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“Anthos”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Greek	Midtown	Break the Bank	Good

MY DINNER AT ANTHOS
In life, we are constantly bombarded by opportunities for comparison. You think, your last girlfriend was not was as funny as this girlfriend; your hair doesn’t look as good as it did yesterday, your new job is not as rewarding as your last job, your current weight is not as low as last year’s. It’s hard not to do spend a lifetime in pursuit of what was, or what could be better. While this is commonplace, it’s is not the greatest habit to get into, because what it does is prevent you from looking at what you have now, where you are now, for what it is, regardless of what it was yesterday. In a sense, what happens is that everything you experience is seen as a function of something else, which really isn’t ideal. In the restaurant business this is even more acute. Meals are often never judged for what they are but for how good or bad they are compared to others. And when you’ve been a chef for a while and have opened several restaurants (Onera, Dona, and Kefi, in this case), the danger of comparison is particularly acute.

When I walked into Anthos, Michael Psilakis and Donatella Arpaia’s new modern Greek restaurant, my mind immediately went into comparison mode. It went to Dona, their sunny pan-Mediterranean jewel that closed earlier this year. Dona was one of my favorite restaurants to open last year. For midtown, it had a great sense of style—a lightness and elegance that made the room feel like it was bathed in sunlight even though it was in fact windowless. The room at Anthos, located in a dark corridor of 52nd Street, is also windowless, but this restaurant feels that way. While the bar area has a nice openness thanks to the glass façade facing the street, the dining room itself a drab fortress of gray and with its boxy shape and low ceiling it comes off lightless and rather uninspired. Bummer, man.

Luckily, the room’s flat feel is countered by great acoustics—this is a spot you can go to and actually have a conversation without having to scream—and serious service with gracious attention to detail in every aspect of the meal.

For instance, while you are sipping on your cocktails or sparkling Greek wine, your waiter will present you with a complementary selection of that evening’s complementary snacks. These are worth the price of admission alone. There were tender links of spicy meatball-like pork sausages fr ... [more, click below]

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Posted: April 30, 2007

Other restaurants in Midtown :
+ Lever House   + Aquavit   + RM   + Joseph's (formerly Citarella The Restaurant)   + Town   + Artisanal   + The Oyster Bar   + Geisha   + David Burke and Donatella Restaurant   + Riingo   + Amma   + Cafe Sabarsky   + The Stone Rose Lounge   + BLT Steak   + V, The Steakhouse-- Closed   + Bar Masa   + Cafe Gray   + The Bar Room at The Modern   + The Cafe at Aquavit   + The Cafe at Aquavit   + Bistro du Vent-- Closed   + Shaburi   + Xing   + The Modern   + Bar Americain   + Alto   + Park Blue   + Mainland-- Closed   + Nobu 57   + Quality Meats   + Dona-- CLOSED   + Daisy May's   + 7Square-- CLOSED   + Amalia   + Fireside   + Anthos   + Patroon   + BLT Market   + Toloache   + Mia Dona   + Park Avenue Summer   + Convivio   + The Oak Room by guest reviewer Julie Besonen   + At Vermilion by guest reviewer Elaine Weiner   + Lunching at Inakaya, by guest reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Marea, by Guest Reviewer Susan Kane Walkush   + Le Bernardin   + New York Central -- A Reason To Eat at the Grand Hyatt Again   + Pampano Botaneria by Dara Pollak   

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