Carmel: Dametra Cafe

We left LA on Saturday morning and drove up the coast, spent the evening at Hearst Castle in San Simeon, and then continued on to Palo Alto on Sunday.  We stopped in Carmel for lunch at Dametra Cafe, which is one of my favorite spots; I've now visited three times over the past four years.  The first time I ate there was during WSPR 2008, right before my first conference presentation, and the second time was with my family in 2009.  This little restaurant is always busy, so it was pretty lucky that around 1pm, we only had a 5-10 minute wait for a table.  Service is always friendly, and the bread is always warm and crusty.

Hummus, served with a basket of warm pita bread:

Napkin flower (not on the menu as far as I know, but the napkins were starched, and that was tempting because I hadn't made a flower in a while):

Jerusalem kefta kabab wrap, with tzatziki and Greek salad.  I like the Greek salad here because the feta cheese is whisked into the dressing, so you get the feta flavor without the huge chunks of cheese that I generally like less because of their chalky texture.

Falafel wrap:

Baklava, kindly sent out on the house:

After all the pita and fresh bread we ate, we could only finish half our wraps.  The remainder returned to Palo Alto with us, to be warmed in the oven and eaten along with some fresh salad for dinner.

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I'm heading to Shanghai tomorrow, but will return before the New Year.  Merry Christmas, everyone!!