Periyali

I checked out newly renovated Periyali with my favorite top commenter, Embalina last Thursday. I really enjoyed everything about this modern Greek restaurant from the elegant yet breezy décor, to the inventive menu, and the sublime food.

After we were seated our waiter brought us a basket of crusty bread along with some assorted olives with spicy red pepper flakes. I perused the wine list which had some interesting retsina (a type of Greek wine which has pine aromas) and some wines from Santorini as well as some American Chardonnays and a few other wines from around the world. The wine list was rather succinct. Because we had a press invitation, the meal was free so I sprung for a Georges Duboeuf Pouilly-Fuisse which I imagined would marry well if we ordered seafood.

The chef does a nice job in creating a menu that stays true to its Greek roots, with a slight upgrade. For appetizers, Emily had a special sautéed oyster mushrooms dish and I had the octopus in red wine marinade over charcoal. The mushroom portion was huge and very flavorful with a light olive oil, garlic sauce. My octopus was a perfect texture- not too chewy- and was nicely charred. We both ordered the shrimp saganaki as our entrée which came with gigantic prawns in a light, chunky tomato and feta sauce with string beans on the side. Everything was flavorful without being too heavy. We decided to round out the meal with a rice pudding and a Greek yogurt with preserved berries- a perfectly sweet conclusion.

My one qualm is that there was a long pause before our appetizers arrived. The service could have been timed better to make the pause between courses more even. Despite this fact, it was a very enjoyable meal and I would love to return to Periyali.

Periyali: 35 W 20^th Street (betw 5^th and 6^th ave)

Cuisine: Modern Greek

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