A new Greek restaurant is delighting diners with their vibrant mezze-style dinner, elevating the tastes of the Greek islands in Greenpoint.
Nerina, a new restaurant at 35 Commercial St., is the second restaurant owned by Christos Gourmos and Spiro Menegatos, who also operate Nerai in Midtown Manhattan.
The duo decided to bring authentic flavors to a residential neighborhood and were surprised by the lack of Greek offerings in the area.
“We wanted to expand into a neighborhood area, because we felt it would offset the different kind of peak times that we experienced in Midtown,” Menegatos told BK Reader. “We wanted to go to a neighborhood. You know, Greenpoint, obviously, is a really thriving neighborhood in the tri-state area…Greenpoint made a lot of sense.”
The restaurant attracts local families, which makes the environment a lot more laid back than their Midtown location, said Menegatos. Nerina, which comes from the Greek word neros, meaning sea, offers several seafood delights including striped bass crudo and lobster orzo.
Most items on the menu are mezze, allowing you to share small plates with members of your party. The restaurant also encompasses an all-Greek wine list curated by Nerina’s wine director Dimitrios Karagiannis.
Popular dishes include tuna tartare, grilled octopus, scallops, Greek salad and grilled olives. The menu also includes larger portions, incuding a rack of lamb chops with harissa yogurt, a filleted and deboned whole lavraki (European sea bass) and chicken lemonato.
The owners said the dishes reflect their Greek heritage, but more importantly, their mothers.
"We both [were] raised by Greek moms that always cooked for us at home," said Menegatos. "There was always a warm meal in the house, we know the flavors. We know what we like, and we are both born and raised in this country, so we know what transfers well.”
Moshe Grundman, the restaurant's culinary director, also spends a lot of time studying Greek cuisine to ensure the food at the restaurant is something you’d taste on one of the islands, Menegatos said.
There are thousands of islands that make up the country, so each island has its own unique take on classic dishes, Menegatos said. The owners and Grundman often make a pilgramage to an Greek island to try different dishes and flavors.
Recently, Grundman went to Catalonia with Menegatos, where his father's family is from.
"In Greece, particularly because it's an island nation, every Island kind of has their own cuisine," Menegatos added.
Nerina, at 35 Commercial St., is open for dinner between Wednesday and Sunday.
