eXo's Live Jazz Night

One of my favorite non-Astoria eats, eXo always has something interesting up their sleeve.  The Chef, Costa happens to be a fellow Astorian and some of the other staff as well, so you can see where their loyalties lie - with us!

Something new and interesting they're rolling out this fall is Jazz Night, which starts on Saturday, November 19th from 8 - 10 p.m. Featuring unlimited and very delicious house wine and meze, the evening will be held in their new heated patio, which is pretty extensive.  The whole evening for just $40 - sounds good to me.

If you haven't yet tried this place, I think this is your chance, since the event is on a Friday, which gives you some extra time to get to Whitestone.  The food is fresh and creative, and if you do make it out there, I can't wait to hear what you think.  Shoot me a line with your feedback.

Exo - 15-16 149th Street, Whitestone NY 11357
718.767.4396
www.exorestaurant.com

eXo - A Meal for Your Favorite Hungry Man

Image by eXo

With Father's Day coming this Sunday, I'll be doing one of my round-ups later this week, but wanted to specifically highlight this fantastic opportunity for a real manly (and not to mention delicious) meal.  eXo's Sunday Trapezi night will be in order, featuring a selection of three meats, served from their proper spit roast that you see above.  The whole experience is a true feast that Dad will love, and he'll even get some cool brewskis on the house.  Personally, I've had nothing but excellent meals here, so I'm expecting this to be awesome. 

Here's a detailed Father's Day offering:

eXo Father's Day Trapezi Menu - $35/person, including free beer for Dad

First Course (choice of 1)
Marouli Lettuce Salad - Crouton, pickled onion, red wine vinaigrette
Lamb Magiritsa Soup - Scallion, lemon, herbs, greek olive oil
Grilled Calamari & Asparagus Salad - Spring onion, lemon vinaigrette, herbs

Second Course (choice of 1)
Feta Ravioli - Brown butter, sage, sheep cheese
Crispy Halloumi - Olive oil fried cheese, lemon, tomato
Lamb Meatball Keftedes - Kefalotiri cheese stuffed meatballs

Entree (choice of 1…sliced right from the spit roast)
Whole Spring NY Lamb - Sustainable lamb from upstate ny basted with lemon, olive oil, oregano
Spit Roasted Beef - Marinated for 24 hours in garlic, rosemary, and red wine
eXo Greek BBQ Pork Shoulder - Lighly smoked and slow roasted until crackly good!

Sides
Lemon potatoes, horta, marinated garlicky beets

eXo - 15-16 149th Street, Whitestone NY 11357
718.767.4396
exorestaurant.com

eXo - Think About Mother's Day Brunch

Image by exorestaurant.com

Mother's day is coming up in just under two weeks and restaurants are getting ready.  For those of you who enjoy the day with Mom by dining out, you'll know how busy this holiday is for the restaurant industry.  Key take-away - get there early and make your reservations now.

eXo, one of my all-time  Greek food favorites will be pulling out all the stops for mama with a special brunch and dinner menu prix-fixe.  I'm already thinking about brunch, and wanted to share the enticing options.  I hope they inspire you to treat mom to something homemade and wonderful.

Mother's Day Brunch - Sunday, May 8th from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., $26/person

Eggs Benedict Spanakopita - Poached eggs, feta, spinach, bechamel

Sizzling Lamb “hash” (pictured above) - Sunny side eggs, cured lamb, smoked paprika

Greek American Brunch - Eggs any style, smoked bacon, country sausage, feta tater tots

Fluffy Corn Pancakes - Seasonal fruit, warm maple syrup, powdered sugar

Double Dipped French Toast - Seasonal fruit, warm honey syrup warm dippy eggs

Soft Boiled Eggs - With warm hummus, grilled pita, arugula

eXo Egg Burger with Cheese - Double smoked bacon, sharp cheddar, hand cut french fries

Soft Shell Crab Panini ($5 supplement) - House made chips, Greek tartar sauce, pickled onion

eXo Lamb or Beef Burger - Brioche bun, french fries, spicy feta spread

Greek Feta “Caesar” Salad - With grilled chicken, steak, or shrimp

Steak n’Eggs our Way - Charcoal grilled hanger steak, olive oil baked egg, feta tater tots

Dessert (choice of 1): Chocolate cake for 2, honey doughnuts, or filo custard pie

Mother's Day Dinner - Sunday, May 8th from 4 p.m. - 9 p.m., $36/person

First course (Choice of 1)

Dozen Fresh Shucked Oysters - Sheep’s milk yogurt, lemon, smoked pepper oil

Baby Arugula Salad - Marinated olives, cucumber, red wine vinaigrette

House Smoked Salmon Platter - Baby arugula, red onion, capers, grilled pita, tzatziki

Sizzling Cheese Saganaki - Olive oil fried cheese, white wine, lemon

Housemade Feta Ravioli - Toasted garlic, black pepper, mint

Crab, Spinach and Rice Balls - Tsatziki, fried dill, dehydrated feta

Grilled Lamb Sausage - Baby lettuce, pickled onion, lemon

Entree (Choice of 1)

Roasted King Salmon - Sauteed escarole, Greek style polenta

Pan Seared Lemon Chicken - Root vegetables, lemon, oregano

Swordfish Souvlaki - Hummus, kale, crispy chick peas, lemon oil

Grilled Diver Scallops - skordalia, garlicky beets

Charcoal grilled hanger steak rosemary, lemon, potato/feta croquettes

Dessert (Choice of 1)

Gooey chocolate cake for 2, honey doughnuts, or filo pie

eXo - 15-16 149th Street, Whitestone NY 1135
718.767.4396

exorestaurant.com

A Greek Easter Extravaganza is Coming to eXo

Living in Astoria, I doubt I have to explain to you the beauty and the fun of Greek Easter.  For those of you who live directly in the nabe, you'll know that it gets pretty quiet during this time and some of your favorite local Greek restaurants will most likely be closed for business.

