NYC restaurant transports you to Greek Islands

UPPER EAST SIDE, NEW YORK CITY -- Get ready to be transported to the Greek islands, with grilled octopus, seafood youvetsi, and fresh daily spanakopita.

Restaurateur Gregory Politis, originally from Lefkada, Greece, says he wants customers to feel like Mykonian House is their home away from home.

He was on the verge of retirement after having success as co-owner of another Greek restaurant when friends and fans on the Upper East Side encouraged him to open his own spot and Mykonian House was born.

"We're focused on home cooking, very traditional recipes," Politis said. "I'm very proud about our octopus. The actual taste that I had growing up it's the same thing so we try to keep it that way."

The recipes use simple ingredients that bring out the flavors of everything they cook.

"We braise it in the oven, it becomes tender, we marinate it with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and we simply grill it," he said.

They make their spanakopita fresh every day.

"The spanakopita, this is very, very traditional, my grandmother, my mother used to make it actually almost the same way," Politis said.

Everything they use is authentic.

"We try to get the best ingredients we can, as far as the vegetables, the cheeses, they're all imported from Greece, Greek products, we use extra virgin olive oil," he said.

The seafood youvetsi is similar to paella.

"We use sun-dried tomatoes, we use fresh tomatoes to give the actual taste of the tomato sauce," he said. "Good quality of mussels, shrimp, scallops, also the saffron makes it kind of different, olive oil, garlic, very simple ingredients."

For Politis, the location is key.

"Because I've been on the Upper East Side for many years, know a lot of people, know a lot of customers, to walk in and feel like a home, that was the whole idea" he said. "Have the feeling like you're on a Greek Island, to feel the hospitality."

He just wants his restaurant to bring people joy.

"When you see happy people leave happy and they enjoy the food and everything and our service, that's the biggest satisfaction for me," Politis said.