Ousia, Greek Mediterranean Cuisine in NYC
Ousia, part of the Livanos Restaurant Group, offers delicious Greek Mediterranean cuisine. Ousia means essence or flavor, which one will find with the delicious food and plenty of space. Ousia is a block from the West Side Highway with more than 14,000 new apartments being built. They saw a need for a new dining experience.
The place has plenty of room with the 7,000-square-foot restaurant, designed by The Niemitz Design Group. The restaurant is housed inside a brand new residential building, Via 57 WEST.
Each Livanos restaurant has its own character. Some of us have been to their other restaurants in Manhattan like Oceana or Molyvos. Also, they own Moderne Barn in Armonk, N.Y., and City Limits in White Plains, N.Y. Others have been to the Arch Dinner, which they used to own in Brooklyn.
We attended the 3rd Annual Tomorrow’s Smile Today 2019 Fundraiser that supported the Ken-Ya Smile Project in Lare, Kenya at Ousia. We enjoyed constantly passed hors d’oeuvres along with a tasting table of various dips with fine Greek wine and beers on tap.
The lountza, feta cheese, olive oil, ouzo, and wine are imported from Greece. They are noted for their signature dishes like cannellini and beet-sesame marinated beets with manouri cheese and flatbread, or the turkey leg confit with roasted butternut squash and spiced honey.
They have a very reasonable two-course price fixed lunch menu for $22. One can start with Greek Salad, or any spread with pita, or Avgolemono Soup, consisting of Chicken Soup, Dill, and Orzo. Then a main dish one would enjoy is the Spinach & Feta Gnocchi with lemon and nutmeg.
If you want just spreads, one can have one for $10 or three for $27. There are usual dips but also other different dips like Taramasalata Mousse with Carp Roe, or Roasted Garlic Edamame Pistachio Dip.
More like brunch and they have the traditional and unusual Greek dishes like Greek Pancakes with Yogurt Mousse, Cretan Honey, and Walnuts. Another different dish is their Shakshuka of Tomato, Loukaniko Sausage, Poached Egg, and Grilled Sourdough Toast.
Also, one can have sandwiches and flatbreads. There are medium plates like Keftedes with Traditional Pan Fried Meatballs, Ouzo-Yogurt, Mint, and Fries.
Also, there are Greek Pies like Spanakopita, Tyropita, and Sausage-Kataifi. Tyropita is a Greek pastry that is made with layers of buttered phyllo and filled with a cheese-egg mixture. It is served either in an individual-size free-form wrapped shape, or as a larger pie that is portioned.
Other interesting plates that one would enjoy are the Greek version of Pastitsio Mac N Cheese with Braised Beef & Lamb, Graviera Cheese Bechamel, and Brûlée Bread Crumbs. Many use ground beef for Moussaka, but here they use Lobster & Shrimp, Potato, Eggplant, and Bechamel.
They have an extensive wine list of 30-40 Greek focus due to Kamal Kouiri, Director of Operations, who also oversees the wine program at their sister restaurant Molyvos. There are 750 Greek wines on the list at New York City’s Molyvos.
Both Molyvos’ and Ousia’s lists are comprised of 60 percent red and 40 percent white offerings. More liked “Greek white wines before the reds, which were too heavy on the oak and somewhat over-extracted,” Kouiri says. “Now, the reds are showing a better balance between oak, fruit, and acidity.”
Kouiri does not leave a wine on the menu for longer than six months, because he wants to showcase other wines and continue to build their list Also he wants to add more natural and organic wines to their wine lists.
Since their opening in 2017, Ousia has been recognized yearly by Wine Enthusiast Magazine as one of America’s 100 Best Wine Restaurants. We attended a tasting by Wine Enthusiast at Ousia and really enjoyed the food, wine, and atmosphere. Each year, the editors of Wine Enthusiast sip and sup their way around the country, seeking eateries that incorporate wine in thoughtful and exciting ways.
If a customer really enjoys Sancerre, then he would recommend a 2018 GAI’A Thalassitis Assyrtiko from Santorini with flavors of fruit and honey. This is perfect with seafood, fatty fish, as well as poultry and even lamb stewed in lemon sauce.
