Street: You’re from Cyprus and you bill Kanella as a Greek Cypriot restaurant. What are the differences between mainland Greek and Greek Cypriot food? Konstantinos Pitsillides: Cypriot cuisine is much more aromatic. There’s a heavy use of flavorful spices and herbs like cumin and coriander. Our food is also influenced by other Mediterranean cultures—French, Italian, Turkish, Middle Eastern. Everyone that conquered us or had a presence on Cyprus added to Cypriot cuisine. This sausage I’m wrapping in filo dough right now, it’s a lamb merguez sausage. Very North African.

 

Street: Are these sausages made in house? KS: Yes, everything we serve out there is made from scratch. It’s important to have full control over everything going into the dishes we make. Like the lamb for the merguez sausages, we usually order the full animal. That gives us a lot more control. It also lets us get creative using the parts and pieces of the animal that aren’t usually featured on a menu.

 

Street: Fried lamb tongue seems to have gained a foothold on your menu, are there any other parts you like to incorporate? KS: I grew up using all parts of the animal, and we do the same thing here. My grandma used to give me as a snack boiled calf’s brain spread on toast. Tomorrow we’re having a special that I’m excited for, ox heart soup. We have some fresh, high quality hearts and I think they’ll turn out well. The hearts can be very flavorful, but they’re tricky to get right. And they’re also very big.

 

Street: Do you usually try to source other ingredients, like produce, locally? KS: Yes, as much as possible. Keeping the menu seasonal helps a lot because there’s usually a great local selection of quality produce. All our meats and poultry are also sourced from free range farms that raise the animals naturally, without the antibiotics and all that. Things like spices are harder to source locally but can still be found very fresh. The smaller Indian stores and spice shops in Center City are especially good places to find quality spices.

 

Street: Are there also some similarities between Cypriot and South Asian cuisine? KS: Actually we do get a lot of South Asian diners here. Though I don’t think there was a direct influence, a lot of the aromatic spices and herbs used in Cypriot and South Asian cooking are similar. Cypriot cooking and our menu also have a lot of stand–alone vegetarian dishes, which might also be part of that popularity.

 

Street: With all the different cultural influences on both Greek Cypriot cuisine and your own culinary background, what’s your philosophy for continuing innovation while staying true to authentic Cypriot cooking? KS: Well, for me it’s easy, I grew up surrounded by the Greek Cypriot culinary culture. It’s trying to teach it and the Cypriot palate to these ones [jokingly gestures to his two assistant chefs]. But yes, the philosophy is to keep up a consistently high quality for everything that comes out of here while also taking risks and doing new things, like with the ox heart, and things like cod cheeks and ox tail. Also, everything I cook is something I would eat at home myself—authentic and hearty, not tailored specifically to be a restaurant dish. Like this stew here, called kakavia. The seafood is very fresh and the broth is thick and hearty, it’s what a Cypriot fisherman would have in the evening.

 

Street: The prix-fix Cypriot Meze you offer on Sundays is different every week. What kind of experience should we expect? KS: The Cypriot meze is a very communal experience, something especially great to enjoy with family and friends. Every Sunday I cook up two sets of about 12 to 14 small dishes, one vegetarian ($30) and one with meat and fish ($35), that are served a few at a time. Even though there is a pattern to the types of foods served in a meze, I get to exercise my creativity and give a unique experience for the diners. The large range of flavors and dishes you get to experience definitely make the meze a great value for your money. The meze is also my favorite because it’s very personal. The diners are my guests, and it’s like I’m cooking a nice Sunday meal for friends in my own home.

 

1001 Spruce St Philadelphia, PA 19107 Phone number (215) 922-1773 http://kanellarestaurant.com/ $$