Chef's Corner: Dimitri Fetokakis

The blue and white Cycladic architecture paintings at the entrance of Niko Niko’s on Montrose call to mind the Mediterranean and Greece. But the eclectic interior of this 46-year-old restaurant – lined with “Greek Is Chic!” and “Get Your Greek On” T-shirts – screams Houston. 

Here and there, you get glimpses of Dimitri Fetokakis – well, hand-drawn caricatures of the owner wearing oversized, black-rimmed glasses anyway – because the walking-and-talking version is in the kitchen or working at another location. These days, the salt-and-pepper-bearded man whom many people credit for keeping the Greek culture buzzing in Houston is on the go as he closes one chapter and starts a new one. After 15 years, he is shuttering the Market Square location to focus on his biggest project to date: Opening a 10,800-square-foot Niko Niko’s Greek & American Café in the Woodlands with Cousin Niko Bossinakis.

“My cousin Niko is the second Niko on the sign. The first one is my brother,” Dimitri says. “He came to me about two years ago and said, ‘Hey, how about we do something together?’ I was like, ‘Nik, if it’s with you, I’ll do it. If it were with anybody else, I wouldn’t do it.’” 

The original Niko Niko’s, a former filling station. Niko Niko's opened in 1977.

October is a busy time. Dimitri is preoccupied with opening the new eatery by spring 2024, then there’s the annual Original Greek Festival. In its 57th year, this is when the entire Greek community comes together Oct. 5-7 in a celebration that attracts 35,000-plus attendees. 

“We have an amazing community: The older people work the booths, the grandmas make all the desserts, and the kids dance,” says the Memorial resident, who turned 51 last month. 

The Original Greek Festival started in 1966. A decade later, his family – Dad Chrisanthos Fetokakis, Mom Eleni, and their four children – arrived in Houston from New York City. An ornate, silver-framed black-and-white photo hangs near Niko Niko’s kitchen, showing a woman ordering from a walk-up to-go window. At the bottom is a tag – 1977 – the year Niko Niko’s opened. 

The décor at the original Niko Niko’s (2520 Montrose Blvd.) is a mishmash of old and new. That was by choice when the space was remodeled and expanded in 2004. Framed family photos – many faded – are scattered throughout the restaurant. Dimitri lived in the back of the restaurant, but when Niko Niko’s took off, he converted the living quarters into a commercial kitchen. 

Greek album covers hang above the pastry case. In one, a handsome dark-haired man holding a guitar is flanked by sultry models. Old-timers instantly recognized the vintage artwork when Niko Niko’s had a dozen or so tables, and Dimitri was the only cashier working the register. “That’s my uncle, Tasso. He’s the reason my mother came to America,” he says.

Gyro sandwiches remain top-sellers for Niko Niko's.

The LP covers remind him of when his mother – then-18-year-old Eleni, a gifted singer – performed with her brother in nightclubs and communities in Greece and the United States. They were popular and recorded vinyl records. Later, she became the heart and soul of Niko Niko’s kitchen. The Moussaka, Pastichio, dolmathes, and cabbage rolls are her recipes. 

Nearby, plywood board menus hang below cash registers, written with pseudo-Greek fonts that date back to 1977. They tell the story of his father, a risk-taker and gambler who ran dice games, but had keen business sense. A year after moving to Houston, Dimitri recalls his family being evicted from their apartment across from Niko Niko’s because they adopted a stray dog. While sitting on the doorsteps, pondering, Dimitri’s dad noticed a “For Lease” sign on an abandoned gas station across the street. “That’s how we got Niko Niko’s,” Dimitri says. “He signed the lease that day and borrowed $350 or $400 for the first month's rent.”

The next day, dad Chrisanthos went to the farmers market, bought some produce, and started selling it. “Niko Niko’s started as a fruit stand,” Dimitri says. That didn’t last long. Dad had bigger dreams – a gyro booth. People thought he was nuts. This was barbecue country. Still, he was convinced he would succeed with blond-haired Eleni by his side. She was born in 1937 in the back of her father’s restaurant on Christmas Day. He thought, “‘She’s an amazing cook, a stickler for detail, and will run the restaurant like a sergeant.’” 

With hat in hand, Dimitri’s father approached Pete Pappas. “Back then, the Pappas sold restaurant equipment, and their reputation was golden,” says Dimitri, adding that after the legendary co-founder of Pappas Restaurant heard the request, he asked whether he was a gambler. 

“Yes, I am,” Dimitri’s dad replied. 

A summer family vacation in Greece with wife Laura, son Chrysanthos, and daughter Nikoletta.

Pete told Chrisanthos to get the equipment he needed and pay the money back when he could. Next, Dimitri’s dad approached the Demeris family of Demeris Bar-B-Que, who introduced his dad to a banker and co-signed for a loan even though they hardly knew his parents.

Soon enough, then-five-year-old Dimitri started peeling potatoes while his older siblings helped slice tomatoes and onions for the lamb-and-beef gyros. Today, the gyro sandwich remains the No. 1 seller, and in August, Yelp picked Niko Niko’s as the best sandwich shop in Texas because of it. “We have one of the best gyros,” Dimitri says. “It’s our proprietary recipe and something I always work on, little tweaks here and there, but I was surprised. I mean, we’re in Texas. I would think they would pick barbecue or something like it, but hey, I’ll take it.” 

