Day 655: Horiatiki @ Boulud Sud

Horiatiki or Greek salad is one of those classic salad combinations known the world over. Traditionally, it is a melange of tomatoes, cucumbers, Kalamata olives, red onion, feta, and green bell peppers dressed simply with olive oil, oregano and sea salt. But a Greek Salad's success rests in the freshness of the ingredients. Mealy tomatoes, canned olives, cheap feta and non-crispy cucumbers tend to be the common faults I find in this salad. I also find that it tends to be a risky salad to order a lot of the time, granted go to the South of France and it's a different ball game. But last night, at Boulud Sud, their Horiatiki salad was crisp, fresh, alive, and delish. Salty, briny feta offset the bright juiciness of the tomatoes and the crispiness of the cucumbers was perfect when enjoyed with a bite of the aromatic red onion and the tang of a fabulous Kalamata olive. Leaves of romaine lettuce were added in to beef the salad up a bit in all the right sorts of ways. With each morsel, you felt as though you were transported to a seaside town on the Mediterranean -- what a delight!