Avra

A friend of mine was in town for business, and invited me to join him and some other media types for dinner. If you have to talk business, you might as well do it over some delicious food, amirite??

I suggested Avra, a restaurant known for Greek/Mediterranean style food, especially grilled seafood.


We started with fried calamari for the four of us to share. This was delicious. Tender, not too briny, and two great sauces. The green one had a lot of parsley and dare I say some anchovies? Yum yum yum.

We also all shared a piece of flaky, just-salty-enough spanakopita, or baked pyllo dough with spinach, feta cheese, and leeks. This was really good and had a great balance of pastry and filling.

We also ordered a bottle of Malbec: a 2010 Zuccardi from Argentina's Mendoza region. This was luscious and a great pick for everyone, especially considering our range of wine preferences.

Charcoal-grilled seafood is the specialty at Avra, so that's exactly what I ordered: grilled tsipoura (royal dorado), a nice, flaky white fish from the Mediterranean. They present it whole but deboned, and dress it only with some olive oil, lemon juice, and capers. Heaven. Sweet, seafood heaven.

I didn't know everyone that well at the table, so I held back from taking pictures of their dishes, but I knew the friend to my left quite well (back from our days in TV News), and he ordered the tuna tartare. I declined his offer to try it, but only because I was already stuffed.
(Okay, okay, I may have swiped a beet slice or two-- I love beets!)
The meal was fantastic, from the company to the service to the very last bite of food & drop of wine. You definitely need to make a reservation, but if you're anywhere near Avra, pop in for a taste of super-fresh charcoal grilled fish-- and a killer wine to match.

Avra
141 East 48th Street
New York, NY 10017
212 759-8550

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Niko's

***February 22nd, 2011: The folks at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York just broke the sad news that Niko's has CLOSED!!! I'm sad to see such an institution leave our city. And while one commenter laments the probability of a Starbucks, I'll take that over another stupid BANK. Feh. Thanks, Niko's staff, for many delicious memories.**

I met up with friends on the Upper West Side last week for a place I hadn't visited in years: Niko's Mediterranean Grill & Bistro.

Kashkaval

My friend Patty's birthday falls on Halloween--I mean Halloween falls on her BIRTHDAY--so a group of us rounded up on Friday evening for a birthday dinner. We decided to try a spot off our normal roster and we hit up an old favorite of mine: Kashkaval, on 9th Avenue. I used to work across the street from here when I was at the talk show, and every once in a while I would pop in for an out of this world lunch--or to take a slice or two of baklava home.

One of my favorite things about this place--their cold dishes. Their spreads are outrageously delicious, especially their tzatziki (crazy powerfully garlicky), their ajvar (red pepper spread), and their olive tapenade. Oh man..soooo good. For $18, we got a plate with up to 6 items (we got the hummus, ajvar, tapenade, baked beets, and TWO servings of the tzatziki). Everything was insanely scrumptious. I could easily make a meal of all these spreads.

Up next, we got the Basic Fondue, which has Swiss & Emmenthaler ($10 per person). It comes with bread cubes, or you can pay extra for veggies or meats. Emily & I loved this, especially when it got to the bottom of the dish and all those yummy bits of garlic came to the surface. Patty thought this was just meh--"just cheese and bread," she said, to which I say JUST cheese and bread!? Just DELICIOUS cheese and bread!! :)

We ordered the chicken kabobs ($11), which come with 2 skewers and a bed of orzo, as well as a delicious mix of veggies and feta on the side. Two people could easily split this as a meal--we each took a piece of chicken and onions/peppers as a snack.

For dessert we got the chocolate fondue (also $10 per person), and this came with bananas, pears, strawberries, and marshmallows. The chocolate was super yummy--the only drawback was the way they sliced the fruit--usually you get big chunks, all the better to dip securely. These were sometimes paper-thin slices and tougher to manage. Still, any fruit and chocolate is a good thing.

We also got an order of baklava--which I love. Theirs is super-soaked in the syrup, so you can eat a bite and not have it fall apart in your hands. The nuts are finely ground, which I like, and the overall texture is just scrumptious to me. I LOVE this baklava. Love, love love it. It's actually cheaper if you get it to go than if you order it at the table, but I resisted the urge to bring more home with me...a move I'm now regretting!

Kashkaval also has a great, affordable wine list, and you can eat and drink quite well for not too much per person. I've eaten there for anywhere to 15-35 dollars a person (depending on if we ordered wine, etc.) and I ALWAYS feel it's worth the money and the trip.

