Egg & Dart

2.5 stars for an Aegean oasis in the Design District

It’s clear that Egg & Dart’s owners, brothers-in-law Costa Grillas and Niko Theodorou, know a thing or two about restaurants. The business runs deep in their Greek blood. Grillas comes from Maria’s, a Coral Way institution, while Theodorou’s family runs a waterfront eatery in Mykonos. His mom, Vagia, helps out in the kitchen, too. Tall, dark and hospitable, both 32-year-olds were born to be hosts.

Ambience: Grillas & Theodorou have transformed the former Q barbecue space into a calming, whitewashed Aegean oasis. Fish paintings, pale blue lighting and green glass hanging lamps imbue it with a marine theme without tacky nets and buoys. (Also missing, as far as we could see, is the namesake egg and dart pattern, an ancient Greek motif of ovoids alternating with pointy leaves or arrows.) On busy weekends, the servers’ snap-to-it rhythm can seem a little caffeinated, and the decibel level rivals the Thessaloniki train station in summer.

What Worked

• Innovative cocktails including a Greek salad version of a Bloody Mary with cucumbers and olives
• A well chosen international wine list
• Warm, rustic bread that’s irresistible dipped in the peppery, green-tinged olive oil with capers and bits of sweet red pepper
• Velvety hummus with a touch too much raw garlicky bite
• A fresh & clean classic horiatiki salad, brightly dressed in an oregano-tinged vinaigrette with a slab of crumbly feta the size of a deck of cards is perched above crunchy crescents of red onion, bright red smiles of fresh tomato and divinely briny Kalamata olives
• The papoustakia (“little shoe”) - a small half eggplant stuffed with ground meat, tangy tomato sauce and béchamel (like moussaka but without the potato)
• Zucchini fritters with a cooling yogurt sauce
• Pinky-thin fried smelts in a gossamer-thin batter
• Cleanly executed baby mussels in a heady broth of white wine, dill, garlic and parsley
• A grilled whole fish of small, plump, happily charred yellowtail served with steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrot, a small carafe of piquant oil and lots of lemons
• Exquisite lamb chops — four thin-sliced, aggressively seasoned pops of juicy and tender meat served over spears of lemony potatoes
• A satisfying Galaktoboureko, an eggy custard pie topped with crispy phyllo
• Brandy-soaked chocolate cake with fresh cream, mint leaves and strawberries

What Didn't Work

A stiff & acidic paper-thin sheet of swordfish

A pair of salty, "grilled to death" beef and lamb sausages with a distinct flavor of orange zest

A funny & sweet server who insisted he didn’t need to write down our orders, then forgot our octopus

Cold, watery and unsweetened Greek coffee

Egg & Dart's whole grilled fish, photo by Michael Pisarri