Restaurant Spotlight
Posted by estiator at 14 December, at 15 : 54 PM Print
Ouzo Bay
1000 Lancaster Street Baltimore, Maryland | ouzobay.com
With its stunning location at Baltimore’s Harbor East, this flagship restaurant by Alex Smith and his Atlas Restaurant Group is at the forefront of the city’s renaissance, offering a modern elegance and an impressive menu of rustic and gastro Greek cuisine.
Perched at the edge of the water on Chesapeake Bay, the restaurant is a paean to its owner’s Greek roots—his grandfather, John Paterakis (Baltimore real estate developer and founder of H&S Bakery) is from Chios, and his grandmother from Samos. Decked in blue light, the space, with its marble, wood, and stone accents, transports diners to the Aegean. In the summer, retractable windows and doors open up to the water, giving the space an open-air aura that consumes the ocean’s breeze and creates a Mediterranean atmosphere. The eatery’s bar, at the core of the space, sets the high-energy vibe for the restaurant that is at once fresh, modern, elegant, and stylish. On the culinary side, that theme continues, with fresh fish sourced daily from throughout the world: dorado, bronzino, Dover sole, turbot, and three types of prawns. Its scratch kitchen produces everything in-house, including traditional rustic dishes such as spanakopita and moussaka. On the gastro side, the Ouzo Bay kitchen produces a pastitsio wrapped in a spring roll and dressed with a harissa honey, as well as waygu-wrapped grape leaves in pistachio pesto.
The beverage program, overseen by Alex’s younger brother and partner, Eric, boasts 400 spirits, the largest ouzo selection in the country (20), 400 wine labels (with a significant Greek representation), and a stunning handcrafted-cocktail program inspired by Greek spirits and flavor elements. Its sister restaurant, Ouzo Bay Houston, opened three months ago, has the largest Greek wine list in the country.
After starting his hospitality career with a Häagen-Dazs franchise while still in college, Alex opened Baltimore’s Harbor East Deli, “really more of a diner,” he says. After that initial success, he turned his attention to Greek cuisine, which featured large in his upbringing.
“My yiayia was a great cook,” says Alex, adding that everything in her kitchen was homemade. “When we first opened the restaurant,” he jokes, “she was sending me recipes because she thought her avgolemono was the best.”
Every year, Alex returns to Greece and visits the country’s best restaurants, watching the trends there and bringing back ideas.
Opened eight years ago, Ouzo Bay continues to grow, posting its most successful year ever, an atypical feat for a mature (by upscale restaurant standards) business. And on its shoulders Alex and Eric have built a hospitality empire of 18 restaurants in locations such as Baltimore, Boca Raton, and Houston. In addition to Ouzo Bay in Baltimore and Houston, those properties include Ouzo Beach, positioned 100 feet across from the flagship. Sitting directly on the harbor, this seasonal “Greek beach bar” sports a menu of small plates and cocktails. Other concepts under the Atlas Group umbrella include Azumi (fine dining Japanese), Loch Bar (upscale seafood), The Elk Room (named one of the nation’s top 20 bars by Esquire), Italian Disco, Bygone (a rooftop 1920s-style American grill), Tagliata (an Italian chophouse recognized by Wine Spectator as having one of the top 100 wine programs in the country), Choptank (a crabhouse), The Lollipop (a members-only cigar bar), and Harbor East Delicatessen & Pizzeria.
