VILLAGE VOICE

Finding Philoxenia

….. The dishes began to arrive at intervals, giving us time to enjoy each one, and sit back a moment for a breather. The food was spectacular. As the last hurricane of the season howled outside, we bolted slices of salty haloumi cheese fried brown in olive oil, so good we ordered a second helping; little hanks of loukaniko sausage stewed with peppers and tomatoes; a magnificent plate of fries sprinkled with oregano and dried cheese; a pair of meaty octopus tentacles dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar; crusty salt cod patties accompanied by garlicky skordalia; and, best of all, a quartet of perfectly grilled lamb chops, which, as one diner wryly noted, "are moist and delicious rather than dry." Even the lowly Greek salad—festive under its crown of crumbled white feta—was wonderfully turned out and left us smacking our lips…..

by Robert Sietsema - November 2nd, 2004

NEW YORK TIMES

The Mother, the Daughter and the Octopus

……..The food, particularly the seafood, was a find. Simple, direct and cheap. Grilled octopus was best: a single tentacle, charred on a grill, served with wine vinegar and olive oil that pooled but did not mix. Octoperfection.

Philoxenia became the answer to a “stump the restaurant geek” question: Where to go for Greek in Astoria? Philoxenia or bust. Then, a couple of years ago, Philoxenia went bust. There were intimations that the owners, the chef Dionysia Germani and her daughter, Nancy Gavopoulou, would reopen. I did not hold my breath.

The old Philoxenia was wonderfully amateur. Places like that don’t get second acts. But in the magical way that things that aren’t supposed to happen sometimes do, Philoxenia was reborn in December, and on a grander scale. The new dining room is huge; it seats 70. It has a wood-beamed ceiling, gentle lighting (I can’t remember the last time I saw lamps so tactfully deployed in a restaurant in Queens) and comfortable banquettes tucked into the corners for large groups.

The new menu emphasizes seafood: three or four varieties are on hand every day (Mrs. Germani says she shops for them herself) and expertly grilled, regardless of the species. The best I had was the loup de mer (market price, about $21 per pound), with moist flesh and super-crisp skin, served so it looked whole, but with the fillets detached from the spine, making for super-easy eating. But the heartier hits of the old Philoxenia haven’t been abandoned: bekri meze — stewed veal and pork, covered with hot cheese ($13.50) — is a fine trencherman’s repast; meatballs ($11.50), in a loose tomato sauce strewn with peppers and onion, are so light, airy and finely wrought that meatballs seems too coarse a term for them……

    Read Article - - - By Peter Meehan - April 2^nd, 2008

NEW YORK TIMES

Pure Greek Hospitality in Astoria

…….It's the sort of welcoming touch that she hopes will ease guests into eating in the meze style, not in some nouveau small-plates way, but in the Greek manner, sharing a handful of the generously portioned dishes, relaxing and washing it all down with plenty of wine. The Greek salad is a good way to start the meal because, unlike countless insipid salads passed off under the same moniker at diners across the country, this one is prepared with care, with meaty salt-cured olives standing in for run-of-the-mill calamatas and dots of stunningly good feta.

I knew that feta could be good — most cheeses, properly sourced, are — but I'd never had any as creamy or agreeably full-flavored as the Macedonian feta at Philoxenia. The feta cheese special is an ample portion, warmed in the oven with pitted olives, garlic and diced tomatoes. One night our waitress nudged us toward it and away from the feta saganaki , but we didn't pay attention; I'd advise you not to make the same mistake.

….There are a bevy of meat stews on the menu, many from Pilio, Ms. Germani's ancestral home, but the couple I tried, regardless of the tenderness of the meat, left me wanting. Carnivores can delight instead in the fried meatballs in tomato sauce, or the loukaniko, a rustic grilled sausage made with chunks of lamb, equally prominent cubes of lamb fat, chopped garlic and a chewy, thick casing….

 Read Article - - By Peter Meehan - December 1, 2004

Daily News

Philoxenia's homemade Greek classics

Spring makes me yearn for home cooking. It doesn't matter if it's not the cooking I grew up with as long as the portions are generous and the execution rough enough to show there's a real person in the kitchen. That's what I had last week at Philoxenia, the newly reopened Greek restaurant run by a mother and daughter team from Athens.
It's a large, rustic space, with brick walls, a fireplace and the kind of stuff you have around when you've lived in a place a very long time: stuff like a pedal-operated sewing machine and a manual typewriter. "I wrote two books on one just like that," said my guest.
That put him in the right mood to enjoy the plate of mezedes ($10), spreads that included thick garlicky yogurt and cucumbers, smooth roasted eggplant with a zing of vinegar, and salty taramosalata and spicy Greek feta. We ate them with warm fluffy pita and garlic bread from the basket and, to fill any still-empty spots, ordered charred Greek sausage ($9) and a beautifully tender octopus tentacle that was bathed in red wine vinegar and oil ($11.50).

The same sauce cloaked skewers of grilled chicken and vegetables that were served with perfectly cooked rice ($12). Roast chicken was showered with herbs and scattered with dried feta and came with dark dandelion greens in olive oil ($12.50), while airy meatballs were bathed in onion-sweet tomato sauce ($11.50). I chose the spinach pie and was surprised to find not the usual papery square but a triangular wedge of hearty homemade dough stuffed with gorgeously seasoned spinach and cheese ($8). We kept munching tender French fries sprinkled with shavings of salty feta…..

Read Article --- By Irene Sax April 18th, 2008

NEWSDAY

Where all things Athenian star, but feta shines

……if you go to Astoria's Philoxenia and get anything less than the final word in feta, feel free to feel disgruntled. Not that you won't still have a memorable and fulfilling meal, featuring first-class lamb chops, meatballs and octopus. But it is the dairy elements of the menu you should remember when you leave.

Such is the not the case with some of the other, non-feta dishes Philoxenia features. A platter of four thin lamb chops are soft and tender, with zingy skirts of tangy fat. Octopus comes both as a grilled tentacle, simultaneously light and meaty….
…….Depending on the time of year, there may or may not be tiny fried baitfish available, but the grilled whole fish are always expertly done and dressed with fine fruity olive oil.
Best of all are the meatballs in sauce - half a dozen broad and tender, loosely packed spheres, flavored all the way through with intensely tangy-sweet tomato sauce, caramelized onions and broad softened green peppers. These yielding orbs exist on a plane halfway between meatballs and meat sauce; they're five minutes from falling apart, but still juicy and vivid. Remarkable.

Read Article- - By Josh Ozersky - October 28^th, 2005

NEW YORK MAGAZINE

FOOD/OPENINGS

When Philoxenia opened in Astoria in 2004, it managed to distinguish itself from the Hellenic pack with its simple, rustic cooking and notably homey vibe (the name, after all, means “hospitality”). But when the two-year lease wasn’t renewed, chef-owner Dionysia Germani and her daughter, Nancy Gavopoulou, closed up shop. They decided to resuscitate Philoxenia in much larger quarters, joined by two faithful regulars turned partners. Germani’s menu still showcases signature dishes like the feta special, broiled in tinfoil with tomatoes and peppers, and her squat, tomato-sauced meatballs, plus the usual roster of spreads, salads, and charcoal-grilled whole fish priced by the pound.

By Rob Patronite & Robin Raisfeld - December 10^th, 2007