On a less busy section of Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, Queens, stands Loukoumi Taverna, a family-run Greek restaurant dedicated to quality and authenticity. Founded by Kostas Avlonitis, the restaurant has since been passed on to his son Spiro Avlonitis, who maintains the same values as his father. The restaurant’s name originates from loukoumi, Greek for “Turkish delight”, but more important used as an informal expression for “exceptional”. Kostas and Spiro both aim to serve exceptional Greek food to customers, drawing from traditional Greek recipes.
Kostas, a hard-working and dedicated a Greek native, learned some cooking from his mother but mostly enhanced his skills through work. At 16 years old he worked on cruise ships and learned how to cook a variety of food, most important Greek food. He took this knowledge to the United States, and in 1976, at the age of 25, opened his first restaurant. Kostas credits himself with founding one of the first authentic Greek restaurants in New York City at a time when Greek food was limited to dinners and lower-quality gyro eateries. Over a span of 40 years, he has founded seven restaurants, each serving Greek food based on the basic recipes he enjoyed as a child.
“Everyone has to do their own thing. You shouldn’t copy; you should be original.” Kostas Avlonitis
Spiro, though hardworking and dedicated, appears more energetic and lively than his father. He was born in Astoria and raised Greek, but ultimately became a Greek-American instead of a “Greek”. In his childhood he sometimes visited Greece and ultimately ate the same sort of food at home that his father cooked in restaurants. Initially wanting to study graphic design or art, he ended up learning the family business because it was lucrative and he really enjoyed the food. In contrast to his dad, Spiro leaves most of the cooking to the chefs but will manage supplies, finances, and other logistics when necessary. He has adapted the restaurant to modern times by opening a restaurant because “traditional media [i.e. newspaper ads] are too expensive and younger people mostly use the Internet anyway.”
Kostas places great importance on the taste of food and follows this belief in every aspect of his restaurant. Food is obtained as locally or as fresh as possible: the fish used is caught in Greenpoint and Montauk, the tomatoes are organic, and the oregano is grown in Greece. “Other businesses are okay buying large packages of herbs,” Spiro says. “A guy actually gets paid to individually pick oregano for us.” The one exception is octopus, for practical reasons. In taking the basics of Greek food and adding flavor to it, Kostas believes, “Everyone has to do their own thing. You shouldn’t copy; you should be original.” The food the restaurant produces is Spiro’s favorite, but not only because he grew up eating it. “Other restaurants end up making complex food and end up changing menus every five years because it gets old. Our food is simple and good, which is what really matters.” Customers often tell him the food reminds them of their childhood and their parents’ cooking. In fact, he says, the food is considered by native Greeks to be better than food in restaurants in Greece.
“Other restaurants end up making complex food and end up changing menus every five years because it gets old. Our food is simple and good, which is what really matters.” Spiro Avlonitis
In spite of the quality of their food, the Avlonitises are very humble men. To them, the restaurant is all about the food instead of the chef. Kostas notes, “Who am I? I’m nobody. What matters is that we serve good food that isn’t fake.” Spiro shares the humility, except for his pride for the octopus (which is fantastic!). He intends to raise his kids with the emphasis on quality that he got from his father. He also hopes that one of them will take up the family business. “Restaurants can last for many years,” he says. “As long as one keeps the standards, there’s no reason to change. Why wouldn’t you take up an already successful business?” As an Americanized Greek-American, he intends to raise his children very Greek. “I think it’s important for people to know where they come from, what’s behind them,” he says. In doing so, Spiro will pass on the values and love of food his father Kostas grew up with in Greece.
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