OPA!
OPA! The Midtown Village Greek restaurant Opa opened with a splash in early April. On a block full of restaurant heavy hitters, Opa makes its mark with modern Greek fare and delicious drinks.
Instead of the traditional Greek restaurant, Opa presents a fresh and innovative version of Greece today. Think sleek instead of ostentatious, servers in jeans and Chucks instead of black and white, and a wall of iron circles and glass instead of white columns. It’s hip and modern, with an aquatic feel accompanied by a canopy of branches. The food, while drawing from traditional recipes, has flair lent by chef Andy Brown (vetted chef of White Dog Café and Allison Two).
The wine list is almost exclusively Greek wines, with just a couple of other international wines making the cut. Glasses range from $7-$11, and bottles of wine from $35-$62. However, the draft beers pay homage to local breweries, with regional favorites such as Yards and Sly Fox on tap. If you’re dead set on an authentic Greek experience, bottles of Mythos are on hand as well.
The cocktail list is clean and creative, and feature a lot of great recipes from our friend Preston Eckman. The Antho is a refreshing blend of cucumber vodka and lemon garnished with dill, tasting like fresh-squeezed lemonade with an herbaceous kick. For a more serious cocktail, try the Mouro, with bourbon, lemon, and seasonal berries, which happened to be blueberries when we visited. The Portokali makes good use of ouzo, the anise aperitif favored in Greece, teamed with Penn 1681 Rye Vodka and blood orange. Metaxa, the Greek brandy and wine spirit, also makes an appearance in the Amaxi and the Bekris.
On an unseasonably warm night, Opa’s front windows were thrown open to the sidewalk. People crowded around the large circular bar in the middle of the space, decorated with smooth stones. Small square tables sat on the outskirts of the bar, and towards the back, low booths provided a lounge vibe.
Opa’s food made it on City Paper’s Eat This Immediately list for kokoretsi. For some, it’s a stomach-twisting combination of lamb sweetbreads, liver, and heart bound by lamb intestines, but for Greek food aficionados, it’s a perfectly seasoned, crispy delicacy. Other menu standouts include the spread pikilia of hummus, tzatziki, and tirokafteri, with pitas and vegetables, the grilled octopus served up with a chickpea fondue, and wine-braised rabbit.
Opa’s hip décor and scrumptious food is sure to make it a hotspot.
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