restaurant Fid has transformed into a simple, airy-yet-intimate restaurant with an open kitchen featuring an authentic charcoal grill.

“It gives you a taverna feeling. Like in Greece or Italy,” says Toker, who feels it’s the perfect spot for his concept, which includes mezze-style dishes from Greece, Turkey and Lebanon. The restaurant gets its name from his hometown of Izmir, Turkey, which in ancient times was a Greek city called Smyrna. “It’s more like Mediterranean ‘plus’. What we try to do here is serve smaller plates, like a tapas style, so everybody can share the meal.” Mezze, or tapas, means a selection of small dishes served and shared as multiple courses. The unassuming interior achieves a certain welcoming feel, like a place you should be sharing a meal with your family. And seeing the chefs at work in the super-clean kitchen while taking in the sounds and smells of meat on the charcoal grill is a remarkable sensory experience.

Toker came to Canada in 2002 to study at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. “During my studies, I saw there was a big culinary gap here for Mediterranean food,” says Toker. He partnered with the owner of the already up-and-running Anatolia Restaurant (which coincidentally was also on Dresden Row) and got into the industry in the kitchen. He has since cooked at various Mediterranean restaurants in Halifax and owned and operated Troy Restaurant in Wolfville, which also featured a charcoal grill. Along with the authentic grilling method, Toker’s style is to make everything as fresh as possible. For example, he doesn’t do mise en place for Greek salad ingredients; they prepare the vegetables to order. "We make almost everything on a daily basis,” says Tokers of the dips and spreads. “I think that’s the secret for this type of cuisine; it needs to be fresh. You can’t do big batches.” Drinks at Smyrna also complement the food style, with a few local beer and cider options on tap, locally-produced spirits, and a nice little wine list. And Toker is in the middle of adding more Mediterranean wines.

“Our chef tasting menu is very popular because it’s like a mystery—they don’t know what they’ll get. And we surprise them every time,” says Toker of the set $65 option, which typically runs through a generous selection of vegetable, seafood and meat mezze dishes plus a multitude of house-made spreads, olives and pita. Every tasting menu is a little different, depending on the person. Toker offers to take me on the chef tasting menu experience, and I happily oblige. If I had to choose, Mediterranean food is probably my favourite regional style, and—there’s grilled octopus. Which I’ve already heard is a must-try.

After setting down a basket of warm, sliced pita bread, and a mix of Greek kalamata and garlic-stuffed green olives drizzled with olive oil, Toker serves me a rainbow of the house-made spreads. In the centre of the circular plate is a vibrantly pink beet purée-yogurt. Surrounding it are two servings of velvety hummus, two of spinach tarator (a pale green garlicky, herby yogurt spread), one stuffed grape leaves, a dollop of creamy baba ganoush, a big spoonful of kopanisti (a fantastic feta and smoky red pepper dip), and some earthy tomato-eggplant ragout. What Toker then tells me changes my life forever: “The spreads are meant to be eaten with a fork, and the pita bread to cleanse the palate, not to dip every time.” What? The news is welcome, given that’s how I eat hummus almost daily. I try each of the spreads (with a fork), and they are all distinct and delicious, the kopanisti a personal favourite.

Next up is the already-famous octopus Santorini, the grilled octopus dish that has become a bestseller. Toker says he used to harpoon seafood fresh from the ocean as a kid at their summer house on the Aegean Coast in Turkey and watch how his grandmother prepared the dishes—which is how he learned to cook octopus. Served simply on a bed of lemony aioli drizzled with olive oil and topped with greens and a lemon wedge, the octopus is the most tender I have ever had. I eat every bite—even though I should pace myself.

Seared halloumi follows the octopus. Served on a still-warm black griddle (to keep it melty), the cheese is topped with Greek herbs, garnished with tomato and olives, and accompanied by a green salad featuring figs, goat cheese and walnuts dressed in a sweet and tart pomegranate molasses. It’s such a treat to eat fresh figs—another homage to Toker’s childhood, he says, where his family’s property kept goats and had fig trees.

Finally, the main course arrives, a plate of mixed grilled meats. Chicken and lamb souvlaki, a spicy chicken skewer and a succulent lamb chop, plus grilled tomato and red pepper, served with Ottoman rice (basmati rice sautéed with delicate vermicelli noodles) and pickled red onion, all on lavash bread. The accoutrements are house-made tzatziki (Toker sources the extra-pressed yogurt then makes the rest from scratch), toum (Lebanese style garlic sauce), and spicy ezme sauce, a summery combination of crushed tomato, onions, garlic, red peppers, sumac, mint and olive oil, drizzled with pomegranate molasses. All work well with grilled meats in different ways. I’m partial to tzatziki, but the minty, fresh ezme is a bright addition to the rich lamb. All the meats are incredibly tender, displaying flavours of fresh Greek oregano, Armenian red pepper, cumin and some “top secret” ingredients.

“When I make food, I want to make it 100% how it’s made in Greece,” says Toker. “What I learned working with my [past] chefs is to be humble and do the best you can with everything you can do.” Toker strives to make everything at Smyrna as delicious as possible by constantly improving. And it’s landed him a spot on the 50 Best Places to Eat list, where he’s happy to be. Looking to the future, Toker says he’s “trying to make the restaurant an iconic place in Halifax.” With the commitment to authenticity, freshness, and taste, I think he and his team are well on their way.

Wednesday, March 15
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
@ Smyrna Restaurant

A very special collaboration dinner with one of Curated Food & Drink Magazine’s 50 Best Places to Eat (2022). The evening will be hosted by Chief Curator, Alexander Henden, where he will share a curated selection of his favourite dishes through a 12 item, 6-course tasting menu with available wine pairings.

Tickets & Info

Smyrna Restaurant