Though their current political situation may be shaky, Greece will always be known as the birthplace of democracy and the heart of the Mediterranean Diet. That is why it is so wonderful to have a restaurant that offers both in such delicious abundance.
Down at the end of Needham Street, just off Route 9 in Newton, Farm Grill & Rotisserie (www.farm-grill.com) offers fresh and flavorful family recipes that are still prepared and served by the family! For nearly 20 years, the Grill has been a beacon for the Hellenistic community (one that was expanded upon a few years ago with the opening of the Greek International Food Market in West Roxbury, but more on that later) and a favorite spot for families and all those who appreciate fine ethnic food…and lots of it!
Stepping into the door, you leave the hectic traffic of Needham Street behind and enter a charmingly clean and inviting piece of Greece. From the columns that lead the eye upwards from the marble and tile floors and walls to the glass atrium ceiling surrounded by murals of the original Olympians to artwork inspired by the islands from which the founding Iliades family first came and from which most of their recipes and ingredients still come, the Grill offers plenty of things to see (including one flat screen and large windows looking out onto the bustling boulevard) and plenty of places to meet, eat, and enjoy with old friends or those you make while there. From Greek salad to baklava, the Grill menu offers a Parthenon-full of options and, no matter what you elect to try, a meal at the Grill is a feast of flavors, textures, and aromas, all of which are offered in ample portions. The salad list includes traditional Greek and Mediterranean, as well as a not-so-garden variety garden salad and a tasty tuna type as well. Most of the greens can be topped with chicken, shrimp, lamb, or beef to add flavor and protein to the mix. Speaking of mixing, the popular appetizer combo platters allow guests to combined three or four choices from a long list of stupendous starters that includes sautéed lima beans, marinated mushrooms, homemade homus and tzatziki dips, grape leaves, eggplant salad, and even octopus or calamari. The Grill also offers a super chicken lemon soup and a du jour option that is perfect any day of the week. On top of their famed kabobs and gyros, the Grill’s grill cooks up lamb chops, a 12 0z Angus steak, and barbecued ribs by the plate or the pound. And no rotisserie would be complete without succulent chickens, which are available whole, divided in half or by the darkness of the meat. While the apps are appetizing, no meal at the Grill is complete without at least one of their super sides, which include roasted herbed potatoes, marinated zucchini, string bean sautee, or a butternut squash puree that could double as dessert (if the desserts were not so amazing…see below).
In addition to the large menu of freshly-prepared and beautifully-displayed items, each of which may lead you to salivate on the gleaming glass display cases, the Grill also offers curated cases of Greek wines, as well as Greek, Israeli, and American beers, sodas, juices, nectars, mineral waters, and an old reliable self-service soda fountain and coffee carafe. Taking some tasty tips from the Market, the Grill also offers bottles of their famed Greek salad dressing (of which they make over 45 gallons a week!) and tubs of Greek yogurt, rice pudding, and fresh Feta cheese. Topping most of the cases are house-baked pastries, including macaroons, heavenly holiday cookies known as melomakkarona, buttery koulorakia and sweet kataifi. And while these are all perfect to bring to friends’ homes or to take back to yours when you find yourself too happily stuffed to enjoy them at the restaurant, chances are they will not make it all the way to their dessert destination- they are just that good!
For those who want to bring more of the Grill’s family flavors home, the award-winning market in West Roxbury (http://greekintlmarket.com) offers an entire pantry-full of pleasures- from an olive bar to a wine rack with over 150 options to baby food and baking items to pastas and pastries to coffee and care packages for your most homesick Hellenist. The website even offers authentic recipes with which to create your own homemade Greek meals. And while a visit to the Market will make anyone feel at home, all items are available online as well and many are at the Grill on a regular basis.
For those who want the full Greek experience at home but do not have the Iliades’ generations of experience, both the Grill and the Market offer catering. For those who cannot help but come back again and again (consider yourself invited), the Grill also offers its own loyalty program, in which participants get $20 in food for every $100 they spend. Considering how reasonable the prices are to begin with, it is a difficult deal to beat. But that does not mean the Iliades will not try!
To celebrate their first score, the Grill will bring back the original menu and the original prices for one day on February 26, 2016. Ad while a $5 gyro may take some back, the prices have not grown all that much in the past two decades, even as the menu has. In addition to such savory and satisfying staples as beef, lamb, and chicken kabobs, freshly-trimmed gyros, moussakka (potatoes and eggplant with ground beef and béchamel sauce), and stuffed grape leaves, the Grill also offers such hearty favorites as pastitzio (thick macaroni with ground beef and béchamel sauce) and coukaniko (Greek sausage) and also such healthy trends as kale salad, avocado-based “Greek-amole,” spicy Feta spread, salmon kabobs and other fresh fish specials. Speaking of specials, while about 80 percent of the menu remains constant day and night, that 20 percent leaves the family plenty of room to introduce new family favorites that will surely become your family’s favorites too!
Whether you drop in, drop by or order delivery, a meal from Farm Grill will surely satisfy and encourage you to return to Greece (or at least the Newton section of it) again and again.
Opa!