Don’t know what Greek-style pizza is? Niko’s Greek Taverna owner George Kringas and executive chef Mike Bianco want you to. The duo recently collaborated to come up with a pizza menu that debuted October 1. “There’s a lot of new apartments either built or being built in White Plains,” says Bianco. “With all the new people moving into the area — many from the city and with curious palates — we wanted to expand our menu of classic Greek fare and include some unexpected items.”
The inspiration for the new pizza menu came from Kringas’ childhood memories of the pies he ate growing up in Sparta, Greece. Typifying this style is a rectangular shape that’s extra crispy on the bottom, thicker than a regular New York slice but thinner than a Sicilian, and a crust of cheese at the edges. It’s similar to a Detroit-style pie or a bar-style pie.
Bianco uses a combination of whole-part-skim-milk mozzarella for a “nice pull” effect and puts a bit of butter along with the olive oil to the bottom of the pan.
On the menu: a spanakopita pie with béchamel, baked feta, and spinach; the vegan friendly no-cheese Yia Yia (tomatoes and roasted shallots); the OG (the Greek version of a margherita), and an Ohana (pineapple, pickled greens, smoked bacon and ham, mozzarella, and basil).
Bianco knows his way around pizza; he worked at Sal’s Pizza while in high school; later manned the wood-fired ovens at Fortina in Armonk, and helped Dave DiBari open The Parlor.
The 10-inch pies sell for $12-$16.
“The dough is the foundation for a good pizza,” says Bianco. “The key is controlling your dough, knowing the proper hydration ratios [the amount of water relative to the amount of flour in the dough] to get the consistency you want.”
Niko’s Greek Taverna
287 Central Ave
White Plains
914.686.6456
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