MP TAVERNA (Williamsburg)

I think I was more disappointed with my disappointment than I was actually disappointed by my experience at MP Taverna in Brooklyn.  The food we ordered left zero room for complaints- everything was unequivocally delicious and it lived up to my every expectation of chef Michael Psilakis, which are lofty.  But through a series of seriously unfortunate events (including disastrous guidance by Waze, an insultingly late arrival by my dining companion, and a party of sixteen dining concurrently that threw the kitchen so deep in the weeds they hadn't a chance of recovering) we had neither the boisterous fun that that large party was having, nor were we able to try enough of the dishes to have made the whole venture worthwhile, simply because of an overwhelmed crew.

Which shouldn't have been the case; the rest of the restaurant was sparsely populated.  It's a huge space, though, and the waiter imparted that for the most part, they are only really very busy when the adjacent music hall is hosting a show.  Makes sense that there's a music venue attached, 'cause Psilakis is a rock-star kinda guy.  But maybe he's spread himself a bit thin between three MP's spanning Irvington, NY way upstate, to Brooklyn, where we dined.  The former is where chef is spending most of his time, and I fear the Williamsburg address isn't getting quite enough love.

The dining room is super sparse, perhaps capitalizing on a current Athenian trend of minimalist decor, but aside from some simple, square columns and some frondy palms, you wouldn't  know this place was an more Greek than any other designation.... not until you get a menu.  Which I wish had happened about two hours earlier for us, but at least the luscious Greek salad we ordered arrived swiftly.  I wish some fluffy pita had arrived along with it, but instead we ordered it after the fact, because the salty, cheesy dressing pooling underneath was too good to let go to waste.  But the bread took another dose of forever to arrive, and by then I was already getting angsty.  We had ordered our entrees along with the salad, but a tremendous lapses occurred before we even saw our server to inquire what was going on.  Apparently, that sixteen-top had just incapacitated them, and as the minutes ticked by my patience ebbed.  When our entrees arrives almost an hour later, we all but had them packed up to go.  The few bites we did enjoy, however, were exceptionally good.  I ordered pretty light, as even before the delay we

were getting a late start.  But even a meze portion of roasted scallops was bountiful, enough for a main.  They sported an immaculate crust, deeply burnished and riddled with verdant slips of spinach and  nutty nubs of roasted cauliflower brightened with chewy dried cherries.

And I held off writing this review, that precisely per my assessment and prediction, the restaurant has now closed.  This saddens but does not surprise me, although I think and hope Psilakis' other locations are going strong.

And while the Brooklyn location is now closed, I FULLY trust and love Chef Psilakis to confidently recommend his other addresses, as well as Kefi and Fishtag:

1363 Old Northern Blvd.
Roslyn, NY 11576

One Bridge Street
Irvington, NY 10533

31-29 Ditmars Boulevard
Astoria, NY 11105