Filos on Main Street

Filos Greek Taverna opened its doors less than six months ago, but from the way the owner welcomes you, you might just as well have been coming for years. Konstantinos Sierros is at the center of his family-owned restaurant – taking orders, sending a stream or rapid-fire Greek into the kitchen, giving the college tour hopping mother and daughter suggestions on what to do in Northampton, and calling home once business slows down for the night, to make sure that his children are doing their homework. It is a comfortable, laid-back place, with plenty of small table seating for both lunch and dinner.

The brightly painted stucco walls, blue ceiling beams, and whitewashed, tiled floor evoke a kind of Aegean sunbaked town charm. A long glass display case separates restaurant from kitchen, promising fresh vegetables, sauces, and baked goods. The register, where you place your order is nestled next to a display of generous baklava slices, waiting to be added on in a moment of weakness.

Aside from traditional Greek gyros, souvlaki, and moussaka, Filos offers a vast array of pizzas and a unique selection of French fries. The circular oven in the back is a Greek original with lava stone surfaces that will cook a pizza in no time, as the owner will happily tell anyone who considers ordering a slice. New vegetarian dishes are posted above the register and a vegan entrée is already listed on the menu.

I decide on the tzatziki appetizer, Athenian truffle fries, and loukoumades for dessert. My order total was $17, an incredible price for what I received, though maybe higher than what an average college student would pay for a dinner. Once I have chosen my place at one of the small, marble topped tables, the service is prompt and before I know it, my dinner is smiling up at me.

The tzatziki is topped with olives and a drizzle of olive oil. It is smooth, pillowy, tangy, with a spike of garlic. Freshly made pita serves as the perfect vessel for this dip. There is something deeply satisfying about a mouthful of cool creaminess enveloped by a warm bread blanket.

The Athenian truffle French fries are a little mountain dusted generously with parmesan and chopped parsley, served with a dollop of tzatziki. Here the dip is less assertive than in the appetizer, playing backup singer rather than performing center stage. The fries are juicy without being oily and have an earthy quality, doubtlessly due to the truffle oil drizzle. Working in tandem, the grated cheese and chopped greens add depth, brightness, and smoothness to the dish. These are certainly not your ordinary fries.

In closing the meal, dessert could easily serve three. The bowl of loukoumades, whisked out of the fryer just moments before, appears nearly daunting with a flat wooden fork already planted in the center. Akin to the doughnut hole or the beignet, these cushions of slightly salty yeast-leavened deep fried dough are dripping with honey-maple syrup and topped off with a sprinkling of chopped walnuts. The sweet and salty contrast is surprising and keeps the taste buds begging to experience this happy marriage just one more time for the next couple bites until half the bowl is empty and the thought of another meal can be postponed for the next two days. Thank goodness for carryout containers.