Meraki Greek Gyro & Bakery is the third Meraki idea created by co-owners Alexander Karavias and Giannis Kotsos after their success with Meraki Bistro in Coconut Groove and Downtown Miami. This iteration, nevertheless, comes with a twist.
“Meraki Greek Gyro is completely different from Meraki Bistro eating places,” Kotsos tells New Times. “It emulates avenue eating in Greece. It’s extra informal and likewise affords choices that one would discover in a bakery for breakfast, and a pastry store — quite common in Greece.”
The mixture fast-casual gyro, pastry store, and market was designed particularly for the excessive visitors of vacationers and residents alike in South Beach. Karavias says the cafe was a greater choice than the everyday sit-down Meraki restaurant.
“It ties again to on a regular basis life and on a regular basis consuming habits in Greece,” Karavias explains. “With the extra market, the pastries and the whole lot. It’s additionally a great way for us to continue to grow and preserve showcasing different areas of the Greek culinary world and bringing it to the forefront.”
This location affords quite a lot of dishes together with typical Greek breakfast snacks comparable to tyropita, spanakopita, and bougatsa. The 12 completely different gyro pita sandwiches supplied will fluctuate from $10-14, and all include a facet of Greek fries.
The cafe incorporates a show of Greek pastries and desserts, together with the normal baklava and the chef’s Nutella cheesecakes (now out there in increased portions for particular events), together with new recipes.
“We are introducing vegan lemon vegan and chocolate muffins, and a sugar-free chocolate cake,” says Karavias. “So we’re enjoying with the menu slightly bit once more, tailoring to the placement, and being in South Beach, we’re exploring completely different choices to make it possible for we now have a greater selection to share with our friends.”
The market part was rigorously curated with conventional Greek merchandise one would discover in a typical family like further virgin olive oil, imported honey, spices, herbs, and merchandise Kotsos himself retains in his kitchen and makes use of in all Meraki eating places.
Horiatiki is a standard Greek salad made with tomato, cucumber, onion, inexperienced peppers,capers, kalamata olives, barley rusk, feta cheese, olive oil, and vinegar.
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Some of the distinctive objects embrace imported Greek pure wine from natural or biodynamic grapes, beers, and juices that weren’t out there for retail prior to now.
“You can have a seat and revel in a glass of wine on the outside terrace. We put in a lovely little pergola to present it extra of a Greek really feel to it,” says Karavais. “If you prefer it or when you just like the beers you may seize a six-pack or purchase a bottle to take house.”
Karavais says South Florida can stay up for completely different types of Meraki sooner or later.
“We positively have plans to develop,” says Karavais. “We produce other concepts, different ideas that tie into the Meraki household. The chef’s [Kotsos’] energy and love come from seafood and contemporary fish. One of the issues he did and gained a whole lot of expertise from in Athens was proudly owning his personal contemporary fish market, so he’s very properly skilled in that. Because of that, we’re contemplating doing a Meraki Seafood Grill.”
Regardless of the completely different shapes Meraki will take sooner or later, one of many most important functions of the eating places has at all times been to reveal South Beach to the homeowners’ Greek heritage and the “plethora of dishes” their delicacies has to supply.
“We like to assist promote Greek delicacies and I assume our job right here in South Florida is to assist individuals be taught and perceive these issues,” says Karavais. “We’re like a liaison, I assume, between Greece and right here.”
Meraki Greek Gyro & Bakery. 919 Alton Rd., Miami Beach; merakibistro.com; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.