Gyro, a Greek staple, is prepared with pork, chicken
or a combination of lamb and beef.
Slices of the seasoned raw meat are placed upon a thick skewer which is
on a vertical rotisserie. In the case of lamb and beef, the meat is
layered in an alternative manner to get the best flavor of the combination. Most times a slab of fat is placed on the top
in order to give moisture as it cooks.
The process involves making sure that there are no gaps in this cone
shaped Greek staple. Louis J. Amorim,
owner of Gyro Grill, said, “We get our meat, which is
a mixture of beef and lamb, put it in a dough mixer with our seasonings, and
mix it until it’s fully blended. We then make softball size balls of meat,
flatten it and put it on the stick and repeat the process until we feel it is
the right size.”
Slices of the cooked meat are then plated with the
outside pieces being most well done and the gyro continuing to revolve and
cook. Gyro is usually served in a
sandwich of pita bread, onions, and tomatoes.
Tzatziki sauce made of yogurt, cucumbers, garlic and herbs is the
accompaniment. Some places use sour
cream instead of yogurt.
Chicken Gyro
It is not often that a fine dining restaurant will
go through the “from scratch” process and less often that a “take-out” eatery
will spend the time and effort, especially with a large bill of fare. I have recently found one such restaurant in
Rego Park, Gyro Grill, located at 63-02 Woodhaven Blvd. You can eat there at one of about 4 tables
with food served in their container to go.
This is not your average food and would best be served at your own
dining room table and plated out.
Who are the chefs? “My mother- in-law, Kaity Markou, and my
father- in-law, Petros Markou, said Amorim. “They were born in Greece and came
to the U.S. in 2000.” When it comes down
to recipes, the best way he could explain it is by trial and error. “A perfect
example is when I went to my mother- in-law’s apartment one day. As I was
walking in the hallway, all you could smell was this tasty sweet aroma of
chocolate. I walk in the apartment, which leads you into the dining room and
all I could see were trays and trays of red velvet cupcakes.
Food Network was playing in the background. Kaity was aggravated because she has been
playing with this recipe for red velvet cake, but each tray just didn't meet
her standards. She was about to throw out all these poor delicious red velvet cupcakes
in the garbage and I almost had a heart attack.”
On the basis of this story, she and Petros,
who had already been in the restaurant business, just kept meddling with recipes from others until
it became their own version of a perfect meal or cake or grilled octopus or
lamb chops. Like Amorim said “Trial and error that they tweaked a great deal.”
Getting back to the food, Souvlaki is small chunks
of seasoned meat, either chicken, lamb or pork, that is placed on a wooden
skewer and grilled. Many people tend to
have it with French fries but having it with lemon potatoes can just add to the
flavor. Bifteki is seasoned ground beef
rolled and grilled. Sort of like a
hamburger with seasoning. Gyro and
souvlaki can be purchased as a sandwich or platter.
Chicken Souvlaki
Bifteki
For instance, I opted for a platter of gyro which
came with a few choices, one of which was grilled vegetables consisting of
mushrooms, yellow and green squash, and sweet peppers. A second item (salad) came with it of which I
opted for a small Greek salad. I usually
don’t put the price but for about $17 of which you get all this tasty food…what
can I say?
Moussaka and Pastichio are my tests. Moussaka is kind of like having a ground beef
and eggplant parmesan but with a lot more work that goes into it. Sliced potatoes line the bottom of the
baking dish. I have heard that this is
done to allow the fat to drain onto it but not necessarily eating it
afterward. However, if you either use a
relatively lean ground beef or saute and drain prior to adding to the entrée,
the potatoes absorb a good amount of the flavor.
Gyro Grill uses both eggplant and green squash. The
vegetables are sauted, placed on top of the potatoes and then a layer of the meat
sauce (not a “meat flavored”) is placed on this. A béchamel sauce is layered on the top and
then the whole thing is baked. Bechamel
is a white sauce consisting of flour, butter, milk, to which depending upon the
use, parmesan cheese may be added. In
this case, it is.
Pastichio resembles more like lasagna where ground
beef tops the pasta and béchamel sauce is layered on the top and baked. There are seasonings added to both the
Moussaka and Pastichio that give the Greek flavor. I was totally impressed with both,
especially having prepared these items from scratch (I do cook).
Greek salad here consists of: stuffed grape leaves, whole olives,
cucumbers, grape tomatoes, feta cheese, red peppers, sliced red onions and
romaine lettuce. I noticed that they do
not use the cheaper lettuce.
Lemon Potatoes are not just boiled potatoes
sprinkled with lemon. The potatoes are
cooked in a soup base and fresh squeezed lemon is added. In fact, most likely you will get a wedge of
lemon with just about everything you order.
My biggest surprise was the grilled octopus that was
not “chewy” but soft and savory. I don’t
know how they do it!
Avgolemo is a Greek
Lemon Chicken Soup. Chunks of chicken, orzo and carrots are added to the soup.
Then the lemon juice is squeezed into it. Not overwhelmed with lemon. I’m
hoping that they compete in this year’s Chicken Soup Cookoff.
Spanakopita is a spinach pie made with spinach, eggs
and feta cheese using phyllo dough. What
a great breakfast or brunch idea for me and Popeye.
For those of you that are more “vegetarians,” Gyro
Grill offers falafel, basically made from ground chickpeas and spices such as
garlic, parsley, scallions and lemon, then rolled into a ball and deep
fried. They are usually served with pita
bread and tahini dressing or tzatziki. For about $13 you can get this as a platter
which (as all platters) comes with a choice of 1 side dish (lemon potatoes;
rice; mixed vegetables; grilled vegetables +2.00; sweet potato +2.00) and choice
of 1 side salad (garden; caesar; greek).
Tahini dressing is basically a paste made from
ground sesame seeds. Hummus is a
combination of both tahini and chick peas.
Both tend to have garlic in it.
I did not find either to be overridden with garlic. I used some leftover tahini sauce to cook a
batch of chicken wings.
Baklavah is a standard Greek and Mediterranean dessert. Ground walnuts are used in their recipe for
this sweet dessert made in phyllo dough.
The use of a combination of a sugar syrup and honey make it just sweet
enough for the palate.
There is no dancing at Gyro Grill or plates to
break! You are welcome to take out the
food, bring it home and celebrate however you want to. Opa!
