[Pigging by Wilfrid: July 6, 2009]
Greek "tapas" - why not? - in the former private dining room of Anthos, overlooking 52nd Street.
It sounded suitably post-modern and 2009-ish, especially on an evening when a full cruise through the main restaurant's menu was not required. Anyway, The Feedbag thought the menu "pretty hot." Good enough.
It wasn't so easy, though. First time around, mea culpa (that's Latin). I made the quite silly assumption that a restaurant reasonably well located for theaters would serve late-ish on a weekend night. Not so: empty and dark a few minutes after eleven. Second go - also on the weekend - upstairs was downstairs. Not literally, of course, but with a dearth of customers bent on Greek style tapear, the Anthos Upstairs space was closed. They'd happily serve the upstairs menu at the downstairs bar, though.
Not a good sign, although for all I know the second-floor space is like a party in a sardine can Monday through Thursday. Seated in a window at street level, alongside an empty bar - indeed, being served mainly by the bar-tender, who took me for a tourist - this wasn't quite the cozily modish event I'd anticipated. I'd judge, however, that the food didn't suffer from the lower altitude of delivery.
Priced around $10 to $15, the small plates (platoi mikroi? I doubt it...) offer a stark bargain in contrast to the menu in the dining room, where appetizers start at $16. I ordered too many (for two).
Warm envelopes of pita came with dips as a pleasant complimentary opener. I especially liked the taramosalata.
The grilled prawns were impressive, large, hot and well-seasoned with a feta dressing.
The central part of the shell was removed to facilitate tidy consumption, but the head was still there to be quietly sucked.
As ever with Michael Psilakis, despite the Hellenic references, the menu is more broadly Mediterranean than pure Greek. I didn't really know what sheep's milk ricotta dumplings would be when I ordered them. Perhaps little purses stuffed with creamy cheese? No; to all intents and purposes they're gnocchi, and perfectly creditable gnocchi too, with a buttery dressing, chopped wild spinach and another scatter of feta. Individually light enough, the portion was substantial, and probably the dish I didn't need to order.
Especially since I was set on the oddly named "BFT." Well, I mean, "Best Fried for Today"? Okay, so they dropped the "P" for belly, and it's a (pork) belly, feta and tomato sandwich. And although we've all seen enough pork belly to last the millenium, this didn't sound a bad idea. The sandwich comes sizzling, toasted, pressed and hefty.
The neat hut built from fries on the side reminded me of an haute bourgeois joint in Boulogne-sur-Mer where the chip-shack seemed to be a kennel for a single, thinly sliced pigeon breast. It's cute, anyway, and my only mild complaint is that once pork belly is squashed into a sandwich it kind of loses its distinctive wobbliness. Fatty it is, but this would pass as a pork and cheese sandwich if you hadn't seen the menu.
I actually liked the so-called duck "gyro" better.
This wrong-footed me as much as the dumplings. I guessed braised, maybe pulled duck, wrapped in a soft pita blanket; a Greekification of a Bobby Flay duck pancake dish. Ah, no. Thick slices of really good, flavorful duck ballotine, served at room temperature, smartly garnished with golden raisins and sweetly caramelized onions. Alongside, a stack of little puffs of bread. With dexterity, a slice of the duck can be sandwiches between two of those golden puffs, but you are going to get sticky fingers. Worth it: a nice combination of flavors and textures, and a good way to spend $12.
After an entirely flavorless Greek beer, I took a glass of wine. About forty dollars a head before tip; less if you order with slightly more circumspection; more if you're thirsty. Anything up to fifty is the going rate for casual bar dining in Manhattan, so it's a fair price. I hope it gets some takers during the week.
The Anthos website hosts the allegedly Upstairs menu as well as that of the main dining room.
