Diana's was one of Main Street's favourite eateries

One of the best retro diners ever to grace Main Street in Galt was Diana's Restaurant.

Jim and Sophie Malatches owned and operated this much-loved eatery. Almost every day and weekend it was the place to meet your friends over a plate of their famous fries and gravy. 

Jim worked the front counter with a professional passion, making sure your coffee cup was always topped up while keeping the soda bar humming with milk shakes, floats and cherry coke sodas.

Diana's menu had just about everything you could want to make a good dining choice. The local market fresh ingredients made the meals sing and the plates were served perfectly.

I can't forget the club house, toasted western or corn beef sandwiches served with fresh cut fries, side salad cole slaw or a bowls of daily-made soup that kept us all coming back.

If you were there for dinner, the kitchen made several good home comfort cooking choices.

The entrees featured generous servings of the family's Mediterranean recipes, like baked stuffed peppers, barbecued ribs, generous skewers of roast chicken or a pork souvlaki, beef calf liver and fried onions served with a rice pilaf and roasted lemon potatoes.

The fresh daily oven roasted turkey, gravy and stuffing was stellar as were the delicious hot roast beef or steak-on-a-bun sandwiches.

Beer battered fish and chip dinners were all hand crafted and made to order, making sure to hit all the right flavour notes.

One of my favourites pick-me-ups was the chef's chicken rice lemon soup.

I usually ended my meal with their rice pudding or fresh baked pie ala mode for a yummy dessert finish. So many area residents remember Diana's as their favourite restaurant.

Going to a downtown movie, or having a quick breakfast before shopping, it was the place to meet. So many regular customers were greeted and seated by Sophie who knew most of us by name.

The restaurant's booths were like a second home to many but as the downtown was slowly changing, Diana's was one of the last diners to close and move to a new location. Decades of good times with family and friends at Diana's are now just good memories.

I know we all loved the fries and gravy but the cook's version of the Greek Avgolemono soup was a standout. 

Made using shredded roast chicken, rice and a few simple vegetables stirred into a silky smooth lemon-and-egg chicken bone broth for a  balanced Grecian-style home comfort food soup, it was the best.

Here is that recipe for you to try at home.

Avgolemono Soup (Greek Lemon Chicken Soup)

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 cup chopped green onions

3 cloves minced garlic 

8 cups chicken bone broth, 

3/4 cup white rice or basmati

1 tsp fresh dried oregano

2 bay leaves (

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken

1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon zest

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill

Heat olive oil in a soup or crock pot over medium heat. Add green onion and garlic and saute 30 to 60 seconds until fragrant.

Pour in chicken broth and bring to a rolling simmer over medium-high heat.

Stir in rice, oregano, bay leaves, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally so rice doesn't stick to bottom of pot, until rice is just tender, about 15 minutes for basmati rice and 20 minutes for white rice.

Near the end of cooking in a medium mixing bowl whisk together eggs plus the egg yolks and lemon juice until frothy for about 1 minute. Slowly pour in 1 cup hot broth from soup with the eggs while whisking. 

Now stir the chicken and lemon zest. Remove from heat and while stirring soup pour in egg mixture. Return to heat and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until soup has thickened slightly for a minute or two.

Serve with parsley and dill. Add more chicken broth to thin soup if desired. 

Serve immediately.

Makes 8 servings.

Chef Wayne Conrad Serbu writes monthly for CambridgeToday. The former executive chef also shares recipes and memories from his more than five decades in the hospitality industry on his blog, the kitchenman.