505 Columbus AVE (btw 84th & 85th)
New York, NY 10024
212-873-0200
Rating: Very Addictive
Cuisine: Greek (Nouveau)
Entree Price: $10-$17
Meals: Open every day for dinner. Tues-Sat lunch is noon-3PM. Sun brunch is 11AM-3PM.
Most addictive dish: the meatballs (really)
Review
If you’ve ever been to a packed Pearl Jam concert, taken a stage dive, and done your fair share of crowd surfing, then you don’t have to avoid the peak dining hours at Kefi. For the rest of you: go early.
In life, following the masses doesn’t always work out, but these mobs knows what they’re doing. They huddle together waiting for their table, chomping at the bit for the grilled meats, the octopus and the meatballs. I’ve always liked Greek food, but Kefi converted me to a Greek food addict. The meatballs alone are worth the trip – it was a spiritual experience with those things. I wanted to create a new religion devoted to them…yeah, they’re that good. Another critic even voted them best in the city. Also great are the sheep's milk ravioli with brown butter and sage (even though I feel like they’re ripping off the Spotted Pig) and any special made with rabbit.
The even-flowing throngs of people forced the owners to move to a larger space in 2008, which has helped. The new space seats 200 and is broken up into several smaller dining areas, which makes the experience more intimate. They say it “evokes the feeling of a palatial Greek hideaway.” I wouldn’t go that far, but it is smooth and comfortable (even if the crowds still bunch in shoulder to shoulder during peak hours). It’s a cool space with textured weathered beams, white stucco walls, and plenty of blue and white color combos (the national colors of Greece).
The word Kefi means “the bliss that accompanies the bacchanalia (a festival of drunken revelry).” I’m not sure I would describe the experience as that hedonistic, but it certainly qualifies as addictive.