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"  Just last year, Michael Psilakis and Donatella Arpaia&amp;#039;s restaurant, Dona, made our list, but lease problems forced an overnight shutdown. Fortunately, they&amp;#039;ve opened Anthos across town, not as a reproduction of Dona but as a continuing refinement of Psilakis&amp;#039;s riff on modern Greek cuisine, which he takes to such a high level of creativity that it would be difficult to find its equal anywhere in Greece.  Psilakis&amp;#039;s learning curve is a little scary, because it wasn&amp;#039;t much of a curve at all. The guy taught himself to cook when, with a degree in finance, he thought it would be fun to open an Italian restaurant (Ecco, on Long Island, New York) and had to jump into the kitchen when his chef didn&amp;#039;t show up one night. A few months later, he had two stars from The New York Times. Then came a small taverna named Onera, where he began changing worn-out ideas about Greek, an evolution that flourished at Dona and has led to experiments at Anthos that are often daring and sometimes odd but always exhibit a deep love and respect for the cuisine he is revolutionizing. Anthos is a long, sleek room with snug banquettes and generous tables set catercorner to one another. You begin, of course, with Psilakis&amp;#039;s vast array of meze appetizers: glistening tuna dressed with mastic oil (a gum resin blended with olive oil), yellowtail dusted with fennel pollen and served with ouzo-macerated cherries, Tasmanian crab flavored with a sea-urchin tzatziki of yogurt and cucumbers, or the very tender grilled octopus with a mixture of orange puree, olives, chicory, and garlic. For the main course, there is succulent grilled swordfish with minced-lamb sausage or baby pork chops with cabbage-wrapped dolma. Desserts include a trio of various baklavas -- pistachio, honey custard, and walnut cake topped with cinnamon ice cream.  Some of my Greek friends shrug and insist that Greek food doesn&amp;#039;t need refinement. I don&amp;#039;t argue with them. I just send them to Anthos and change their minds. 36 West Fifty-second Street; 212-582-6900.  This year&amp;#039;s list spans cities and cuisines, but the restaurants share at least one trait: a palpable feeling that the owners are giving their all to please you. Fearing&amp;#039;s, Dallas, Texas * [Back to Best New Restaurants, 2007] * 23Hoyt, Portland, Oregon "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/food-drink/restaurants/reviews/a3599/anthos1107/>