Don’t get Vasileios Zarganis started about the Greek salad so often served in Greek and Mediterranean restaurants.
“It’s just not right,” says the Athens-born restaurateur. “You don’t put romaine lettuce on a Greek salad. It’s tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, capers and real feta cheese. Not those crumbles. They aren’t following the real recipe. It’s American style.”
Zarganis fervently believes that Greek food is the world’s best cuisine. “I’m not the only one saying that,” he says, referring to the 2024/2025 100 Best Cuisines in the World awards from Taste Atlas, which ranked Greece No. 1, followed by Italy, Mexico and Spain.
Athenian Bar & Grill
Where
301 Decatur St., (504) 381-5938; athenianfood.com
When
Lunch and dinner daily
How
Dine-in
Check it out
Traditional Greek dishes in the French Quarter
He is so proud of his Hellenic heritage and gastronomy that he opened Athenian Bar & Grill in September on Decatur Street in the French Quarter. His idea is to serve traditional Greek food like diners would find in Greece.
The 90-seat restaurant is airy and modern, with striking accents like olive branch chandeliers, a long white bar and an artsy montage of wood from Greek wine barrels.
Zarganis didn’t start out to be in hospitality and entertainment. He was a professional soccer player but was permanently sidelined by an injury early in his career.
He worked in bars and restaurants in Greece and came to New Orleans in 2002 to work in his uncle’s restaurant, Orleans Cafe, which also was on Decatur Street. His first business was going to be a bar, but he wound up buying Fritzel’s Jazz Club in 2008, a trad jazz oasis on Bourbon Street since 1969.
All the while, he was irked at the lack of traditional Greek cuisine.
“It’s changing with restaurants like Milos in New York, but I didn’t want fine dining,” he says. “I wanted casual, but better.”
To him, better meant keeping the food real while upping the presentation. “We have an issue in Greece,” he said. “The food is delicious, but the plating is ugly. Plating is great in America, so the food looks delicious. But is it?”
He brought his friend, chef Nikolaos “Nik” Kalkavouras, from Athens to help open the restaurant. An experienced hotel banquet chef, Kalkavouras worked closely with Zarganis and chef de cuisine Gaurav “G” Trivedi to refine the menu.
“The recipes are genuine. They’re Greek,” says the owner.
Take the soups for example. Fakes (fah-kes) is a staple of the Greek kitchen. The traditional lentil soup is made with vegetables, herbs and fruity olive oil. It’s just one of many vegan options on the menu.
Avgolemono is rich, fragrant chicken soup, silky with strands of egg and bright with citrus. The soups, like everything on Athenian’s menu, are made daily, often with imported Greek ingredients.
Greek calamari, chunkier than the usual, is flashed fried, perfectly tender, served with taramosalata, a dip tangy with fish roe, onions and olive oil. It’s just one of the house-made appetizers, which also include feta mousse and garlicky tzatziki. Its presentation is a little fancy, with the twirled tentacles bundled and tucked into a ring of squid.
Skewers are stacked with grilled salmon, pork, chicken or loukaniko, a Greek sauce peppered with orange peel and citrus, and served with chubby grilled asparagus and juicy tomato.
Yeero sandwiches — “nobody knows how to say gyro,” Zarganis says — start with proteins like pork belly or chicken dressed with tomato, onions and tzatziki sauce in toasted pita rounds, for $14-$16. Platters of grilled lamb chops, Gulf shrimp and branzino are the priciest menu items, and healthy portions with fries and vegetables are $30-$38.
The desserts are stellar, from the baklava cheesecake to the Greek-style chocolate pie, and a sampler offers a taste of four. The bar has an array of ouzo-based cocktails, along with a full menu of classic drinks, as well as Greek wine and beer.
Zarganis is pleased with how things are going, despite the challenges of negotiating the French Quarter pre-Super Bowl. He’s also invested in a second business in the Quarter and energized by the opportunity to present the food of his homeland.
“We keep it simple,” he says. “None of this piece of meat with 20 ingredients on the plate. Who knows what they’re eating? Two, three ingredients, a fresh piece of meat or fish, simply grilled. That’s delicious.”
Fan Expo New Orleans returns to the Convention Center on Jan. 10-12.