Some may consider New York City to be the culinary capital of the world. With that being said, even in NYC it can be difficult to find a truly unique dining experience. On one hand there are start-up restaurants with poor concepts that all to often fail, and on the other hand there are 3 Michelin star restaurants that provide overpriced and pretentious menu options leaving both your wallet and stomach empty. Theodora, in Fort Greene Brooklyn sets itself apart in a crowded restaurant scene by providing a truly unique dining experience.

From the moment we entered the restaurant it was sensory overload! First, we were hit with the fragrant smell of burning wood. Then our eyes were immediately struck by the visual of dehydrated fish hanging from the ceiling and a dry-aging fridge loaded with the highest quality fish you can find. The open fire of the jasper ovens coupled with the decor created a warm and inviting ambiance reminiscent of the Spanish Mediterranean.

Upon being seated, we were greeted by a very attentive waiter, who while managing multiple tables made us feel like we were a priority. He was knowledgeable of the menu and did a fantastic job guiding us through the experience. He seemed genuinely happy to be part of our dining experience. The timing in which the food was spaced out was just about perfect! We didn’t have too many plates on the table at once. As frequent diners in many NYC restaurants, that are often limited on table space, we really appreciated this.  It is easy at times to overlook the wait staff when talking about food of this caliber but I want to be clear, the service provided was first-class and exceeded the standard of even fine-dining restaurants in NYC.

Days later, we are still thinking about our experience and the food we ate, the smokiness, the flavors, the ambiance…

My husband and I haven’t been out to eat in the city since Valentines Day – we’ve made it a goal to eat very clean since then and thus have paused on our restaurant excursions. That is, until this past weekend when we lucked out by getting a last minute reservation at Theodora (more on reservations below).

Theodora’s culinary concept is one that we personally love. The menu emphasizes dry-aged fish and meat prepared over an open flame and the blending of Mediterranean flavors with international influences. Most importantly, there is an emphasis on seasonal produce and the use of high quality ingredients.

And so, we feasted! We sought out to try something from each category of the menu.

BREAD: Theodora has a bakery called Thea, a few doors down. Their bread program is pretty well-known and really good. With that, we had to absolutely try the Sourdough topped with whipped ricotta, brown butter, honey and sage.

VEGETABLES: We almost only got the broccolini and thankfully our lovely waiter suggested we also try the wood-fired greens. Which we are so grateful as it had the most amazing beets purè we’ve ever tasted. There is something special about wood-fired vegetables that make healthy eating feel like a guilty pleasure.

FROM THE SEA: We love octopus and have had it in countless restaurants throughout the world. This octopus was life-changing octopus. The flavor, the texture, the smokiness was exquisite, nothing we’re ever had compares to it.

LARGE FORMAT: We watched a few YouTube videos before the reservation and from those videos, we knew right away we were going to try both the Half Chicken Green Onion Salsa, Pearl Onions, Rainbow Carrots and the Lamb Laffa, Tahini, Amba, Shifka. Again, both dishes blew our socks off.

This is one of those places that I wish we’d order everything from the menu! We already have ideas of what to order next time!

Speaking of next time…

Reservations open 30 days in advance at 9 a.m. and can be made via Resy. Resy | Right This Way. Reservations book quickly, so if you’d like a table at Theodora, be sure to set a reminder!

For walk-ins, the restaurant saves 14 seats each evening. Arriving early, around 5 p.m., increases the chances of securing a seat. Or you can get lucky like we did, randomly finding a last minute reservation and booking it!

In conclusion, run don’t walk to Theodora!