El Greco Greek Taverna
By Jason Sears
With summer approaching, nothing is better
than lounging on an outdoor patio with the smell of authentic Greek food tingling your nostrils as you drink and relax with friends. Whether enjoying a quaint brunch including a Greek omelet and a café au lait, or ending your day with baklava, wine, and close friends, El Greco provides a picturesque atmosphere where classy meets casual.
Tucked behind Mangia’s at 3016 Guadalupe St., El Greco opened December 3, 2007. The owner, Jake Konstantinidis, and his aunt, Kiki Vaseaouliadou, are the executive chefs.
After working in the dental management business, Konstantinidis went to culinary school at Texas Culinary Academy, Le Cordon Bleu program. Vaseaouliadou came to Austin from Munich, Germany after Konstantinidis approached her with the idea for the restaurant. She has been a chef for 30 years, over 15 of which she served as an executive chef in Greece and Germany.
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Konstantinidis originally intended to open a bistro featuring wine, beer, coffee, pastries and appetizers. However, he was disappointed after searching Austin for authentic Greek food, which the city seemed to be lacking. But therein
he saw an opportunity: "Over the years all around the country, Greek food has become fast food, and it’s not fast food."
With this mentality, El Greco was established.
Their ancestral recipes were prepared by Konstantinidis’ grandmother, and have been in the family for generations, via his mother Athina Konstantinidis and his aunt. El Greco has an open kitchen with indoor and outdoor seating. Bottles of olive oil adorn the tables, soft music plays in the background, and classic Grecian artwork
sets the mood throughout the restaurant.
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"All of our food is cooked to order," says Konstantinidis. "Nothing is out of a can or box." El Greco offers classic dips like hummus and tabouli, and unique dips like tarama, or Greek caviar dip. Then there is the Guadalupe dip, which is prepared with zucchini, oysters and mushrooms, and Jake’s eggplant dip, composed
of roasted eggplant, spices, walnuts and feta. Also, their tzatsiki sauce is made with yogurt instead of sour cream. This is the correct way to make the dip, but it is not commonly practiced. All of their dips come in half-pound servings with grilled pita bread.
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When I dined at El Greco last Saturday evening,
I had a pork gyro, the feta-stuffed piquant peppers and baklava. The piquant peppers, their specialty appetizer, consist of grilled red piquant peppers stuffed with feta, topped with Greek spice and balsamic vinaigrette.
The pita bread used to prepare their gyros is amazing. It is by far the softest, tastiest pita bread I have ever had. However, the best part of my visit was the baklava. The baklava at El Greco is prepared in individual spirals, not the typical pan-made version cut into triangles.
All the entrées at El Greco range from $8 to $16. Their appetizers and soups range from $4 to $9, dips from $6 to $7, and desserts hover around $4. They also cater events, including weddings. For parties of 10 or more, El Greco serves large family-style platters that are tailored to the party’s wants. It is serve-yourself style, and plates are passed around the table with a classic Greek hospitality.
El Greco offers Italian and domestic wines from Serendipity Wine Imports. Their wine list includes Piazzo Barbaresco, Bogoni Soave Classico, Pinot Grigio Maretima Delle Venezie and Santomè merlot, cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay, to name a few. El Greco also offers a number of Greek wines, including Frésco Averoff, Estate HatziMichalis and George Georgiadis. Newcastle, Corona, Dos Equis, Shiner and Fosters beers are served, as well as Greek beers such as Marathon and Alfa Hellenic.
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"From the way the food is plated to the way it’s made, it’s all Greek," says Konstantinidis. "We don’t deviate from anything." I can certainly
attest to this, having left Austin’s closest version of Greece feeling satisfied and full from the night’s meal.
El Greco is open Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.- 9 p.m. and Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m. -10 p.m. They’re closed Sundays. Free parking is available next to their restaurant.
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