For those who really enjoy Burgundy, a 2018 Hedgehog by Alpha estate Xinomavro from the Amyndeon appellation in Florina. There is a bright purple-red color with small berries, red fruits, leather and spices (vanilla, pepper, clove), with hints of ripe blackberry. This is perfect with juicy red barbecued meats, spicy sausages, red baked peppers in olive oil, stew rabbit, and light, spicy, or full body cheeses.
One does not usually find orange wine. They have various natural orange wine like Assyrtiko, Domaine Ligas, Pella, 2016. Also, there are Greek and Rose Sparkling wines like Assyrtiko, Brut, Méthode Champenoise, Santorini, NV, or Akakies, Rose, Ktima Kir-Yianni, Amyndeon, 2018.
They also have wide array of beers on draft or bottled. One would enjoy Greek beers like Fix Hellas, a Greek Lager, or 56 Isles, a Pilsner from Paros, Greece.
There are delicious desserts to finish the fine food like Halva Mousse with Almonds, Honey, and Shredded Halva, or Chocolate Torte with Mascarpone, Pistachio, and Peach. One can have an array with the three Donut Pikilia: a Housemade sampler of Halva Mousse with hazelnut chocolate, Mastiha Yogurt Mousse with pistachio glaze, and Spiced Apple. Many like tres leche and baklava desserts but one can have it together with their tres leches baklava.
Halva Mousse doughnut is inspired by the Greek stuffed croissant, which Kouiri says is found in the bakeries of Crete. The Halva Mousse includes tahini, which has a strong roasted-nut flavor, mellowed out by the honey. The Mastiha Yogurt Mousse version features Greek yogurt and mastiha, a resinous spice with undertones of pine that can only be found on the Greek island of Chio. The Spiced Apple doughnut features apple compote spiced with star anise and cinnamon.
There are Greek spirits to enjoy like Ouzo, an anise-flavored aperitif best enjoyed on the rocks or Tsipouro, distilled from grape marc. Also, they have a liquor tasting flight where one can try three for $14 like Mastiha, Rakomelo, Ditkama, and others.
There is a happy hour with beer, white and rosé wine, and snacks.
Chef Vasiliki Vourliotaki has worked alongside acclaimed chefs in Greece, Germany, France, Monaco, and the United States, including Michelin-starred chefs Alfons Schubeck of Munich, Hélène Darroze of Paris, and Ben Pollinger of New York City’s Oceana. She won the 2020 Ambassador for Greek Gastronomy from Greek Taste Beyond Borders.
Also, there is a Corporate Chef at Ousia, Carlos Carreto, who has been with Livanos Group since 1997. The success of the various restaurants of the Livanos Group is due to their passion about food, hospitality, and other aspects.
John Livanos purchased his first restaurant in 1960, and later opened the elegant Livanos Restaurant in White Plains, N.Y., in 1985.
The Livanos family from Armonk was on an episode of ABC’s “Family Food Fight.” They were over 100 New York families that tried out and they were the only ones picked from New York. The new cooking/challenge competition series pits eight families against each other as they whip up family recipes from their respective backgrounds for the ultimate $100,000 grand prize — all while being judged by Cat Cora (“Iron Chef”), Ayesha Curry and Graham Elliott (“Top Chef”).
When Nick Livanos decided to visit the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. he got hooked and later enrolled. Today, Nick oversees the business of all Livanos restaurants.
Bill Livanos helped his father at the diner they owned in West Hempstead, N.Y., and then the Arch Diner in Brooklyn. Bill worked for several national restaurant chains before returning to the family business to develop the wine program at Livanos Restaurant and eventually participating in the beverage programs for all of the family’s restaurants.
Johnny Livanos and Enrico Livanos, sons of Nick Livanos, still are in business being third generation of restaurateurs as managers. Johnny graduated from Cornell University and the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone Campus in St. Helena, California, and Enrico from Syracuse University and the Culinary Institute of America.
More about the restaurant and their fine food and drink can be found at www.ousianyc.com.
