Petros [RESTAURANT REVIEW]

For exotic cuisines, the road to acceptance in America is paved with fast food. My Virginia-born wife’s first taste of Mexican food was at a Taco Bell, and a strange and foreign cuisine it was to her three decades ago. Now she devours obscure Oaxacan and Yucatecan specialties and knows the vocabulary of cabrito and al pastor as well as any native Angeleno. Most Americans learn about Greek food from fast food joints serving grilled meats like gyros or souvlaki and salads laden with feta, tomatoes, and olives– all of which are popular items from back in Athens. A few Greek restaurants in LA go a bit further, with baked items like moussaka and pastizio served amid blaring music and dancing waiters. These too you will find in Greece, but they’re not the whole story. Athens has long boasted a more refined cuisine that emphasizes fresh ingredients and subtle spicing, but until recently there has been nowhere in Los Angeles to find this Hellenic haute cuisine. Enter Petros, the stylish restaurant on the Metlox Plaza that is one of the most interesting and controversial restaurants in the South Bay. Some who stroll up to inspect the menu are overcome with sticker shock – they’re used to…

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