Destination shrimp: These saucy crustaceans are reason enough to get to the new Apricot Stone
But there are plenty of other reasons too, as this underappreciated Armenian gem has a newly expansive Mediterranean menu from consulting chef Konstantinos Pitsillides, formerly of Kanella.
The mother-son duo of Fimy and Ara Ishkhanian have rightfully earned a loyal following at Apricot Stone.
The Northern Liberties B YOB they launched nine years ago has become a showcase for Armenian specialties like the crispy little manti with open tops served in broth and yogurt, tangy hand-wrapped grape leaves, and lahmajoun flatbreads topped with spiced meat.
After relocating to a much larger location on West Girard Avenue last year — the bi-level corner space previously occupied by Las Cazuelas — Ara felt the menu could use an infusion of some new ideas to bolster the beloved standbys of his mom’s kitchen. Enter Konstantinos Pitsillides.
Pitsillides, the Cypriot-born chef who was one of my favorites when he owned Kanella Grill and Kanella South, has sworn off running his own restaurant again at age 57 (“I know what would happen — I’ll be there 15 hours a day”), opting instead for private dinners and consulting gigs with other people’s restaurants. He’s taken on an active role over the past several months with Apricot Stone, and ”the Konstantinos Effect” has had a tangibly positive impact on the food here, with a series of monthly specials and menu additions.
Konstantinos has been mindful to maintain the restaurant’s Armenian identity, while expanding the menu with a broader Mediterranean palate, from a dish of grilled halloumi with honey, lemon, and a thyme dressing to slow-braised rabbit and lamb shanks over fregola sarda during the colder months (and marinated T-bone lamb chops off the grill for spring). While the specials are designed to shift monthly, a stellar new sharing appetizer has already become a permanent hit: shrimp saganaki.
While the name “saganaki” typically evokes images of flaming tableside cheese at a taverna, Pitsillides says that in Greece, the word also implies something simply cooked with cheese.
There are no fireballs accompanying this dish, but it’s still a dramatic showstopper— an oblong terra cotta crock (a Spanish cazuela, actually) that arrives ripping hot from the oven with eight shrimp basking in a fragrant tomato sauce still bubbling around chunks of feta cheese. A fistful of leeks lend the sauce vegetal body and depth while the intricate spicing — a blend of fennel, coriander, and cumin laced with Aleppo peppers (Fimy is originally from Syria) — glows with a saucy warmth reminiscent of shakshouka. The roasted feta cubes are also transformed — not so much melted as softened into the novel texture of briny custard cubes.
The flavors here were so satisfying that over the course of several meals, I’ve come to view the new and improved Apricot Stone as an underappreciated gem.
It’s been leveling up on a number of fronts, including dessert: I loved the elegant take on a Dubai chocolate bar stuffed with pistachio crunch from Lebanese-born Armenian chef Helen Moushlian, who’s also contributing savory specials to the menu. But Pitsillides has left his mark with the sweets as well, with an irresistible scoop of house-churned baklava ice cream blended with crushed-up pieces of the sweet Middle Eastern pastry made from phyllo dough, walnut, and syrup.
“It’s like cookies and cream!” Ara says. And indeed it is, a sweet parting flourish for Apricot Stone’s promising new phase.
Shrimp saganaki, $22, Apricot Stone, 428 W. Girard Ave., Philadelphia; (267) 606-6596; apricotstonephilly.com