Panagiota “Paula” Agganis, the chef at Paula’s at Courtland Club. Photo by Ezra Pollard.
Paula’s is the essence of Greek home cooking. The resident restaurant inside Courtland Club in Providence highlights the familial recipes of chef Panagiota “Paula” Agganis. The Greek culinary concept includes traditional dishes handed down from Paula’s parents, such as dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), spanakopita wheels, a mezze platter with beet tzatziki, fava, whipped feta and flatbread, a braised pork gyro with yogurt and more. Elevated menu items also include a tender braised lamb shank from Hopkins Southdowns farm served with saffron orzo and roasted grapes, as well as housemade ice cream sundae desserts.
“My mother is an amazing cook. I learned so much from her. And that’s how I view Paula’s as a project and as a concept,” Agganis says. “The essence is Greek home cooking, but hopefully embedded with the techniques I’ve learned working in restaurants for nine years now.”
The chef and part-time food writer for Edible Rhody magazine previously worked at Bayberry Garden as a line cook and pastry chef, and as assistant head baker at Little Sister, both in Providence. Before that, she was based in New York City, cooking a short stint with chef Mina Stone, and she is still involved with The League of Kitchens, where she learned techniques, recipes and skills from immigrant women. Agganis also spent time professionally cooking and co-managing the soup kitchen at Haley House in Boston, and worked as a chef for Uncommon Feasts, an artists’ loft in Lynn, Massachusetts, which is also the town where she grew up.
Mezze with crudite, dip trio (beet tzatziki, fava, whipped feta ) and flatbread, marinated olives, Greek sesame koulouri and dolmas (stuffed grape leaves) at Paula’s at Courtland Club. Photo by Angel Tucker.
“The kitchens that I’ve worked in have spanned quite a bit, and that shapes how I cook,” Agganis says. “I didn’t go to culinary school. I’m not technically trained, so I’m always looking for chefs that I can learn from.”
The Paula’s kitchen team also includes Ricardo Silva (former sous chef at Nimki, Courtland Club’s previous chef residency) and Alyssa Rosario, the former pastry chef at Bayberry Garden.
While Agganis features many traditional Greek dishes like spanakopita and dolmas that are unchanged, she gets playful with dessert, creating housemade ice creams and rice pudding. “I try to look for other ways to represent Greek food for more modern lands. It’s more of the flavors that I attribute to Greece and the eastern Mediterranean,” she says. “For instance, I use bergamot, citrus, cardamom and cinnamon. If I’m not doing traditional Greek methods and plates, then I’m looking for flavors that influence the cuisine.”
Greek-style braised Hopkins Southdowns lamb shank with saffron orzo and roasted grapes at Paula’s. Photo by Angel Tucker.
Mitigating food waste is very important to the Courtland Club team. The bar and kitchen staff work together to make sure there’s very little wasted. Zest and juices are used at the bar, while Paula’s repurposes fruit in salads and desserts. Egg yolks are used in ice cream, while the whites are used in cocktails. “My parents immigrated from rural Peloponnesian Greece in a very mountainous village,” Agganis says. “And I grew up in a very frugal, no waste household, so I’m essentially trying to cook like a grandma.”
The team of three cooks works in the open kitchen at the front of Courtland Club. They don’t have a ton of storage, but that’s not a problem. “A lot of the stuff is getting made daily. But in terms of production space, this kitchen might appear small, but there are many kitchens in Europe that are even smaller,” she says. “I think constraints can cause a chef to be more creative.”
Every detail is considered, including the custom ceramic plates that food is served on, crafted by Slow Bloom Ceramics and Oh, Land Ceramics. And the menu itself is designed by a Greece-based artist, Studded Betrayal.
It all comes together to inspire creativity between the cuisine and the space. “One foot’s in the food world, and the other is in the art world,” Agganis says.
Courtland Club, 51 Courtland St., Providence, 401-227-9300, courtlandclub.com
Dessert includes the Paula’s sundae, chocolate-olive oil mousse with sesame and grapefruit granita, and a tropical fruit plate.
