Brothers Mike and Antoni Christou grew up working at their family’s KC Prime steak houses, first in Lawrenceville, N.J., and, since 2012, in Warrington.
This month the brothers opened their own restaurant, Ardana Food & Drink, with a Mediterranean menu inspired by their Cypriot heritage.
“We learned about management and the fine dining experience in our family restaurants,” said Antoni Christou. “We wanted to apply that in a more casual setting at Ardana,” added Mike Christou.
Located at the Shops at Valley Square, just a few miles south of KC Prime, the brothers chose the Warrington site because they like the township as well as the customers. “We wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” said Antoni, who knows Bucks County well; the brothers grew up here. So did the Ardana executive chef Nic Servis.
Ardana favors the taverna style the Christous experienced when visiting Cyprus, and it includes a menu dominated by mezze, or small plates. Those are as simple as a bowl of Mediterranean olives and as complex as spiced or char-grilled lamb, shrimp or chicken skewers.
Customer favorites include crispy cauliflower, falafel, salt-roasted beets and grilled halloumi (sheep’s-milk cheese with spiced apple and toasted walnut).
Many customers choose a variety of small plates and opt to share with their tablemates.
Salads at Ardana show off the owners’ love of vegetables; it includes a cold salad of wood-oven roasted butternut squash, goat cheese, pears, kale and pepitas as well as traditional Caesar and green salads.
Pastas include rigatoni Bolognese, shrimp linguine and ricotta ravioli, while a short pizza menu features wood-fired personal-size pies. Those include Neapolitan-style margheritas as well as pepperoni, mushroom, and the Lucy Pie with Italian long hot peppers, provolone and oregano.
The large-plate menu is short but inclusive. A customer favorite is the whole bronzino, with roasted lamb chops, a veal chop parmesan and a roasted half-chicken also are popular.
The menu gives a nod to KC Prime with one steak, an organic grass-fed sirloin, while vegetarians can opt for eggplant Milanese.
The restaurant recently received liquor license approval and will be serving alcohol by this weekend. The wine list is extensive, said Antoni Christou, and includes Eastern Mediterranean wines that aren’t often found in Bucks County.
Ardana is located at the site of the former Melting Pot restaurant, but it was renovated for the occupants. Included in the casually elegant décor is a full-sized lemon tree in the dining room.
ARDANA Food & Drink
Shops at Valley Square
751 Easton Road, Warrington
267-488-1568,
ardanafoodanddrink.com
Hours: 4 to 10 p.m. daily.
Customer favorites:
Crispy cauliflower, lamb skewers, salt-roasted beets, crispy calamari, bronzino, veal parmesan.
Full bar and wine list
susan.yeske@gmail.com
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