Estia is Greek Dining Fit for Deities

Greek cuisine called my name. My appetite conjured up succulent lamb chops, dolmathes, tzatziki, and of course, baklava. These cravings were fairly standard as I came to find out when I perused the menu and gleaming iced fish display at Estia in North Naples. I’d been shortsighted, shortchanged! Lavraki, tsipoura, meli … how had such exotic words and flavors eluded me?

In this new world for Naples, Greek and island collide. Clean, green, bright, window-y with a fountained water feature off the patio and clever accents—all set a stage for the freshness, originality, and sensory happiness to come. 

With a Meli cocktail (a perfect balance of honey and passionfruit juice spiked with vodka) and house-made Sangria in hand, my companion and I listened as our server rhapsodized. We followed most of his suggestions. Evidently, the Estia Chips (thin, fried slices of zucchini and eggplant) is the app not to miss. The chips were a bit limp, though the tzatziki dip was everything I wanted it to be. He was spot-on with his whole-fish lavraki recommendation to share. This butterflied Mediterranean sea bass was delicate with just enough boost from the ladolemono—a Greek-style piccata treatment with the terroir of fine Greek olive oil. Ordering it, though, left my taste buds to deal with an I-want-a-lamb-chop tantrum. That’s where Estia came through: the option of a frenched chop on the side of any dish. The best surf and turf imaginable.

We went rogue for dessert. Clearly, the restaurant had redefined my notions of Greek food by this point, so it was “no” to baklava and “yes” to a cheesecake like none other. Think: pistachio crust, Greek yogurt cream and honey, and spiced kadaifi (shredded phyllo dough)—an epic end to a dining experience fit for a Greek goddess.  

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