And that's why I encourage you to branch out and take this time to visit other parts of Queens, Whitestone in particular.  You might've heard me talk about the amazing meals and the boisterous cooking demos I've experienced at eXo Bistro, so when I found out they're doing a big  Greek Easter feast, I wanted to let you know about it. 

Really bringing out the generosity and hospitality of the Greek culture, they'll be serving a whole spit roasted lamb and a trapezi (feast) buffet to go along with it.  Here are the deets:

eXo's Greek Easter Trapezi Dinner:
Sunday, April 24th (confirming timing)
Spit roasted lamb (4-course dinner) with all the fixins
$30/person

Exo - 15-16 149th Street, Whitestone NY 11357
718.767.4396
www.exorestaurant.com

Cooking with Costa at Exo Bistro

To continue this week's coverage about Queens' culinary treasures outside of Astoria and LIC, I wanted to tell you about a fun cooking demo Dan and I attended this week at eXo Bistro in Whitestone.  I've skimmed the surface with these classes a few weeks ago, but wanted to shed light on exactly how they work and hopefully to pique your interest about taking them.  I can honestly say that not only did I learn a lot, I ate well, had fun and met cool people.

Class Format:
Taking place every Monday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in eXo's main dining room, the demo classes are led by Chef, Constantine Kalandranis, also referred by many as Costa.  But it's not just the chef as you may know that makes the experience, it's the full team on staff.  eXo is a great example of truly harmonious culinary teamwork that's so closely in sync, they run like a well oiled machine.

We sat in the front/middle part of the restaurant that was organized slightly different than usual for the purpose of the class.  Dan and I had a prime spot for observing all the action at the demo station, as we sat in the elevated dining area at a long rectangular table with other guests. 

The class started out with a warm welcome from eXo's team, and then Costa got into the nitty gritty details about the food we were about to eat.  I liked his vivid descriptions and thorough demonstrations as they related to all dishes, but especially about homemade pita bread.  It's something I wouldn't think to make on my own and usually rely on a good grocery store to supply me with.  But the technique seemed pretty user friendly and enjoyable that it certainly whet my appetite to try it at home.  Here's a short video of Costa explaining the pita making process, showing that you don't need any fancy equipment to make this dish on your own.

Aside from all the eating and the instruction, we also received thoughtful Greek wine pairings provided by a local wine expert, Spiros from Fantis wine.  We enjoyed trying different regional Greek wines and I was especially loving the whites, which I think Greek varieties are known for.

The Food:
After each course was properly demonstrated, we were served a generous portion of it to enjoy and chat about with our dining companions.  I liked the interaction eXo's team had with their clientele during food service and people (including me) seemed to enjoy chatting with the experts about what was on their plate.

Our menu consisted of the following:

Homemade Pita and Tzatziki - Although these two items seem like the simplest, most basic staples in Greek cuisine, most people don't attempt to make them at home.  I have to admit that I've tried tzatziki before, but wasn't completely happy with the outcome.  After having eXo's version and watching it come together before my eyes, I was more confident that I can improve mine next time around.  Not only was eXo's tzatziki wonderfully refreshing, its use of good quality ingredients showed just how important this is in constructing a classic dish. 

In terms of the pita, I was surprised to see that it was pan fried, not always grilled as I assumed.  It was an amazing feeling to bite into a soft, salty pita slice and to pair it with eXo's delicious meze such as the char-grilled octopus, lamb meatballs and a most refreshing, zesty radish/celery salad that I absolutely want to recreate at home.

Seared Diver Scallops - Learning about different scallop varieties captured my attention, and I was further intrigued to learn how to achieve that perfect exterior sear you find in restaurant scallops.  The key, as we found out was to make sure the scallop was dry - easier said than done for sure, but part of the process is also knowing how to choose your scallops. 

The scallop dish we tried served as a wonderful transition between courses, as it included cucumber jus (also made into a champagne cocktail and served alongside this dish), Greek yogurt and some pickled garlic.  Its overall flavor was very clean and mild, no doubt influenced by the cucumber, while the texture was superb - tender on the inside but nicely charred and slightly crispy on the outside.

Swordfish Souvlaki - While some of our dining companions expressed concerns about swordfish, I was pretty excited.  Having made swordfish at home with decent results, I was motivated by the prospect of further improving it in my own kitchen.  What we learned in the class was that it's really about the quality of fish (swordfish is seasonal) as well as the marinade you use.  Soaked in a simple latholemono (lemon vinaigrette), the swordfish was amazingly tender, juicy and really hearty too.  I can see why it's sometimes referred to as a steak fish.

Loukaniko Sausage Fricasee - Next came an explanation about good quality Greek sausage called loukaniko.  While eXo doesn't make their own, they make sure to purchase it from a quality supplier, which happens to be located in the neighborhood.

I liked that this dish was an example of a one-pot-wonder, being cooked in one pan, with potatoes, herbs and spices.  Additionally incorporating a green element in the form of braised kale, it was a prime example of a simple and flavorful ethnic comfort food.

Warm Chocolate Cake - While dessert wasn't demo'd, we indulged to our heart's delight in a soft, warm fudgy cake that was the definition of decadence.  Elevated in flavor by interesting ingredients such as halvah and cinnamon, it wasn't your traditional molten lava cake, rather like everything else at eXo, they really made it their own.

If you're curious about taking a class at eXo, here's more information.  Talk to any of their friendly staff, and I'm sure you'll become as hooked as me. 

eXo - 15-16 149th Street, Whitestone NY 11357
718.767.4396
exorestaurant.com