Table Talk: Smoke & Honey

Where gyros meet matzo balls

Despite it being a scary and deeply weird period in modern history, there are actually a number of great things that came out of the COVID pandemic. A newfound shared joy of crafting sourdough bread and dalgona coffee for instance. Here in New Orleans, we have that time to thank for a bounty of chefs and restaurateurs who started serving locals the dishes they loved, a number of which blossomed into brick and mortar restaurants. Among these was Vassiliki Ellwood Yiagazis, a transplant to the Crescent City who quickly became known as “the lamb lady.” She began whipping up the traditional dishes of her Greek and Jewish culture at the weekend market at Mid-City’s Coffee Science, fare that would serve as the inspiration for her restaurant Smoke & Honey, which opened to hungry raves earlier this year.

Yiagazis was a theater vet living in Los Angeles in 2020 when the inspiration to move to New Orleans blessed her. “My partner is from New Orleans, and he was like, ‘Do you want to move to New Orleans?’ I was like, ‘Yep!’” she said. “So then I was here, and my industry was dead, and so I said, ‘Okay, well…I’m going to start selling tzatziki and matzoh ball soup at the Coffee Science Sunday market.’ I locked in a pop-up at Pal’s Lounge and did that for about two and a half years, cooking every Monday on the street. And now we’re here.”

Smoke & Honey is, at its heart, a love letter to Yiagazis’s heritage, or at least to the dishes she found herself craving that she couldn’t quite find here in the Big Easy. “They’re all family recipes, especially the tzatziki,” she said. “I found out I was Jewish about a decade ago, and all my Jewish recipes are my friends’ and loved ones’ recipes that they’ve shared with me and taught me over the years.” Yiagazis is also quick to note that her menu at the restaurant isn’t Greek-Jewish fusion. “They’re both separate and very traditional in their own right,” she said. “I have very traditional Greek food, what you’d get walking down the street in Athens in any little bodega. Things that I craved and the comfort food that I was used to growing up. Matzo ball soup, for example, is something that I crave on a regular basis. It’s been very exciting to bring these very soulful, comforting dishes to this neighborhood.”

There’s something about the strange but delightful combination of Greek and Jewish cuisine that fits in perfectly with the funky, intrepid vibe of the Crescent City. It’s not something you’d find yourself thinking about until you’ve had it, and when you do, it immediately makes sense.

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Table Talk: Smoke & Honey

The breakfast and lunch menus at Smoke & Honey are simple, tight and beautifully executed with a deep attention to authentic details. Take, for instance, the gyro. The version you’ll find here is as close to the ones from her beloved Greek childhood as the chef could imagine and execute. While chicken and lamb versions show up on the menu, Yiagazis’s most prized rendition features pork, which she crafts from scratch in-house. “A pork gyro is the most traditional gyro,” she said. “I use fresh pork belly and pork shoulder. They’re a little fattier cuts, very tender, very flavorful. And my marinade is very simple. It’s lemon juice, grated onion, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano. It’s very herb-heavy, so a lot of oregano, salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary; things that you’ll find in any Greek garden. We mix it up on the pork spit with a nice whole onion and tomato on top, and all the juices kind of caramelize. We thin slice it fresh every day, and then we build it on the line with thick, creamy tzatziki, tomato, onion and french fries.”

If you’ve never had fries on your gyro, you’ve never experienced an authentic Athenian gyro, according to Yiagazis, and after trying one prepared in that fashion, you’ll likely discover that you don’t want it any other way. Especially with the crispy, herbed fries served at Smoke & Honey. If you’re not hankering for a gyro, you won’t go wrong with the “lambeaux,” a slow-roasted lamb po-boy with whipped feta, onion & garlic jam,red onions and cucumber served on French bread. Even the house salad, generally an afterthought at most eateries, shines here. Said Yiagazis, “A village salad is a very traditional Greek summer salad. It’s tomatoes and onions and cucumbers with very rustic cuts. And then a thick slab of feta with oregano, olive oil and vinegar. That, to me, is everything.”

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And then, of course, is the Jewish side of Smoke & Honey’s menu, starting with the matzo ball soup, which Yiagazis notes is not exactly kosher. Literally, since the single giant matzo ball floating in rich, golden broth is fashioned with bacon fat instead of chicken schmaltz. You’ll also encounter bagels on the menu, though perhaps even better is the “loxsmith,” which sports Faroe Islands salmon cured in-house and hot smoked to perfection and served with cream cheese, capers, and light pickled red onion on toasted marbled rye. You’d also be wise not to skip out on the huge, decadent bourekas, the one dish that does actually fuse Greek and Jewish traditions, as they’re stuffed with a spanakopita-esque filling with leeks, spinach and feta in a puff pastry with sesame seeds instead of the phyllo dough.

More than anything, Yiagazis is pleased and a little astonished at her new career as a restaurateur, which she readily admits came with a steep learning curve. But staying true to her roots was always her ultimate aim. “The Greeks will never want someone to be hungry, ever. That’s my Greek side, and it’s ingrained in me. And the Jewish side, too. The cultures are so similar in so many ways, especially around tradition and family and food and the way we eat. And that’s what’s so special about it. At the end of the day, we’re all the same. We just want to share our food and our love for it.”


Table Talk: Smoke & Honey

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About the Chef
Born in Greece, Vassiliki Ellwood Yiagazis arrived in the States at the tender age of seven and was raised in Maryland. After graduating in musical theater from Shenandoah Conservatory, she moved to New York, where she starred in an off-Broadway show and worked in the service industry and found herself loving it. A move to Los Angeles followed, and after that her arrival in New Orleans. Partnering with her restaurant employers from her New York days, Yiagazis opened up Smoke & Honey on Bienville Street in January of 2024. The budding restaurateur quickly developed a deep affection for her adopted hometown. “The spirit in New Orleans is so special and so unique,” she said. “I’ve lived in some of the biggest cities in the world, and I’ve never found anything other than that spirit here. It’s just been a true joy to bring my food and my love to New Orleans.”

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