Go Greek

So here are my 2005 predictions – blue will be the new black and Greece will be the new Spain. My forecast happened upon me the other night while dining at Onera, a new Greek restaurant in the culinary wasteland formerly known as the Upper West Side. Now a dining destination unto itself the UWS will even be welcoming the ultimate East Sider, Daniel Boulud, by Springtime.

But until then, chef Michael Psilakis commutes from the island every day to bring a spiffy clientele tastes from a different island, Crete. Amid a navy and white room I had my color epiphany. In a navy sweater and white shirt, I was a tad nervous I might even blend in, but the gracious staff and enthusiastic chef immediately guided us through the wine list and recommended the tasting menu.

“What are you in the mood for,” the chef inquired.

“Something light and easy on the offal.”

As you may have heard you can feast on a delicacy of animal parts if your stomach desires, but this evening ours did not. Apparently eating light exists less in Greece than it does in France and we were treated to an eight course tasting extravaganza. Since raw is the new cooked, it seemed only fitting that we started with a sampling of raw “meze,” the star being paper thin slices of lamb with crispy shallots, feta and sun-dried tomato emulsion.

The bevy of small plates that followed included ricotta pillows with a spicy lamb sausage and a cinnamon crusted scallop with caramelized cauliflower. Sadly the octopus and a john dory aimed high but fell flat. Greek ingredients and reference are everywhere on the menu and on the wine list, but this is not your mother’s baklava, though the one for dessert was inspired by the chef’s. His creative approach on the dessert menu yielded an interesting chocolate sesame combination and a deconstructed baklava with cinnamon ice cream, but the roses four ways belonged in my own mother’s powder room and not on the table.

So while Onera has all the ingredients needed for success in 2005 – a location in a rising culinary neighborhood, a menu heavy in obscure meat products, a nod to the crudo, and even killer sheep milk dumplings – the sea is a little rocky and the Upper West Side is a long way from Crete.

Onera

222 West 79th Street

(212) 873 0200

Comments

[ronne]

Liked the review and everything was right on!

[ronald]

Thanks for this - being from Cyprus myself (although I have currently defected to Sicily) I am always on the lookut for forward thinking greek-ispired cuisine. It is always a challenge to get it right with greek cuisine - it has been neglected for quite some time and there is a lot of catching up to do - so I am glad that people are working towards that direction.