Mourayo

The new-fashioned Greek restaurant opened a few years ago at Dupont Circle and has doubled in size since my last visit there. I've been wanting to get back and a business dinner presented the perfect opportunity. It turned out to be ideal -- the charming mahogany decor was warm and welcoming on our first snowy day. Mourayo means "safe harbor" and the decor, they say, is inspired by the inside of a Greek yacht. The weather kept the Restaurant Week crowd at bay so that the place, which is probably not too noisy even when busy, was quiet for a conversation, even though a birthday party of 9 or 10 came into our corner midway through.

The food was great. I remembered they imported their own Greek olive oil and was eager to taste it again after learning so much from Extra Virginity. It had that bitterness, fruitiness and peppery taste a really good oil is supposed to have. I had one of the three ouzos they import (no flights this time!) and we had a bottle of Santorini white (it might have been the Sigalas, I didn't order it) with the meal.

My starter was grilled octopus and it was plenty fresh, sitting nicely in an inky sauce and accompanied with humus. I also took the opportunity since we weren't in a hurry to get the whole fish baked in salt. It was branzino and it was delicious. The waiter expertly broke open the crust and filleted it at the table, so it was warm and moist and flavorful (I drizzled some of that olive oil over it). I had some nicely roasted potatoes (hot!) and fresh cooked spinach as sides. My companion ordered the duck moussaka and raved about it.

To finish, we split their jarred feta with what was supposed to be honey, though it tasted more like jam to me. It was a nice way to round out the meal but nothing special. They actually were able to muster up a decent Greek coffee and we tried the mastic liqueur from Chios as a digestif (a little too sweet and masticky for my taste -- I'd try their "marc" after dinner drinks next time).