It's Greek For Me
Ziziki provides the answer to an oft-asked question
The Dallas Observer
- Mary Brown Malouf August 18-24, 1994
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Where do you spend your own money when you go out to eat?
It's one of the questions I'm most often asked. It comes right behind "what's
your favorite restaurant?" and "where do you go for Mexican food?" People
seem to have the impression that I keep the real information to myself.
The money question is an odd one. It implies that my own money is worth more
than someone else's - that I don't consider your money's worth when I'm reviewing.
(Actually, I work for a publication whose budget is nearly as limited as my
own.) People assume that if I decide to spend my own money somewhere, then
it must be because it's "the best."
Actually, the place where I choose to spend my dining dollars may not be the
place you would choose. Our meals are filled with memories and associations
that have little to do with whether a chef is talented, whether the service
was professional or whether the wine list was reasonable. Our enjoyment has
everything to do with an emotional reaction to the food and our predilection
for certain tastes, and not so much to do with some objective standard of
quality.
What you want, of course, is both.
Which brings me to Ziziki. Costa Arabatzis' first Dallas venture was the
Greek Bistro on Greenville, which was related to his family's restaurant on
Maui. Later, the name changed to M Street Grill, because the Greek moniker
seemed too ethnic for this white-bread town, leading people to expect the
usual mediocre saganaki and grape-leaves menu - which is exactly wrong.
Now, still searching for the best audience, Costa has sold the Greenville
Avenue location and opened in the Travis Walk space that used to house Deli
Planet. It's hard to predict whether this will turn out to be a good idea
or not - Lower Greenville may be tough, but Travis Walk is a real mission.
Sipango has certainly livened up the neighborhood; it's hard to tell whether
that's actually been helpful to other businesses. Sipango's crowd seems only
interested in Sipango - there are no substitutes - and the general population
wants to avoid the resulting valet congestion.
What I can say for sure is that the food didn't suffer in the move. This is
basically the same fare Arabatzis served in his other restaurants, whatever
they were called at the time.
The defunct deli was a spiffy space; it didn't take much to make it into
a stylish restaurant. The black and white floor remained, an antique bar (a
gift from the chef's father) was added, a trompe l'oeil painting adds a lighthearted
touch. There's an open grill in the semi-open kitchen, and there is a deli
case displaying pastichio and desserts. (We saw several people come in and
pick up orders to go.) The waitresses are hip, dressed fashionably in vests
over black and white.
This setting is fine, but as I said, it's the food that has me following Arabatzis
from place to place. It's basically Greek food, but not straight off the boat,
so to speak. Instead, these are recipes that have been handed down a couple
of generations, that have been changed and adapted by use into a personal
interpretation of the cuisine. This food is less oily and brighter-tasting
(I'd like not to say lighter) than traditional Greek fare, and some of it
is not traditional Greek fare anyway. It's needlessly obtuse to say the best
Greek food in town isn't Greek food at all. (Do I hear one hand clapping?)
I love the strong flavors, the simplicity, the themes that play throughout
all this food. A favorite, for instance, is the "Ziziki bread" (called something
else at the past restaurants): a soft, homemade round of pita is brushed with
olive oil and garlic, topped with herbs and cheese, and glazed under the broiler.
Dip it into the cool tzatziki sauce - yogurt mixed with diced cucumber.
The new potato skins are a variation: tiny, quartered
and roasted new potatoes, sauteed briefly with slivers of sweet onion and
pepper, are glazed with lacy cheese and served with the same sauce. A pizzette
is simply a round of the bread, topped with fresh basil leaves, slices of
roma tomatoes, melted mozzarella and goat cheese.
Grecian chicken, marinated with lemon juice and rosemary, is simply grilled:
it's served with the broiled new potatoes and a Greek salad of greens with
cucumbers, chunks of feta, kalamata olives, tomatoes and onion. The Mediterranean
salad is what I would actually call a Greek salad - it's the traditional toss
of the same ingredients without any lettuce. A special entree of moist red
snapper was cloaked in a sauce of tomatoes pureed with cinnamon and oregano;
the pastichio was a softly savory layering of sweet ground lamb, macaroni
and lush bechamel.
In other words, entrees - again - recycle a lot of the same food, relying
on changing proportions of the same ingredients: sweet meats, yeasty bread,
tart feta, fresh salad and tangy yogurt - to keep things exciting.
And the answer to the question is, I spend my own money at Ziziki's.
Why? Because the service is good, the place is pretty, and it gives good value,
but mostly because I love this food like I love my mother's.
