Avra

A friend of mine was in town for business, and invited me to join him and some other media types for dinner. If you have to talk business, you might as well do it over some delicious food, amirite??

I suggested Avra, a restaurant known for Greek/Mediterranean style food, especially grilled seafood.


We started with fried calamari for the four of us to share. This was delicious. Tender, not too briny, and two great sauces. The green one had a lot of parsley and dare I say some anchovies? Yum yum yum.

We also all shared a piece of flaky, just-salty-enough spanakopita, or baked pyllo dough with spinach, feta cheese, and leeks. This was really good and had a great balance of pastry and filling.

We also ordered a bottle of Malbec: a 2010 Zuccardi from Argentina's Mendoza region. This was luscious and a great pick for everyone, especially considering our range of wine preferences.

Charcoal-grilled seafood is the specialty at Avra, so that's exactly what I ordered: grilled tsipoura (royal dorado), a nice, flaky white fish from the Mediterranean. They present it whole but deboned, and dress it only with some olive oil, lemon juice, and capers. Heaven. Sweet, seafood heaven.

I didn't know everyone that well at the table, so I held back from taking pictures of their dishes, but I knew the friend to my left quite well (back from our days in TV News), and he ordered the tuna tartare. I declined his offer to try it, but only because I was already stuffed.
(Okay, okay, I may have swiped a beet slice or two-- I love beets!)
The meal was fantastic, from the company to the service to the very last bite of food & drop of wine. You definitely need to make a reservation, but if you're anywhere near Avra, pop in for a taste of super-fresh charcoal grilled fish-- and a killer wine to match.

Avra
141 East 48th Street
New York, NY 10017
212 759-8550

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