Treasures of the Giorgios empire

A restaurant review for the weary

Spanakotiropita at Kiros Greek Taverna in Chapel Hill/ Hanna Raskin

Here’s a confession: If you right now gave me the choice between an all-expenses-paid dinner at a fancy restaurant and beans-and-rice at home, I might look for a can opener.

I haven’t soured completely on the notion of dining out, which I still believe is vital to civilization. Shared eating spaces are unbeatable for facilitating human interactions and spurring the exchange of ideas. Plus, they sometimes serve exceptional sandwiches.

Which is to say I’ve happily kept patronizing mom-and-pop places on my travels over the past year. But beyond the tacos, dumplings, and barbecue, I’m in the throes of restaurant lethargy, doubtless brought on by the conservatism and cynicism apparent in so many high-end dining rooms these days.

Of course, I fully understand restaurant owners’ fears and restaurant workers’ exhaustion. Ingredient availability is erratic, food costs keep climbing, and customers are in no mood for either. Two-thirds of independent restaurant owners polled in August blamed inflation for decreased sales, but it’s also possible that eaters have wearied of waiting an hour for an overcooked steak. Nationwide, there are more than 600,000 job openings at restaurants—which means each underpaid employee is doing the work of two, three, or even more people.

And yet the food-and-beverage sector keeps chugging along, even though it long ago stopped being fun. As James McMurtry sings, “I don’t want another drink/ I just want that last one again.”

In a troubled industry, it’s possible that Giorgios Bakatsias is the last true enthusiast. The North Carolina serial restaurateur, who decades ago acquired the “prolific” honorific, is on track to open five new restaurants in his home state this year. Among them is a Wilmington location of Kipos, the Greek entry in his 15-property portfolio, which he’s described as the start of a regional expansion plan.

I went to the Triangle to see whether Bakatsais’ bullish attitude was contagious. Perhaps I would find something venerable in his older restaurants or something vivacious in his newer outlets that could get me jazzed about restaurant-going again.

Parizäde was the natural place to start, even though my first evening’s agenda was so packed with Giorgios Hospitality Group venues that I could only stay for one course.