Anassa Taverna

For years a boring brasserie had been on the corner of 60th and 3rd that only received my business if I needed a quick bite before seeing a movie next door.  Thankfully, it has been replaced by Anassa Taverna, a Greek restaurant that doesn't take any arm twisting for a pre-movie meal.  Raychel and I rushed through our meal because we didn't want to miss any of "The Bling Ring" (love Sophia Coppola).

We may have eaten quickly, but not so fast that I missed how good the food was.  We split the anassa chips, fried zucchini and eggplant slices served with super thick tzaziki.  This dish is dependent on good tzaziki (done) and a kitchen that knows not to over-batter the chips (done).  Raych and I both got appetizers as our main course and after splitting the chips and munching on the complimentary bread and hummus it was the perfect size.  Raychel ordered the crab cake that had so little filler it fell apart at just a little pressure by her fork.  For some reason I was super in the mood for a salad, which is a good thing because I would have overlooked the romaine salad otherwise.  It doesn't sound like much, but this salad of shredded romaine with scallions, dill, olive oil, lemon, and shredded feta was great.  It was like the Greek version of a caesar and much larger than I expected.

Congrats, Anassa, you are a major step up from your predecessor.