New Arrivals – December 2021
Posted by estiator at 10 December, at 07 : 12 AM Print
A coast-to coast glance at some of the industry’s newest additions
Miami
DOYA
doyarestaurant.com
Chef Erhan Kostepen’s “Modern Aegean” restaurant in Miami’s Wynwood district “celebrates the Meze culture from Greece and Turkey,” proclaims its website. “We love simple, honest cooking with loud colors and big, bold flavors. We favor vegetables as much as meat and fish. We are all about seasonality and availability.” The menu features Cretan feta, sea beans, octopus salad, branzino ceviche, kebabs, and roasted cauliflower. Plates are designed for sharing.
Cincinnati
OH FILLO GREEK BAKE SHOP
fillogreekbakeshop.com
Evan Papanikolaou opened this 2,300-square-foot day-to-night bakery concept on the ground floor of an upscale apartment project in Cincinnati’s Over-theRhine neighborhood. “We’re bringing a piece of Greece to Over-the-Rhine,” he told a local news site. “When you walk into Fillo, you’ll feel like you’re in Greece.” On the menu: salads, sandwiches, and traditional baked goods, both sweet and savory. Fillo is a family business—Papanikolaou’s eldest daughter, Angelina, is helping with the menu design and perfecting the recipes. Two other daughters are working on advertising.
New York City
KYMA HUDSON YARDS
kymarestaurants.com
New York City’s restaurant scene is seeing big bets again. Case in point: This 200-seat West Side newcomer, the third Kyma after locations in Roslyn and lower Manhattan. Opened in mid-October, the restaurant is overseen by Top Chef finalist George Pagonis, Eater reports. The menu features some of the Kyma’s great hits, including warm sesame feta, shrimp Santorini, pastitsio spring rolls, and whole fish. The new space will feature private rooms and a large circular bar; it’s launching with dinner service only.
Philadelphia
GREEK FROM GREECE
gfgcafecuisine.com
Fast-growing all-day franchise Greek from Greece opened its first Philadelphia location in October. It’s GFG’s second location in Pennsylvania after Kennett Square, which launched earlier this year. The new restaurant is the third location to open in 2021 alone, with 11 additional locations in development. “We want the Philly location to usher in an era of food, fun, and parea, which is a Greek term for a group of friends who regularly gather to share their life experiences, philosophies, and ideas,” said Dimitri Gouliaberis, the franchisee, in a press release. Located near Drexel University, the location is expected to attract students, academics, and nearby professionals, Gouliaberis said.
Land O Lakes
FL LITTLE GREEK FRESH GRILL
littlegreekfreshgrill.com/store/ land-o-lakes-fl
This Greek fast-casual franchise brand opened its 18th Tampa Bay-area store in September. The chain, which launched in 2004 in Florida, now boasts footprints in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, and Texas as well. Greek-Mediterranean menus stick with familiar staples like spanakopita, avgolemono, and horiatiki, along with hummus, wraps, and skewers. “Our philosophy has always been slow and steady growth,” Little Greek Fresh Grill president Nick Vojnovic told QSR earlier this year. “Sometimes growing too fast can have its consequences.”
New York City
ANASSA TAVERNA
anassataverna.com
“This isn’t your typical Greek restaurant,” declared Time Out New York of Anassa Taverna’s Battery Park City location—its third. Indeed, there aren’t that many tavernas that serve spaghetti in a whole lobster. Time Out reports the 7,000-square-foot restaurant “aims to replicate the energy of taverns in Athens’ popular and historic Plaka neighborhood.” First cousins Nick Tsoulos and Nick Pashalis are behind the brand; their menu offers modern comfort food like Greek salad with feta from a small farm South of Athens and Cretan olive oil, charbroiled octopus, and a tower of thinly sliced zucchini and eggplant chips served with tzatziki. Demetris Charalambous designed the interiors.
New York City
GRECA
grecanyc.com
Greca is not exactly new—owner Tom Galis opened it in 2018—but a new menu makes it one of the few vegetarian Greek restaurants in the country. Galis told the Tribeca Citizen that a 2019 heart attack was his wakeup call about “industrialized food… The origins of Greek food are what the earth gives, mostly plant based,” he says. “My grandparents ate very little meat, for instance. It’s very easy to make Greek food vegetarian.” The innovative new menu includes grilled halloumi salad, penne with jackfruit ragu, and a portobello gyro.
Charleston, SC
BAPKÓ GRILL HOUSE
bapkogrillhouse.com
As Estiator readers know, it’s pronounced “Varko”. The family behind My Big Fat Greek Trailer, a Charleston food truck, opened this full-service downtown eatery in October. “Hellenic heritage has been lost or diluted outside of Greece,” co-owner David Leon told a local news site. “We will revitalize that aspect of Greek culture in Charleston. My father-in-law and patriarch of the family, Chef Konstantinos Kakaziotis, will be joining us at Bapkó as well. If one Greek word could summarize the food we are bringing to Charleston, it would be αυθεντικός (afthentikós) or in English—authentic.” Look for gyros, salads, souvlakis, and more.
Sarasota, FL
SIMPLY GREEK BY WYNNBERRY
simplygreekbywynnberry.com
Sarasota got its first Greek food truck in October courtesy of local chef/entrepreneur Diana Susanne Wynnberry. On her web site, Wynnberry explains she grew up in Greece, became a chef, ran her own restaurant in Dubai, returned to Greece, then landed in Sarasota, “where Simply Greek by Wynnberry was born.” The truck roams Sarasota, dishing out gyros, moussaka, pastisio, and sweets like galaktobouriko. Wynnberry’s big ocean-blue truck also offers catering.
