Atlanta’s Kyma is one of the country’s best Greek restaurants. We’re not just saying that. Some of the best food critics and magazines have lauded the incredible cuisine, service and atmosphere. Executive Chef Pano I. Karatassos even beat Bobby Flay with his spinach pie. Going to Kyma is now even a better experience with the opening of a new Ouzo Bar & Dining Room.
The redesigned space, which is on the righthand side of Kyma, will take you to the beaches of Santorini with its icy white buildings with azure blue accents. The Ouzo Bar replaces the Octopus Bar and features pickled white hardwood floors, long white drapes and three flat-screen televisions with looping video scenes of the Aegean Sea. In addition to an all-weather, year-round covered outdoor patio, Chef Pano also redesigned the outdoor garden to seat up to 20 guests.
Culinary Adventure
Chef Pano says the new lounge will take guests on a culinary adventure and will focus on small plates, great wine and cocktails. It will also offer half-priced wines Sunday and Wednesday and “Martini Night” every Tuesday. A five-course “design your own tasting menu” will be available every night at three price points and includes spreads, mezze, whole fish and entrees.
“If you can’t visit the Greek Isles in person, let us transport you to the Mediterranean just for the evening with a sensory experience of fresh seafood and the authentic flavors of Greek mezze delicately paired with ouzo. Among the best offerings are the grape leaves (dolmathes), lamp pie and octopus, spread trios, halibut and salads, spinach pies, tempura fried zucchini fritters, calamari and a watermelon salad with feta cheese.
It’s the perfect place for an afterwork drink (lots of fantastic wines) have a few appetizers and let yourself be transported to Greece. The wines, with lots of whites and rosés, are impeccable, which should be no surprise. We loved the Santorini whites and Akakies sparkling rosé. Sofia Perpera, a cousin of Chef Pano, is one of the world’s leading authorities on Greek wines.
While the new lounge and patio give a new take on Kyma, located in Atlanta’s Buckhead, the main menu hasn’t changed — and boy, are we glad! The food is outstanding and offers a fresh take on traditional Greek food. When I think of Greek food, I think of lamb, octopus and baklava and healthy. Greek food is a cornerstone of the famed Mediterranean diet that is rich in good fats, like olive oil.
Octopus + Lamb
Let’s start with octopus. Kyma’s signature grilled octopus is oak-wood grilled with red onions, olives and capers, which blend together for a light refreshing burst of flavor. Delightful! It is light and the octopus grilled to perfection, and by that I mean not rubbery, which happens in so many restaurants.
Lamb is another specialty. In addition to the lamb pie—where the leg of lamb is braised for 12 hours and then baked in country phyllo with kefalotiri cheese—Kyma offers lamb pasta, lamb shank and three lamb chops. The lamb chops are marinated for three days in lots of olive oil, lemons and herbs and then grilled. Melt in your mouth.
Of course, seafood is a large part of Greek cooking (and again why it’s so healthy) and guests can feast on prawns, salmon, halibut, snapper and lobster as well as whole fresh fish with selections such as snapper, Arctic char, Dover sole and lavraki (a Greek fish in the bass family).
Before the pandemic, Kyma would hold special dinners such as when Chef Panos would grill a whole lamb or offer a multi-course dinner paired with wine. Hopefully, that will start soon. It’s the closest many of us will get to a true Greek dinner.
Atlanta’s Best Restaurants
Kyma is part of the Buckhead Life Restaurant Group, which in Atlanta and indeed the nation, is known for its outstanding cuisine and service. Chef Pano's father is the founder, and now the group owns several of Atlanta’s best restaurants, as well as in Ft. Lauderdale and Boca Raton. Among the restaurants in Atlanta are Atlanta Fish Market, Chops, Pricci, Bistro Niki and Buckhead Diner.
But, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Kyma holds a special place in the Karatassos family. Chef Pano is a second-generation Greek, and he spent years watching and helping his grandmother cook and then spent time in Greece studying with some of the best chefs as well as watching more relatives. He even wrote a book, Modern Green Cooking, which features more than 100 recipes. In a desire to offer his customers some of the same outstanding ingredients he imports from Greece, he now offers his own line of olives, olive oil, feta cheese and honey that he imports from Greece, which is available on his website and on other websites such as Amazon.
Whether you are an aficionado of Greek cuisine or having your first experience, Kyma is the place to go when you’re you Atlanta. The food, of course, is outstanding, and the service professional and accommodating, but what distinguishes Kyma from most restaurants is that you can in every bite feel the love and passion Chef Pano and his team have for Greek food and delighting diners.
