Most controversial salad in France lands in Scripps Ranch

Most controversial salad in France lands in Scripps Ranch

For more than a century, the French have argued about what belongs in a Niçoise salad. This month, Yanni’s Bar & Grill decided to wade in.

The Scripps Ranch restaurant’s newest special is co-owner Denise Pihas’s summer take on the dish – and it cheerfully breaks the rules purists in Nice hold sacred. Traditionalists insist a true Niçoise is raw: tomatoes, olives, anchovies and little else. One former mayor of Nice wrote a whole cookbook lamenting “the crimes committed in the name of this pure, fresh salad.” Denise’s version commits several, adding new potatoes, green beans, egg, yellowfin tuna and – because this is California – avocado.

There’s a Greek accent, too, with Kalamata olives standing in for the classic Niçoise variety.

“Being Greek, we make our own version,” says co-owner Yanni Pihas, who has run the restaurant with Denise since 2003.

The couple, he says, practically lived on the salad while traveling through Italy on his last trip; too hot to cook anything else.

It’s paired with your favorite white wine and, the restaurant hopes, a friendly argument or two.

Yanni’s Bar & Grill is located at 12015 Scripps Highlands Drive.  yannisbarandgrill.com.