Lesa and Andy Kastanas, the owners of KiKi Bistronome in Plaza Midwood, knew that their newest restaurant wasn’t suited well to dining during a pandemic. The small space made social distancing the tables difficult, and the high-end cuisine wasn’t what diners were seeking out. 

“It just didn’t fit the situation that we were all living in,” Lesa Kastanas says of the style of food the restaurant served after opening around Thanksgiving last year. They decided keeping the restaurant closed as long as they could was the best financial decision, but at this point, it’s “now or never,” she says. The restaurant will reopen on Thursday, Oct. 1.

“We funded this project ourselves,” Kastanas says. “We don’t have any partners or backers. And if we don’t get open and get running, then we may risk not being able to open at all.”

To open, they’re bringing back the original builders to adjust the booths to be more private, with higher dividers between them. Tattoo, the small cocktail bar next door to KiKi, will only be able to seat around six people, though bigger parties can rent out the entire space. The rooftop patio, which overlooks Central Avenue, will also make its official debut.

The biggest transformation, however, will be on KiKi’s menu. The restaurant is dropping “Bistronome” from its name in favor of Bistro and losing much of the French influence, as well. Instead, the menu will reflect Greek comfort food — the kind of food the Kastanas family has been eating at home during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

That decision was partially spurred by the public heartbreak over the cancellation of the Greek Festival this year. 

“My whole life is a Greek festival, so I don’t notice it as much as everybody else does, but people really felt some kind of way about that,” Kastanas jokes. “We just felt like this was our chance to give people those foods that were more comforting, less of a stretch.”

Dishes to anticipate when the restaurant reopens on Thursday are authentic gyros, made not with ground, pressed meat but the layers of thinly sliced meat on a spit you find in Athens. Phyllo dishes — including moussaka and spanakopita — will be available in larger portions to take home as well. The menu, developed by Andy Kastanas and chef Jay Pound, will be branded as Greek and Mediterranean. 

“That’s something that he knows he’s good at, and those were the things that were probably some of the most welcomed additions that were on the menu to begin with,” Lesa Kastanas says. “We just felt like it was natural for us to move into that space and to bring more Greek items in.” 

Mixologist Kel Minton remains in charge of the cocktail programs at KiKi, Tattoo, and Soul.

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