Ray Pride

Since opening across an alley from Blackbird in fall 2003, Avec, a cozy, storefront neo-enoteca with communal dining and simple but often sublime Mediterranean-inflected cooking has gotten the best kind of reviews: an enthusiastic regular clientele for the handiwork of chef Koren Grieveson. In her early thirties and Africa-born, Grieveson's small and large plates draw from an immense, wood-burning oven directly behind the crowded bar; the 800-degree heat accounts for many of the savors at which she excels.

We talked Sunday night as light rain misted Randolph Street, just before the Oscars. I assumed (wrongfully) that would cut into the crowd. "Whatever it is, Oscars, Super Bowl, somehow we always get busy," Grieveson said with a small smile. She still keeps a punishing schedule, but there have been changes. "I now have a prep cook, to help alleviate the day-to-day butchering, which consumed most of my time. So now I have more time to think about the menu. In terms of reflection about the last year, on New Year's Eve, Eric [one of the cooks] and I were talking about how the year before, it was just him, myself and one other cook. It's been tedious... positive... long... rewarding. But fun overall, in the long run."

Grieveson's not a restaurant-hopper. "Do I have time to go out and check out other restaurants? I do, but y'know, honestly, if I get a chance to go out, I usually just go to the same places. I have a rare night off here and there, I'd rather just go to a place where I know I'll be happy with the food, not that tries to be different. Comfort, security, people who know me and a glass of wine and talk a little bit and have good food and go home. I don't need to go out all the new restaurants and [then] experiment with their style."

She doesn't follow restaurant news, but does get out. "I had the pleasure of going to Spain and Portugal last year, really fantastic trips. That's inspiration right there. Of course I read my cookbooks and feed off inspiration from my guys. But I don't go to restaurants for inspiration. I just go there to have a good meal and relax and not think about work."

And a dish that's still a favorite to prepare? "It's not on the menu, but I love making the family meals for my staff, and to be creative with what I have left around. You have a chance to talk a little bit, and I get the chance to experiment with a couple of dishes with them, they're like my little guinea pigs. But they don't mind."

She confesses to an unlikely unsated culinary desire: "I've never been to Italy. I love the people, the accent; I love the culture. But I've never been, I've only discovered it through books and through friends and stories and through recipes. I've never been there and I've been all around the world. But I'd love to go and get it firsthand."

She seemed more relaxed than the last time we talked, I told her. "I'm just exhausted! But there's something about a team, a pattern, a great staff, front of the house, back of the house, just phenomenal and supportive, making my job easier. It's exhausting, but now it's rewarding. There are rewards, compliments, return customers, and just good friends. Little things."

One "little thing" that changed was the offering of "salumis" that were a key part of the original menu. "We had such a huge demand, I've had to put it on hold for a while. The demand was so huge and with the job I have to do, I could not keep up. I hope the clientele will respect that and not push me too much. But I will not serve Coppa salami or anything that's not done right. It needs 100 percent attention. In its place, we're doing a plate with, let's say, a duck confit with a duck liver mousse with truffles, crostini, mortadella with some cured tongue. I love salami, but it's time for a change." (2005-03-01)

Also by Ray Pride

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