Lamb Shank Ravioli

by Celia Sin-Tien Cheng
December 18, 2008

THALASSA
179 Franklin Street
(Greenwich and Hudson Sts)
New York, NY 10013
212-941-7661

Dinner at Thalassa was a thoroughly enjoyable affair, which must explain why I overate. Opened in 2002, Thalassa, Greek for “the sea,” offers high quality Greek cuisine with a focus on seafood. With its expansive nautically themed three-story space in a historic Tribeca building, it’s a popular locale for both corporate and celebrity parties.

In a restaurant that seats up to 310, I was wary that, for the size, they may sacrifice quality of service and consistency of cuisine. However, my suspicions were invalidated by attentive, professional service and a superb feast.

Owned by the Makris family, who also owns Fantis foods, a century-old Greek food import company, Thalassa’s freshness and quality come straight from the source. The restaurant also has an impressively large portfolio of over 12,000 bottles of wine. The lower-level dining room is a temperature-controlled wine room featuring a wine rack that spans the entire room, a good space for private parties or special events.

Along with a glass of 2006 Tsantali “Chromitsa” Assyrtiko-Chardonnay, my sister and I started with their signature dish: Maine diver scallops wrapped in kataifi with sheep’s milk butter and Kalamata balsamic reduction (photo below). I generally shy away from cooked scallops, but these were surprisingly stellar. The delicate kataifi — thin shreds of phyllo dough — added a soft crispy texture to contrast the smooth mollusk. I’m always a sucker for sauces; still Chef Ralpheal Abrahante is working some kind of magic here. Sheep’s milk butter tends to be rather pungent, but he has added undisclosed ingredients to temper it so there’s no malodor, just the aroma of citrus and herbs and the olive balsamic reduction for a touch of sweetness.

And while I didn’t think anything could outshine the scallops, the lamb shank ravioli blew us away. These raviolis are not flat little pockets but rather large beautifully folded triangular dumplings, filled with shredded lamb meat — the same meat from the main course slowly braised in a St. George (Agiorgitiko) wine sauce. The ravioli is also served in a Agiorgitiko — indigenous grape varietal from the Nemea region — wine sauce, and while it sounds like a heavy dish, the flavors are so subtle, the shredded meat so juicy and tender, and the pasta dough adds just the right weight to hold it all together without being overbearing.

The rest of the meal was a blur since the lamb shank ravioli stole the show. That is not to say that I did not enjoy the fish that was our main course, but by that point, I had chosen my favorite and was completely satisfied. So while Thalassa is famous for the seafood, they should also be given credit for their superb preparation of meat.

I didn’t need dessert but the toasted Greek almond and walnut baklava was unlike other baklavas as it was, to my delight, the nuttiest I’d ever tasted. The earthiness of the nuts complemented a nice cup of coffee for an end to a jovial meal.

Also in Greek, Lamb, Pasta, Ravioli, Tribeca