Yia Yia’s Greek Kitchen thriving

TORRINGTON — Diners looking for good food and an escape from January’s cold and windy weather have found respite at Yia Yia’s.

Yia Yia’s Greek Kitchen sits in a small plaza at 1057 E. Main St. Chef Kaitlyn Gogo, her husband, Yanni, and a small support staff spend their days making the food Yanni grew up with, made by his grandmother, the restaurant’s namesake, Yia Yia Gogo. The couple opened the restaurant in 2019, and the response to their food was immediate and positive.

“We’ve been lucky — we’ve gotten very positive reviews on Facebook, Google, Yelp ... and we had our first Trip Adviser review from a New Yorker, who called us a ‘bright light in a culinary wasteland,’” Kaitlyn Gogo said. “That was a nice surprise.”

Customers hail from Torrington as well as Washington Depot, Go

shen, Litchfield and Granby. “It’s been a lot of word of mouth,” Gogo said. “We’re doing a lot better than we expected.”

The menu at Yia Yia’s is seasonal, and offers a wide variety of foods enjoyed by the Gogo family in Greece. A selection of dips: tzatziki, with yogurt, garlic, goat’s milk and cucumber; tirokafteri, with whipped feta cheese, spicy peppers, dill and yogurt; a warm santorini fava with yellow split peas, capers and red onion; and a kalamata olive spread with capers and olive oil are accompanied by a full selection of appetizers both hot and cold, including hummus, falafel, beets and yogurt, Greek salad, a marouli salad with lettuce, scallions, dill and lemon vinaigrette, and a cabbage salad, lahanosalata, with feta, carrots and lemon.

Customers can add pork, grilled shrimp or chicken to any of the dishes. The appetizers continue with kalamarkia, or fried squid in tomato sauce; stuffed grape leaves; the traditional spanakopita, a phyllo pie with spinach and feta cheese; saganaki, or broiled kasseri cheese; crostini with olive spread, tomatoes, feta and balsamic glaze. Their souvlaki kalamaki is skewers of falafel, chicken or pork with tomato, onion and lettuce, pita bread and fries.

The dinner entrees include kotsi, or braised lamb shank; an Athenian-style shrimp pasta with fettucine, scallions and cherry tomatoes in a homemade tomato sauce; moussaka; and Kaitlyn Gogo’s favorite, giouvetsi, which features braised chicken drumsticks, orzo pasta, homemade sauce and feta cheese.

Whatever she’s cooking, Gogo makes it from scratch every day. “I can’t serve anything if it sits for a day, it has to be fresh,” she said with a smile. “Greek food is like that — it’s best if you eat it right away. And people love our food.”

With a seasonal menu with four entrees, she sometimes runs out of an item, which disappoints her customers, she said. “We run out and people get upset, but that’s what happens sometimes,” she said. “That’s the way it is with fresh food.”

Yanni Gogo agreed, explaining that they purchase food imported directly from Greece. “We have a provider here in Connecticut, and they get us the feta cheese, the yogurt, the olives, the grape leaves to make our stuffed grape leaves, the olive oil ... it has to be from there,” he said. “It’s the flavor we are used to, and if we use something from somewhere else, we know the differenece. It has to be from Greece.”

He said the food his grandmother prepared in the restaurant is the same food he ate as a child. “We want it to be as authentic as possible,” he said. “We want people to have that experience of the food, the flavor, the culture that comes with it. And it’s always prepared with love.”

The couple met in Astoria, N.Y., while they were working in a restaurant, and “fell in love, married, had a child and relocated to Torrington,” in that order, Kaitlyn Gogo said. Their daughter, Keira, is now 4 years old.

Both previously worked in restaurants, but wanted to do something on their own. Yanni first worked as a general manager at a local eatery, and their first business venture together was operating the Lakeridge Cafe in the private Lakeridge community in the city.

After building a reputation for serving their homemade food at the cafe, the couple decided to open their own restaurant and planned to do so in or near New York City, closer to friends and family. But when Yia Yia Gogo was diagnosed with cancer, life changed, and they turned their attention to caring for her. Most of their savings for their own restaurant was used for her medical bills. She recovered, but the planned move back to New York City was on the back burner. Undaunted, the Gogos opened the Greek restaurant in 2019.

The response to the small restaurant was immediate and positive. On Yia Yia’s Facebook page, one diner wrote, “How fortunate we were to visit Yia Yia’s right after it opened and discovered a menu with authentic Greek dishes (Yia Yia’s recipes) beautifully and deliciously executed. The ambiance is cozy but not cramped. The servers (and, of course, Yanni) are attentive and accommodating.”

Another person wrote, “Very clean. Food was very fresh and delicious. It was like stepping into summer in the middle of a snowy rainy day. Had the beet dip and the lemon chicken soup. Delicious.”

The ambiance of the place is also attractive, with a stone floor, white tables and chairs, a cozy, fullservice bar, and turquioise-colored trim and bright silk flowers.

For now, Yia Yia Gogo is taking a hiatus from the kitchen while she visits family in Greece. “Lots of people, when they come in, ask, ‘How’s Yia Yia?’” Kaitlyn Gogo said. “They miss her. She’s such a big part of everything here.”

During a recent visit, author and WVOX and WVIP president of Whitney Global Media William O’Shaughnessy was enjoying a meal. “My favorite thing is the feel of the place, and the food, of course,” he said. He was dining with Kevin Elliott, radio station manager.

“He has his favorite table,” Kaitlyn Gogo said. “He loves eating here.”

“We want people to experience the best tasting food and leave with an impression, and they do,” Yanni said.

Yia Yia's does not take reservations. It is open Wednesday through Monday, and is closed on Tuesdays. For information, visit www.yiayias.net.

Emily M. Olson / Hearst Connecticut Media Yia Yia’s Greek Kitchen owners Yanni Gogo, his wife and chef Kaitlyn Gogo and their daughter, Kiera. The restaurant, which opened in 2019, serves simple Greek food using Yanni’s grandmother Yia Yia’s recipes.

Contributed photo Yia Yia’s Greek Kitchen in Torrington serves homemade food with a seasonal menu that could include fresh fish or a gyro.

Emily M. Olson / Hearst Connecticut Media Yia Yia’s Greek Kitchen opened in 2019, serving simple Greek food using Yanni’s grandmother Yia Yia's recipes.