The celebration was for three of the four of us with June birthdays. We returned to Periyali, a neighborhood Greek restaurant.

To start, we split a few appetizers including the crispy squid with a leafy salad ($16) and garlic sauce. That same sauce accompanied chunks of red and golden beets ($15) and the giant beans ($15).  Our Villa Antinori ($80) Riserva, Chianti Classico, 2016 — mostly Sangiovese with a touch of Merlot to soften the edges — went well with all our selections.

One of our group ordered the scallop special ($44) with greens and potatoes; the rest of us savored their amazing wine-marinated char-grilled octopus ($18 app, $34 entree portion) with a side of white asparagus ($12).

Their dessert menu is a sample tray shown by our server. The group chose the rice pudding and moist orange cake with ice cream ($12 each).

I’d recommend a visit just for the octopus. Yes, that good.

Periyali
Gramercy-Flatiron
35 W 20th Street,
New York, NY 10011
(212) 463-7890