Results tagged “anthos”

       

Before he had ever spent any substantial time in restaurant kitchens, the chef Michael Psilakis went to college and earned an accounting degree. Oddly, it was a fluke, part-time post-graduation waitering gig at a T.G.I. Fridays that first convinced him that he should be a chef and restaurateur. His father Gus had always been a generous culinary daredevil, having built a spit in the backyard for roasting whole lamb, and he imparted a strong love of home cooked food. At the same time, Psilakis' mom taught him the basics of classic Greek cuisine, so it's not unusual that his new restaurant—just opened in the original Kefi space—combines comfort food like homemade potato chips and choices like smokey tomato soup with made-from-scratch versions of riblets and tater tots.

This week Frank Bruni at the Times keeps his stars to himself and goes trendspotting, opining on four haute restaurants doing alternative, recession-minded menus. He raves about a couple dishes at Anthos Upstairs, located in "the second-floor room previously dedicated to large private parties — you know, those suddenly anachronistic events at which corporate generals larded their bonus-primed lieutenants," but has "better luck and a better time" at DFF, the re-appropriation of the private-party room adjacent to Craft, in the Flatiron district. "Semantically cuter but otherwise less appealing than DFF" is Halfsteak, where Bruni "got half service." And the à la carte Per Se lounge is "superb — and yet utterly ridiculous." GQ's Alan Richman also visits Per Se lounge twice, spending $454 on dinner for two, and is "unimpressed."

In more flush economic times, there were all of those jokes about the proliferation of coffee shops and fast food locations, like the new Starbucks opening in the bathroom of a preexisting Starbucks. Now restaurant owners and chefs are actually branching in, not out, opening new mini-locations inside their own dining rooms. Tom Colicchio cordoned off one part of the Craftsteak dining room to create the more economical Halfsteak, while his executive chef Damon Wise launched the similarly bargain basement Frugal Fridays. Now, Michael Psilakis and Donatella Arpaia are opening Anthos Upstairs tomorrow night as an annex of Kefi; the new restaurant’s menu is said to be a lower-priced alternative to Anthos. Even the venerable Four Seasons is launching a luxe (yet discount) minibar, of sorts, this week dedicated to sustainable caviar: the Calvisius Caviar Lounge, where seven grams of sturgeon eggs with blini can be had for the comparatively lower-priced (for caviar) $25.

      

Last night at the somewhat not completed luxury condo project 15 Union Square West (guests rode a construction elevator up to the entrance), chefs Daniel Boulud and Marco Moreira hosted a book party for Dining in New York City, a new, compact hardcover guide to the city’s restaurants by Dutch photographer Jan Bartelsman. Proceeds from the evening benefitted Citymeals-on-Wheels. Fifteen local restaurants—plus the 3 Michelin starred De Librije (Netherlands)—were on hand, offering small plate cityscapes of their best dishes. As the night progressed, chef Daniel Boulud appeared smiling, apparently happy with the four star re-review of Daniel published yesterday in the Times. Elsewhere, food writer Josh Ozersky—who announced to the world yesterday he has gout—showed up wearing a foot brace, albeit triumphantly.

On all counts, Michael Psilakis has been on quite a roll. Though his two-starred Dona was shuttered due to a real estate snafu, he went on to earn a Michelin star at Anthos, one of only two Greek restaurants with this honor, his to-die-for gnudi recipe was featured on the cover of Bon Appetit, was named Esquire's chef of the year, and opened up Mia Dona, which just yesterday earned two stars from Frank Bruni. Now, to top it off, he's been named as one of Food & Wine Magazine's Best New Chefs of the year. Congratulations! The list is definitely lacking in the New York department, though. Where's the love?

Wildly successful young chef and restaurateur Michael Psilakis – whose Anthos is one of only two Greek restaurants in the world with a Michelin star – refined his talent not in culinary school but in the kitchen beside his Greek mother during his childhood on Long Island. After earning a business degree, he found himself drawn back to the food world, where he worked his way up from waiter to owner of the Long Island restaurant Ecco. His subsequent enterprise with celebrated restaurateur Donatella Arpaia, called Dona, was one of Esquire's Best New Restaurants in 2006, but the place closed when the building housing it was sold to a developer.