Greek restaurant guide: Molyvos in New York

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Molyvos Restaurant
871 Seventh Avenue
New York, NY 10019
(map)

(212) 582-7500 phone
(212) 582-7502 fax

Web site:
www.molyvos.com

Hours:
Lunch
Daily 12-3:00 PM

Dinner
Monday - Thursday 5:30-11:30 PM
Friday 5:30 - Midnight
Saturday 5:00 - Midnight
Sunday 5:00 - 11:00 PM

Mezedes available continuously

Menus:
Lunch
Quick Lunch
Pre-theatre
Dinner
Desserts and Teas

Wine/beverage
Ouzo
Cafe Beverages
Sherry
Champagne
Half Bottles
500 ml
Slovenia
Vitis Hellenica (Ancient Greek varieties of Italy)
International Greek Varietals
Pours

Whites:
Light to medium-bodied
Medium to full-bodied
Full-bodied

Reds:
Light to medium-bodied
Medium to full-bodied
Full-bodied

Molyvos Greek wine greek restaurant, New York cuisine
Executive chef Jim Botsacos

Molyvos may well be the best-known Greek restauarant in America. Although the food (and wine) occasionally drift outside of Greece's borders, chef Jim Botsaco's close but inventive interpretation of tradition was just what was needed to give Greek cuisine a much-needed boost among the movers and shakers in the world of cuisine in the late 1990s. Now fully half a decade into it, Molyvos is as establishment as Greek cuisine gets in America, deserving recipients of the respect that newer Greek restaurants in the same segment now earn with less effort.

The New York Times awarded Molyvos three stars shortly after opening in May of 1997. Esquire's restaurant reviewer John Mariani named Molyvos among the "Best in America" that same year. New York magazine named Molyvos to its New York restaurant list for the "Best of 1999," and Time Out New York featured this outstanding Greek restaurant in its list of "NY's Top 100" for 2000.

Expertly straddling the fence between upscale and home-style, Botsacos has smartly relied on the same guarantor of integrity that gives food in Greece its extraordinary quality: Superior produce, meats and fish. Quality is apparent as well in the service and decor. While Molyvos is a package that is well-designed to meet the expectations of its well-heeled New York clientele, it is neither formal nor pretentious and stays true to Greece's humble, but rich, culinary traditions.

In addition to its lunch and dinner menus, Molyvos, adapting to the demands of its city, has also implemented express lunch ("quick lunch") and "pre-theater" menus.

Molyvos Greek wine greek restaurant, New York cuisine

Typical Molyvos attention to detail

The wine list at Molyvos was groundbreaking, the first of its kind in America to reflect the full force of the wine revolution in Greece during the past two decades. John Pardalis, manager of the wine program, is highly regarded for his exceptional skills, not only in choosing Greek wines but in ferreting out eclectic Mediterranean wines from other regions. Something of a hero among producers in Greece, Pardalis organizes a steady stream of events at the restaurant featuring Greece's most notable wine talents. One of the few in his role in America to earnestly engage the wines of the southern and eastern Mediterranean rim, Pardalis has put together a list that includes wines from Morocco, Israel, Lebanon and Slovenia. France and Italy are also fairly represented, fleshing out a menu that is among New York's most adventurous.

Lest we forget, Pardalis has put together a selection of ouzo, raki and apostagma that few establishments in Greece can match. That alone makes a Molyvos worth a trip. Or two.

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