Running a restaurant can feel like wading through uncharted waters. Starting with his dad as his mentor, Dimitri learned that good advice could clear hurdles faster. Now, he frequently meets with veteran chef Arturo Boada and restaurateur Ziggy Gruber at Kenny & Ziggy’s (1743 Post Oak Blvd.) to “solve a lot of the world’s problems,” Dimitri jokes. “It’s a nice friendship, and it’s fun. We love each other. I call those guys my brothers.” 

Ziggy refers to it as an “unofficial breakfast club.” Frequently, another chef or restaurateur, such as Breakfast Klub owner Marcus Davis; a purveyor; or a produce guy will drop in. On this day, it’s chef Mark Cox, who for nearly 20 years operated Mark’s American Cuisine. 

“We show up, eat, and discuss the restaurant business's problems. You know, all kinds of stuff, like, ‘Do you know a good AC guy or an accountant?’ We all help each other,” Ziggy says. 

Ziggy Gruber, Arturo Boada, Dimitri, and Mark Cox having breakfast and socializing at the weekly unofficial "breakfast club" at Kenny & Ziggy's.

This breakfast club meets once or twice a week unless Dimitri is in Greece. “He usually goes away with the family for a couple of months in the summer,” Ziggy says. “People know about his great sense of humor, but what most people don’t realize about Dimitri is his whole existence, and his whole life is for his family. He is very active in his kids’ lives.” 

When he bought the business from his mother after his dad passed away in 1998, he mapped a plan to grow the business so he could start a family. Before remodeling the original Montrose location, he worked from 8 in the morning to midnight every day. “After 10 years of that, I didn’t want to be stuck behind the register anymore. I had to plan for the future,” he says. 

He added more entree options, starting with oven-roasted lamb shanks with olive oil, oregano, and lemon. “That went crazy, then I added the grilled pork chops. That went crazy. I started doing oven-roasted whole fish, bringing fresh catch from Greece. I saw an upswing not just at lunch, but also at dinner. It was just the right time. The neighborhood was changing. When I took over, we were only doing about $700 a day. I was happy if we made a thousand, then we went to $1,600, then $2,000, and the rest is history, right?” says Dimitri.

Publications often describe Niko Niko’s as a Houston institution or a landmark. Its rise seems like a shooting star, especially after the Food Network’s Guy Fieri of “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” featured Dimitri on his show not once, but three times since October 2009. “We were already busy before that, but business went up 35 percent when the show aired,” he says. 

By 2016, he opened a stand-alone, 8,000-square-foot location at 1040 W. Sam Houston Parkway North. Not only was there enough demand for it in the Memorial/Spring Branch area, but it also was just minutes from his home with his wife Laura and his two children. “It’s why I built it,” says Dimitri, who named his oldest boy Chrysanthos after his dad and baby daughter Nikoletta after the restaurant. For him, “food ties into everything in life.”

The menu claims that Niko Niko’s is the only place in town to get these addictive crispy honey balls (Greek doughnuts) besides the Greek Festival. Dimitri served this to Guy Fieri on his first visit to the eatery. He asked the Food Network star if he thought it was good. Guy replied, “It’s great!” 

Loukoumades, aka Greek doughnuts, drenched with cinnamon-sugar-and-honey syrup.

Niko Niko’s Loukoumades 

1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast 
2 cups warm water (80 degrees F)
3/4 tablespoon sugar 
1/4 teaspoon iodized salt
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 
3 1/8 cups all-purpose flour 
Vegetable oil for frying

For Honey Sauce: 2 cups water 
1 1/8 cups sugar 
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cinnamon stick 
1/4 lemon, juiced 
1 ½ tablespoons honey 

For Topping: 1 1/8 cups sugar 
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

In a small bowl, add one cup of warm water and stir in the active dry yeast until a creamy foam forms. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, salt, and remaining warm water. Add the yeast mixture and vanilla extract to this mixture and mix well. Gently work in the flour until the mixture forms a smooth, soft dough. Transfer the dough to a larger, oiled mixing bowl, cover, and allow to rise at room temperature until it doubles in volume, which should take about 1 ½ hours. 

Meanwhile, make the honey sauce. Bring the water to a boil in a medium-sized sauce pot over medium heat. Add sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon stick, and lemon juice, then simmer for 45 minutes. Add the honey and simmer for another five minutes. Set the sauce aside until ready to use. 

To make the topping, combine the sugar with ground cinnamon in a bowl and set aside. If you don’t want to make this topping, you can substitute powdered sugar for the cinnamon-sugar topping. 

To make the Greek doughnuts, heat about two to three inches of oil in a deep fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F. Using a tablespoon, scoop the dough into balls about ½-inch in diameter. Try not to overhandle the soft, puffy dough. Drop the dough into the fryer and cook in batches, being careful not to overcrowd. Fry until golden brown. 

Remove the fried doughnuts from the oil with a spider strainer and drain on a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Transfer the warm doughnuts to a serving platter. Drizzle with honey syrup, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and serve immediately. Makes about 8 servings. 

Editor’s note: Buzz dining columnist Dai Huynh is a James Beard food-journalism award winner and longtime Houston-based restaurant writer.