Sit and stay a while: Nisi Greek Grill brings modern take on Greek cuisine to Rosemont
A new restaurant in Rosemont is hoping to fill a void in the suburban dining landscape by offering a modern and refined taste of the Greek islands.
Nisi Greek Grill opened in mid-October in Parkway Bank Park Entertainment District in the space last occupied by Saltwater Coastal Grill at 5509 Park Place.
It’s the first suburban restaurant for Forte Hospitality Group, which operates Sapori Trattoria and Butcher & The Bear in Chicago. They’ll make their next foray into the suburbs next year with another Greek eatery that will open in The Grove at Bloomingdale.
Forte Hospitality founder and CEO Kosti Demos said they wanted to offer something different in a restaurant environment that has more than enough Italian eateries and steakhouses.
“Most of the Greek restaurants here are stuck in the ’60s and have the same menu, and they’re all offering the same foods,” Demos said. “Over the last 20 years Greece has had a food renaissance where they’ve really exploded in terms of their talent and modernizing their cuisine. That’s what we’re building off of.”
Chef/partner Saul Ramos relied on insight from Demos, who visited Greece every summer with his family growing up, when he created a menu that mixes classic dishes with new perspectives and influences from his 20-plus-year career in kitchens.
“I’m always asking him, ‘How did you eat this or that growing up?’ Then I bring in my little flair,” Ramos said. “We’re bouncing ideas back and forth all the time.”
The menu focuses on making all the dishes, from starters to mains, shareable.
“It feels like the days of people just ordering their own entree are kind of gone,” Ramos said.
Starters include saganaki, of course, because it’s hard to avoid a chance to flambe in the middle of the dining room. Other highlights include the youvetsi mac and cheese, which features braised lamb shoulder in a kefalograviera cheese sauce, and the octopus, which Ramos said “is a staple at every restaurant in Greece.”
Ramos’ version is cooked confit for three hours in its own juices, extra virgin olive oil, citrus, peppers and herbs, then gets a kiss of fire on the grill and is served over Greek potatoes, pickled onions and burnt lemon vinaigrette.
The end result is an octopus that’s incredibly tender but still has just the right amount of char.
“He’s got it perfected now,” Demos said.
The salad section includes their version of a classic Greek and several others, but Ramos was most excited about his Spanakopita salad, a deconstruction of the traditional Greek savory pastry.
Ramos adds a house-made granola for crunch to a bed of spinach, phyllo, manouri cheese, avocado and honey.
“It all goes very, very well together, and it’s becoming one of the fan favorites,” he said.
Entrees include classic fare such as lamb chops and chicken or pork souvlaki, but there’s also a Wagyu souvlaki option, served with whipped skordalia, roasted peppers and caperberries.
“That’s a cool way to just kind of like introduce people to something like skordalia, which is usually a dipping appetizer, by putting in the main dishes with Wagyu,” Ramos said.
Wagyu is also featured in a tasting board, which offers 2.5 ounces each of Australian Wagyu picanha, New York strip and flatiron steaks, along with Australian lamb loin.
“We have so many people here for conventions that we wanted to implement a little bit of steakhouse feel with Greek in it with the lamb,” Ramos said.
Attention to detail and Greek influence includes the bread service, which comes with a rose-shaped burning candle that is actually lamb tallow butter, made from the renderings of all the steaks and chops they cut in-house.
“We have to point out that it’s edible,” Ramos said. “People can’t believe it once they dip their bread in it. They’re like, ‘oh my God, this is a game changer.’”
The menu also features fish, steaks and a raw bar section.
Sides meant to be shared have a steakhouse feel but with Greek influences. Ramos makes his own lamb bacon to add to the Brussels sprouts. Horta, a traditional dish featuring boiled or braised wild greens like dandelions, is given the spinach treatment and served creamed like a classic chophouse dish.
Cocktails include a number of tastes straight from Greece. Chios Garden starts with mastiha, a Greek liqueur made from a tree sap only available on the island of Chios, mixed with lemon juice, dry Curaçao and basil simple syrup. Kefi’s Fizz features Tsipouro, a traditional Greek pomace brandy, with lime, honey orgeat and soda.
Demos said the wine list is made up of 60% to 70% Greek wines.
“Greek wines are probably, bang for the buck, the best you’re going to get,” he said. “They haven’t been discovered yet and they haven’t been marked up, so the value you get for the quality is well worth it.”
Attention to detail didn’t stop at the menu. Demos said guests should always expect a high level of service.
“Hospitality is free,” Demos said. “There’s no reason you can’t get the same service at a midtier restaurant that you get at high-end restaurants. It’s effort and training. You just have to try.”
And he hopes that hospitality makes people comfortable enough to sit and stay a while.
“In Greek culture, sitting down for a meal takes three hours. I’d love for that to come back,” Demos said. “I want people to come and enjoy themselves and have an after-dinner drink and talk. That part of the culture needs to make a comeback.”
The 150-seat restaurant is open from 4-9 p.m. daily for dinner on weeknights and until 10 p.m. on weekends. Demos said they plan to open a dedicated back entrance near their pastry station to provide a cafe-style takeaway area during the day featuring coffee, Greek frozen yogurt, desserts and other quick options.
rwest@dailyherald.com