Merakia by Renee and Andreas Typaldos Inaugural Review Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Taryn Spivack, Operating Partner, and Founder and Owner, Andreas Typaldos
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It's not who you know, it's WHOM YOU KNOW and we now know Andreas Typaldos, founder and owner of Merakia, and Taryn Spivack, Operating Partner
. Renee, we look forward to meeting you. Not only is this Merakia's first review ever on Whom You Know (and maybe first review anywhere), but it is the first restaurant we have ever reviewed where Peachy Deegan was literally the very first person to eat dinner there. It opened this month on September 15th, 2017 in the Flatiron area of Manhattan and Merakia is a Greek noun. By definition in Greek, Merakia is defined as passion for what you're doing and it is clear that Andreas is passionate about his latest and greatest creation.
While many Greek restaurants in Manhattan focus on fish, which we also love, Merakia is the first we've found to concentrate on Greek Mountain cuisine: spithouse and steak.
We absolutely love it when owners and founders of businesses have their business concentrate on their real life experience: Andreas grew up in the Greek mountains!
If you look to the right, you can see that we not only talk the talk of loving old family pictures but we also walk the walk (See Deegan girls at a New York bar two decades before Andreas came to New York...and more old pictures.)
Merakia is truly authentic.
Meet the Typaldos family: Uncle Thomas, Aunt Nicoletta, Aunt Mario, Mom Katerina, Dad Theodosios and brother Elias. That's Andreas in the middle.
Yes, Andreas: w
e think your family photos add a lot to the restaurant and we love them.
What do we love even more than restaurant owners that are passionate about what they do and are doing something that we haven't seen before and is authentic?
We love it when they can combine this experience and emotional intelligence with academic intelligence.
Andreas Typaldos is one smart cookie that was quite forward-thinking.
In 1963, he came to America at age 17 on a master's scholarship to Columbia University in Manhattan, and studied computer science.
Merakia is a homage to the love story of Renee and Andreas also, and we quote from the menu:
"The young, beautiful and Jewish girl lies about her age to go to a wild Greek dance party next door. There, she meets a boy from a Greek mountain village who horns in when her 'date' doesn't come. They kiss at midnight...50 years pass and here they are: Andreas and Renee, A Greek and a Jew."
The beauty of America, and of course especially Manhattan, the best part of New York.
Greece's loss is Manhattan's gain, and we began with the Horiatiki Salad, above.
Renee has great wit and you'll notice the menu has super-fun headings.
The salad section is called Rabbit Food.
We found the Horiatiki Salad to be wonderfully fresh, boasting vine ripe tomato, feta, cucumber, red onion, kalamata, green pepper and evoo. We were extremely pleased with the salad.
This summer feeling captured in the essence of this salad is terrific to carry throughout the year, and especially great for a humid day like today where it does feel like summer in Manhattan.
If you're a fan of meatballs, learn the word Keftedes, found under Small Stuff, otherwise known as Appetizers. They're pure ground angus beef and are enhanced by the ancient grain barley rusk, and cherry tomatoes and citrus mint yogurt accentuate the carnivorous flavor. These were solidly good.
The side section is called Share and Share alike, and Renee's name made us want to try the dish: Popeye loves Olive Oyl. You're going to love the combination of spinach, rice, leeks, onion and tomatoes, that are in perfect proportion to each other. We would definitely order this again. Andreas tells us Renee did quite a lot to help feed 9/11 workers as head of this volunteer operation and you can read more on that here.
We tried for our meat entree the Rotisserie Chicken, under Spit and Sigs, and you are served either a half or a whole. We ordered half a chicken, and it was delicious! Many chicken dishes can be quite boring after eight years of doing this, however, Merakia's chicken is delightful. Amish organic chicken announces that less is more with salt and pepper, olive oil and lemon, and we could not agree more. Andreas marinates this for ten hours before it is slow roasted, culminating in a moist deliciousness that will wow your palate.
If we go to a restaurant for the first time, we often order octopus because we want to see if it is fantastic, as it is at Merakia, or like a Goodyear Tire. Goodyear Tires belong on your race car, not your plate. Octapodi, under Small Stuff, is tender and terrific and is joined by red onion, bell peppers, capers, parsley and evoo. We might have been less aggressive with the capers.
We definitely want to try their steak section next, as this is a Greek Steakhouse.
We always feature fish as well as meat, and there is a No Meat Tonight please section of the menu. Our Etiquette from Connecticut column likes that they used the magic word.
Branzino Plaki is sourced from Montauk, Long Island, New York via the Greek vendor Kagis, and the pan-seared quality was great. Oven roasted, this majestic poisson is highlighted by red and green peppers and cherry tomatoes.
Peachy Deegan absolutely loves green beans, and these are the best green beans we have had in 2017. Meet Fasolakia! They are flash-boiled for two minutes and pan-seared to finish, and the romano beans are joined by fresh tomato, onions, carrots and feta, a totally brilliant combination. Order these.
Look at how authentically they serve what is cooked on the spit!
This is Kontosouvli, and you can order chicken or pork, and we tried each and were happy with both. The pork did trump the chicken, however. Both green and red peppers, onions, and kalamata olives join the party on the stick for both chicken and pork, and they are finished with evoo and thyme, yielding terrific flavor.
Glamour shots:
Merakia was impressive on our first visit, and we are honored to be the first ever to eat dinner there! We look forward to seeing what Renee and Andreas do next.
