Ariston

Hellenic haven's menu based on the home-cooked recipes of Noni Barlou, the owner's grandma. Name is derived from ancient Greek word meaning excellence. Smell of spit-roasted lamb and rosemary enough to lure you off sidewalk. Comfort-food of the Gods are founded on olive oil. Includes spinach-stuffed calamari, Noni's eggplant moussaka, and a wood-burned suckling piglet. Portions are big, fat. Shrimps don't have the right to be this big. Aegen-blue walls give vibe of small seaside village, and the owner greets locals as if it actually were. Belly dancers snake between tables on weekend, and sidewalk patio ideal for summer, which in Miami, is always.