Ithaki Restaurant

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Ithaki
Mediterranean Cuisine
25 Hammett Street
Ipswich, MA 01938
(map)

(978) 356-0099 phone

Web site:
http://www.ithakicuisine.com

Hours:
Lunch
Tuesday ~ Saturday 11:30~2:00

Dinner
Tuesday - Thursday 5:00-9:00PM

Friday and Saturday 5:00-9:30

Sunday 4:30-8:30
Closed Mondays

Menus:
Lunch
Dinner

Wines
Wine List

Functions:
Ithaki has a function room and can accommodate groups from 5 up to 120 people. The room is ideal for baptismals, rehearsal dinners, receptions, meetings and other functions.

In the press:

"ITHAKI has been luring New Englanders to its tables since it opened for business. The individually baked moussakas are one attraction; the elegant dining rooms filled with fresh flowers are another."
~ Bon Appetit, September, 2001

"ITHAKI takes the Greek ideal of good, fresh ingredients and simple cooking and adds dimensions of creativity, of other influences. Markopoulos and his chefs do it...wonderfully."
~ Allison Arnett, Dining out, Boston Globe

Not gaudy, just Greek

Ithaki, in Ipswich, Massachusetts, is one of America's most highly regarded Greek restaurants. In 2001, Bon Appetit magazine listed it among the top ten Greek restaurants in the US.

Owners Petros Markopoulos and Konstantinos Sakkas opened Ithaki in 1997 in what for many seemed the least likely of places: a forgotten corner in downtown Ipswich, Massachusetts, a block, by any measure, from either of the town's two main thoroughfares.

The location, however, turned out to be just one of many smart moves. Ipswich has been home to many Greek families since the early 1900s. The Hellenic Center, just outside of Ipswich proper, has been the focal point of Greek culture on the North Shore for decades. More importantly, Ipswich had never really been home to a serious, but unpretentious, restaurant. Ipswich has always been a healthy mix of hardworking locals and urban transplants smitten with the town's charm, security and many natural attractions, not least of which is the famous Crane beach. Its emphasis on quality and price combined with the trend in the 1990s towards Mediterranean cuisine, made it the right concept at the right time.

Ithaki's serious approach to food, its stunningly tasteful decor and urbane–but attitude free–service made it an instant success. In occupying a piece of real estate just off the town's main drag, the restaurant was able to secure sufficient space for its own parking lot--a big plus in any locale. It also meant the restaurant had room to expand. Two years ago, the owners added a second dining room/function room, augmenting its original 110 seats with another 75.

The elegantly simple and tasteful decor contributes to a feeling of calm even when the restaurant is operating at full tilt.

Ithaki would not enjoy the reputation it does were it not for its loyalty to its culinary principles. The menu does not pretend to be entirely Greek. Modern Greek cuisine, as it is increasingly expressed both in America and in its homeland, is often subject to compromise. Ithaki's Greek food is uncompromisingly within the Greek vernacular, its Italian and French and even Middle East-influenced offerings true to region. Greek influences are nevertheless appropriately expressed throughout the menu, utilizing the same good taste that pervades the dining room. A peppercorn-crusted beef tenderloin, the kind of non-traditional dish devised necessarily to satisfy the expectations of American diners, is served with a wild mushroom cream sauce flavored, non-gratuitously, with Mavrodafni wine. Locanico sausage and aged feta add depth to a malfada pasta dish with white shrimp, spinach and leeks. Meeting mainstream tastes with cuisine that stands on its own merits is a trademark of Ithaki's pan-Mediterranean approach.

It is a rare restaurant where appetizers and desserts perform perfectly without overshadowing main courses. Ithaki's appetizer menu includes the classic Greek meze, garides saganaki (shrimp baked with tomato and feta), a dish rarely well executed outside of Greece. Desserts include an exceptional galaktoboureko (semolina pastry), a greekwinemakers.com favorite.

The bar at Ithaki

The wine list at Ithaki is uncluttered. Markopoulos, like all Boston area restaurateurs, suffers from a lack of available Greek wines. As this situation improves, he hopes to feature more, "around 60%." For now, Skouras, Tsantali and Cambas are a respectable trio bearing the responsibility of partnering with the restaurant's Greek cuisine. Ithaki's customers, not surprisingly, find they go well with everything on the menu.

Success has not spoiled Markopoulos and Sakkas. The quality of food and service has survived—if not improved—as the restaurant has grown . Ithaki remains the undisputed leader of Greek food destinations in greater Boston. If anyone doubts whether it is worth the trip from Boston itself, this description from Don and Linda Freedman from Toronto, Canada should eliminate any doubt:

Ipswich has always been famous for fried clams. Imagine our surprise when a cousin suggested we meet in Ipswich for a Greek lunch at Ithaki, 25 Hammatt Street, 978-356-0099, a real find, particularly the value-priced lunch menu! The Grecian decor is tasteful and relaxing, the service superb and the food, outstanding. We lingered over a sumptuous assortment of appetizers, including grilled octopus, artichokes, cheese, wonderful olives, salami, green beans, smoked salmon, shrimp, anchovies, tzatziki and an authentic Greek salad, without lettuce. A Cambas Retsina was properly chilled and delicious. The lamb kabob was ever so tender and seasoned perfectly and the accompanying vegetables beautifully prepared. The other favorites were shrimp saganaki and mousaka. Dessert was a special treat. Thick yogurt with honey and walnuts and galactobouriko, my Mom was in ecstasy (Hey, I didn't come by my love of delicious food by accident!). There's more to Ipswich than fried clams.http://www.thetravelzine.com/bosmecan0602a.htm

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