Kashkaval
856 9th Avenue
New York, NY 10019-4451
(212) 581-8282

Ammos Estiatorio: Desserts

With all the food we'd scarfed in appetizers and entrées at Ammos, you might think we'd skip dessert. Unless you're not new here and you know me. Of COURSE we got dessert! We first ordered some crazy rich, thick Greek coffee, so intense and flavorful that a tiny espresso cup's worth is more than enough.

One person got the baklava and shared--crispy, sweet, yummy triangles of phyllo dough.

That tiny scoop of something on the far right? Ouzo ice cream!

I also got ice cream, and chose fig and Greek coffee as my flavors. I looove figs (Fig Newtons are actually one of my favorite cookies in the world) and heck yeah I love coffee. These were sooo good. Tiny, chewy bits of fresh fig were scattered throughout the smooth and not-too-sweet ice cream. The Greek coffee was super intense and super delicious. I shared it with others and the coffee hit a home run with almost everyone.

Patty got the ouzo ice cream--both scoops were the same flavor. I don't really care for black licorice or anything with licorice flavoring, but this was surprisingly lovely. The licorice was softer, not so harsh, and I actually took a second bite. It had a clean, fresh flavor. Opa!

If you're in the neighborhood, definitely stop by for dessert--I liked it even more than our main courses!

Ammos Estiatoro

We went on another of our awesome quarterly business lunches a few weeks ago, and our gracious host, Dr. S, brought us to Ammos Estiatorio, just across the street from Grand Central Station.

My coworker Patty and I arrived first, and we were 15 minutes early, so we figured we'd wait a bit in the lobby. However, the hostess immediately led us to our seating upstairs in a loft area, which required a walk up a sweet spiral staircase.

We found our table tucked in the corner in a lovely spot. It was a little dark up there, but a fun place. I slipped over to the edge of our loft and looked down on the dining room--they were clearly expecting more big groups (apparently some sort of seminar was happening in the area, dozens and dozens of people showed up about 30 minutes later)

It did take a good long while even to get a glass of water, which was not fun on a day as hot as that one (I believe it hit about 102). I was about to go over and just grab the pitcher myself! It took about 20 minutes for someone to stop at our table and get us water. I totally understand they don't take food orders when 3/4 of your group isn't there yet, but for the love of God, someone water me!!!

Once more of our party arrived, we started with appetizers. First we got the haloumi, a seared sheep's milk cheese, which came with sliced peaches and lightly-dressed watercress. Amaaazing! The peaches were perrrrfect. Ahh, summer, I do love your fruits.

And hello, of course, tzatziki! It had a heckuva lot of dill in it, but it was good. Not great, but good! ABF's tzatziki is outta this world, so the bar is pretty high for me. The grilled pita was scrumptious.

Why does grilling make shrimp taste exponentially more awesome?? I don't know the answer, but I do know it's true. I had two of these babies--deeeelightful.

We also got an assortment of dips and spreads: taramasalata (fish roe), tzatziki, and 2 others I can't remember! The garlicky dip was thick and insanely yum. Wow.

Another must-order jewel? The Greek salad. Bright, clean, so, so fresh--I went back a few times to have more of the crunchy, colorful veggies in the perfect mix of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and oregano. This was delightful--just scrumptious.

Coming in under the 'just meh' category were the zucchini fritters. They were just a little too dilly for me, and just not that great. I'd pass on these next go around.

Another colleague got the lamb moussaka--about the only non-seafood item on the menu (she's allergic), and while she said it was a bit heavy, it was also delicious.

Two others ordered the lamb pita--I had a bite and it was soft, delicious, and well-seasoned. Yum.

Our sides were yummy, too: grilled asparagus and roasted potatoes brushed with bright, tart lemon juice.

For my entrée, I ordered the tsipoura, or dorado fish. It came grilled with lemon on the side. This was also good, but not great. I much prefer the grilled fish at Avra, but this was still good. He also had quite a set of chompers on him--look at those teeth! It's good to be on the top of the food chain :)

We found out at the end of our meal that our server was also the sommelier. They must have been quite short-staffed! We should have realized it sooner, however. The wine he suggested for our table was sensational. I've had less than stellar experiences with Greek wine until now, but this one was remarkable. I will definitely keep an eye out for it (note: it was around 65 dollars FOR THE BOTTLE...we didn't ask and didn't see the price until we got the check!) Eep! Thankfully, Doctor S was treating--thank you again!!

Overall, we had a great time, ate to our hearts' content, and enjoyed ourselves, but I would recommend a few other Greek restaurants before this one. It was good, but it was also very expensive, and I think places such as Avra would be my choice first. If you're in the area though, definitely try the Greek salad, grilled shrimp, and the garlic dip!!!

(Desserts post soon!)

Ammos Estiatorio
52 Vanderbilt Avenue
New York, NY 10017
(212) 922-9999