summer specials
REFLECT TRUE MEDITERRANEAN FLAVORS
ACROPOLIS
2213 Hamilton Place Blvd. OPEN: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday
CALL: 423-899-5341
The Mediterranean diet is defined by fresh vegetables, olive oil and healthy proteins such as fish. It is light and refreshing — like a salad, only without lettuce.
“In Greece, there’s no lettuce,” said Nick Kyriakidis, who co-owns Acropolis Mediterranean Grill with his family. “Too arid.”
At Acropolis, however, there is lettuce, which is featured in fresh recipes such as the restaurant’s Southern pecan salad, made with mixed greens, Gorgonzola cheese, dried cranberries and sugar pecans, tossed with pecan balsamic vinaigrette — with the option to add chicken, gyro meat or succulent grilled Scottish salmon.
But there are also plenty of authentic dishes that reflect the true flavors of the Old World.
New to Acropolis’ list of summer specials is the “country salad,” traditionally known as the horiatiki salad.
“The feature of the dish is tomatoes,” said Nick. “When I think of summer, I think of tomatoes.”
Other ingredients include cucumber, red onions, olive oil, feta cheese and oregano.
Also on special this season, highlighting Greece’s fondness for healthy proteins, is the decadent shellfish risotto entree. The plate includes diver scallops, gulf shrimp, lump blue crab, Parmesan risotto and grilled asparagus, and is finished with basil pesto and balsamic reduction.
Indeed, there are a number of ways to experience all the lightness of the Mediterranean diet this summer without ever leaving the city.