Dan's Papers - November 23, 2007 - Athen's Gyro & Grill

One of the joys of reviewing restaurants is that special occasion when everything turns out to be even better than you could have hoped for and this was one of those occasions. On previous visits, John's dedication to only using the very best and freshest of ingredients, preferably local ones, was very strong. He also impressed us as being a very talented chef and he confirmed this more and more as we enjoyed our meal.

We started with two excellent soups. The classic chicken avgolemono was a perfect balance of tastes and textures as was the leek and potato soup. The selection of mezes (appetizers) included a tangy roasted eggplant dip and very light textured skordalia, a dip usually made with garlic and potatoes, but here John substituted bulgar wheat for the potato. The highlight though was local calamari, char grilled on grapevine branches and served with a balsamic reduction. At this point we realized that the very good food we had enjoyed on previous visits had been ratcheted up several notches.

For our salad course we had exquisitely tender local baby spinach leaves with crumbled feta and a light citrus and oregano dressing. The menu has a selection of twelve salads, some of which are designed to be a meal in themselves.

Apart from the regular extensive menu, that offers diverse items such as gyros, wraps, souvlaki (kebobs) and standards like moussaka and pastitsio, John features daily entrée specials that change very frequently and are very much dependent on just what fresh ingredients are available. The eight very diverse items were all very tempting. Stella chose the baby lamb chops with a side of Moroccan style couscous with zucchini. The serving was large, the chops perfectly cooked and seasoned superbly with a blend of Greek spices and the couscous was very light and full of subtle tastes. Incidentally, oregano is very important in Greek cooking and John imports this from Greece because he finds that this is the most aromatic type of oregano available. I found a dish on the specials menu that was irresistible. It is many years since I had rabbit and here it was, pan seared with sautéed leeks. It was incredibly good. Eating rabbit, like lamb chops, needs a little work with a sharp knife and usually requires the bones to be picked up and gnawed, if you are going to get the most enjoyment from it. The meat was white and delicate and the tastes were out of this world. With it I had some Greek style lemon roasted potatoes and the total result was ecstasy.

We were certainly not leaving without a taste of the Greek desserts and based on the creamy pastry galactabouriko, any that you try will be delicious.

The food here is not only of the highest quality and extremely well cooked, it also is extremely sensibly priced. For example, the entrée specials when we were there included striped bass in a lemon caper sauce, sea scallops and shrimp pasta in a garlic wine sauce, chicken breast stuffed with spinach and feta in a lemon sauce and the classic Greek shrimp with fresh tomato and feta cheese Also you can have a whole grilled fish, which we know from a previous visit is another great treat. All of these plus the ones we ate on this visit come with the choice of soup or salad, an appetizer and dessert, and all for $22.95. Anyone who eats out regularly on eastern Long Island will recognize this as incredible value for what John rightly describes as neo, (or modern) Greek and Mediterranean cuisine and which he produces without losing any of the basic integrity of the dishes. The wine list offers the opportunity to try some Greek wines, as well as wines from Long Island.

It is always satisfying to see a young chef succeed in this very difficult restaurant world and Athens Gyro & Grill has become another very welcome addition to the culinary diversity of Riverhead, which is rapidly becoming a great town for eating out, either at lunch or dinner. The restaurant is small, so if you plan to visit it is always best to call and make a reservation, especially at weekends. They open for lunch and dinner Monday through Friday and for dinner only on Saturday and they close on Sundays. There is live American music on Friday evenings but we also very much enjoyed the taped, soft, atmospheric, Greek background music playing while we ate.