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A family-run eatery at the Shore runs on the rule of plenty

by Marisa Procopio • Photos by Tina Colella

An icy night is usually grounds to stay home, burrow under a fleece blanket, and order in. Unless you live in Long Branch, apparently, because it seemed every resident in the borough was at Niko’s last Sunday. Laughing, nibbling, and otherwise din-making, it was a raucous kind of happiness: imagine Easter dinner at Grandma Louise’s, with the whole family crammed in one room and tucking in to a homemade meal.

“Simple, good food,” said Jay Keating, co-owner of Niko’s Trapezi Greek Taverna with wife Georgia and brother-inlaw Nick (that would be Niko, also head chef and baker) Katsilianos. The restaurant opened six years ago. “With the tavern style of Greek restaurants, it’s informal, it’s friendly.”

Trapezi means “table” in Greek, and it’s the celebratory vibe around the table that’s in focus here. Greeks embody a “joy of life, and an understanding what it is to have and not have. They’re festive and welcoming by nature. No one’s going to leave hungry,” laughed Keating.

The Revitho pita sandwich is hot and tender, and soothes a starving appetite like only grandma food can. Crisp, browned discs of coarsely chopped chickpeas are powerfully garlic-pungent, but the pita they’re wrapped in is kind of a soft, pully, warm, house made miracle. The dry supermarket pita sold in plastic, comparatively, might as well be poor relations from Altoona.

Is everything made in house? “Yep. Right down to the cookies,” said Keating. “Mostly family recipes from my wife and mother-in-law. We have a fish source that Nick has been dealing with for 30 years.” And when it comes to fresh produce, Niko’s sources locally whenever possible. “We use a lot of stuff from New Jersey when it’s in season.”

Keating said one of the biggest challenges is patrons who are skittish about trying something new.

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“People come in and say ‘I don’t like Greek food.’ ‘Well, have you ever had Greek food?’ ‘No.’ I’m like, ‘It’s grilled lamb chops (paidakia). You’ve had that!’”

And about those cookies. One, koulourakia, is more on the savory side, twisted and topped with sesame seeds. Another, lourambiedes, are powdered sugared, delicate rounds containing lovely tiny bits of almond. The last, melomakarona, are cinnamon-walnut ovals, and extraordinary—heavy, which sounds like a criticism, but when a cookie’s weight is due to its saturation in honey, exactly who cares?

“Our cheesecakes are also pretty legendary,” confided Keating. “Not heavy like New York’s and not like Italian. It’s like cream. Light, creamy, delicious, rich,” and variations of it appear on the menu “upon Nick’s whim.”

Dawn Gaylardo, a patron from Atlantic Highlands who enjoyed a chocolate version, agreed. “One of the most delicious desserts I’ve ever tasted. The flavor, texture, and density was just perfect,” she said. When asked for the ingredients, Keating gives a sly sideways glance. Evidently they are classified.

The best part of all this? Keating doesn’t hesitate: “Giving people good food at a good price, and having them walk up and thank you for a good meal and a good experience. Compliments on the whole package.”

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Niko’s Trapezi
444 Ocean Blvd., Long Branch
732.222.4600 / nikostrapezi.com