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Washington DCμαζίMAZI: New American Cuisine with a Greek Twist in Washington Dc
MAZI restaurant in Washington DC. Photo courtesy of MAZI restaurant
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
By Dody Tsiantar
About a block and a half from the White House, a cozy and elegant eatery offers up a tasty blend of Mediterranean (mostly Greek) cuisine that will satisfy American palettes.
Billed as a restaurant that features New American Cuisine with a Mediterranean influence, Mazi, which means together in Greek, features dishes ranging from a mouthwatering crispy kalimari appetizer to a perfectly prepared filet with wine demi glaze sauce that as one of the restaurant’s owners, Yiannis Galanis, 48, says is so tender you could “cut it with a fork.”
Galanis and his business partner, executive chef Yiotis Paparistodemou, 51, started Mazi in December of 2018 with the intention of creating something different and distinctive for the neighborhood.
Their Greek roots made them lean towards a Greek restaurant, but Greek restaurants already existed nearby, so they decided on New American cuisine with Mediterranean influences—mostly Greek touches in the appetizers, says Paparistodemou, the restaurant’s executive chef who designed the menu, and American palette-pleasers in the entrees.
Some dishes are a blend of both: Order lamb chops here, for example, and you’ll get a dish of succulent grilled chops any American would relish, but served Greek style with roasted potatoes and a hint of lemon. No mint jelly here. Though Yiotis, who grew up cooking in his father’s Limassol, Cyprus restaurant, says, with a chuckle, that he’s experimenting with a whipped feta cheese blended with fresh mint to accompany the chops.
What’s Yiotis’s favorite dish? His cubed lamb appetizer. It’s bits of braised lamb in a cumin-scented tomato sauce with sun dried tomatos and black olives.
The ingredients in all of Mazi’s dishes are always fresh. As Yiannis explains the duo buys everything fresh two to three times a week. They don’t want anything left over and always want to serve up food that’s freshly prepared. They don’t scrimp on costs, either. “For Greek ingredients, like feta and olive oil, we always buy the most expensive,” says Yiotis. “Taste matters.”
The portions are plentiful too. You will definitely leave full, and more than likely you’ll ask for a doggy bag to take home what you couldn’t finish.
“Our mission is for you to come here and feel like you’re at home eating home cooked food,” says Yiotis, adding with a wink. “But, of course, here you don’t have to do the dishes.”
Where Yiotis oversees what happens in the kitchen, Yiannis’ terrain is the bar. He curates the wine list carefully, paying particular homage to Greek wines. He says at least 50% of the wine list from wineries in Greece. Bottles include Biblia Chora Assyrtiko and Gerovassiliou Malagousia, and Santorini Tselepos (white wines), and Mitravelas Aghioritiko, Xinomavro Organic (Vissa) and Kokkinomylos Malbec (all reds). He is always on the lookout for new wines and adds them to the list often. The beers are carefully selected as well and include local brews.
Yiannis’s fine tastes are also at work behind the bar, where he whips up signature cocktails, including hand crafted Black Manhattans, including one that features Vecchio Amaro del Capo, a distinctive Italian digestive, and “The Mazi,” a cocktail made with Mastiha liqueur from the Greek island of Chios and Fernet Branca and celery bitters. Yiannis’s favorite drink: surprisingly, an old-fashioned. But his offer up a special touch: instead of sugar, he uses maple syrup.
The 100-seat restaurant’s ambience is intimate, dimly lit, long and narrow with a bar in the middle and a gas fireplace in the rear. Nothing pretentious, but classy and relaxed.
Yiotis and Yiannis hope in the near future to expand upstairs so they can have a room for private functions that will serve up to 70 people.
What about another restaurant with the same theme? Not in the cards, they both agree. “Unless,” says Yiotis with a smile, “an investor with deep pockets comes along.”
Mazi, located at 1518 K Street in Washington DC, is open Monday to Saturday, noon to 10. The restaurant is also open on special Sundays, like Mother’s Day and Easter.
For reservations call 1(202)-969-2858 (www.mazidc.com)
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