City has new hot spot for ‘Greek eats’
Opposite Cass Park, couple opens Neos Greek Restaurant
“I walked in and there was a glue smell that was just like the kind my grandfather used on shoes when he used to repair them at his shoe store in the 1970s. That was a sign from him to me to purchase the property.”
—Sophia Potsidis Islam, on buying the property that now houses her restaurant
WOONSOCKET — When Sophia Potsidis Islam and her husband, Rabi, began searching for a new location to open their fifth restaurant, the former Ayotte Printing building at 480 Cass Ave. made good business sense.
There wasn’t any competition for an authentic Greek restaurant in the area – unlike Greater Boston, where the residents of Sharon, Mass., operate all their other restaurants. Theirs would be the only one in town.
But there was another kind of sense that prompted Sophia to make an offer on the building – the sixth sense. As she entered the building for the first time in early
2017 she had an eerie sensation that her long-deceased grandfather was peering
over her shoulder urging her to buy the old print shop opposite Cass Park.
“I walked in and there was a glue smell that was just like the kind my grandfather used on shoes when he used to repair them at his shoe store in the 1970s,” she recalled. “That was a sign from him to me to purchase the property.”
It took nearly two years for the Islams to go from acquiring the property to opening Neos Greek Restaurant, on Feb. 19, but in just a few short days the new venue with Mediterranean atmospherics has already won repeat customers.
Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt rolled out the welcome mat for the Islams on Thursday, bringing an entourage of department heads, tourism officials, and at least one state lawmaker for a ceremonious ribbon-cutting at the new business.
“We are truly impressed with how beautiful your restaurant looks,” the mayor said. “I want you to know that whatever you need from any of us, we’re here to help you. So congratulations.”
The mayor said many city residents had heard a Greek restaurant was coming to the site where Ayotte Printing had been located for about 50 years, but it took longer than expected.
And for good reason. The Islams had a lot on their plate while they were remodeling the site and making other preparations to launch Neos.
“They’re entrepreneurs,” the mayor explained. They don’t just own this particular restaurant. They actually own four restaurants in Massachusetts.”
And Sophia says that at the very time she was working to open Neos, she was doing the same with another restaurant venture in Dedham, Mass. – one of the four she and her husband now run in the Greater Boston area.
Though Sophia is a first-generation Greek-Ameri- can who grew up eating Greek food at home, Neos – hard as it is to believe – is her first Greek restaurant. All four of her Massachusetts restaurants, including venues in Brookline, Belmont and Boston – are Mexican restaurants.
But Neos is also the restaurant she’s long dreamed of opening as a tribute to her heritage, says Sophia. Her grandfather, John Potsidis, emigrated to the U.S. from the Greek island of Kozani, arriving at Ellis Island in New York with his wife and three sons many years ago. One of those sons was her father, who – at the age of 26 – returned to Greece briefly to fetch himself a wife – Sophia’s mother.
As the contingent of city officials nibbled on chicken gyros with tzatziki sauce, stuffed grape leaves and spanakopita – Greek spinach pie – Sophia says, “These are the foods I grew up with.”
All of the featured dishes on the menu are the result of recipes handed down to her from her mother, she said. None of them was ever writ- ten down, but Sophia says homemade, authentic Greek food was so ingrained in the fabric of her upbringing that she remembers how to make them all from scratch.
She and Rabi, who is from Bangladesh, have been in the restaurant business for over a decade. Although they briefly experimented with a Greek-Indian fusion restaurant in Boston some 13 years ago, they quickly decided to move into another culinary travel lane – Mexican – and they stayed in it. But Greek never left her heart.
“It was always in the back of my mind,” says Sophia. “I’ve been in the restaurant business for 13 years and I just always wanted to get back to my roots.”
With two children, five and 10 years old, Rabi has recused himself from the kitchen in recent years to mind the homestead, while Sophia will handle the chores of head chef of Neos.
In addition to launching two restaurants simultaneously, she says another reason Neos took so long to come to fruition was that she was meticulous about having a hand in the design and décor. Working with her contractors, she transformed the old print shop into an airy, bright space that’s reminiscent of an authentic “taverna” on a Greek Island. There’s a wall mural depicting goddess-like figures in togas, white tables and bar, with shelves packing a wide assortment of wines and liquors imported from Greece.
The menu includes a fullrange of dishes, including Greek classics like avgolemano, or lemon-egg soup; moussaka, a casserole dish; pastitio, a kind of Greek baked lasagana; and paidakia – grilled lamb chops with olive oil, oregano and lemon.
“Everyone who’s coming in is amazed by the décor and the food and they just keep coming back,” says Sophia. “I’ve had one customer who came in four times in the 10 days I’ve been open. That tells you something. It’s good.”