“What you are is God’s gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.”
~Hans Urs von Balthasar, Prayer
The appellation Dorothea literally means “gift of God.” It’s a name derived from the words dōron (gift) and theos (god). While the name itself is ancient Greek, there is surprisingly (especially considering the easily titillated denizens of Mount Olympus) no figure in pagan Greek mythology with the name Dorothea. Instead, Dorothea is the name of a prominent Christian saint, one christened the patron saint of florists, gardeners, and brides. She is often depicted with a basket of roses and fruit. The name Dorothea has variants in many different languages, including Dorothée, Dorotea, Dorota, Dorrit, Doretta and more. It has also inspired lots of cute nicknames, including Dora, Thea, Dot, Dottie, Doree and Dodie.
Closer to home, Dorothea is an upscale Greek restaurant which first opened its doors in August, 2024. The restaurant’s website explains that Dorothea is “named in honor of Dorothea, the mother of renowned Greek restaurant mogul Nick Kapnison, our establishment celebrates her legacy of love, elegance, and culinary excellence.” Nick Kapnison is probably the closest Albuquerque has seen to a Greek god…maybe the deity of dining or demiurge of deliciousness. He was a prolific restaurateur with such restaurants to his credit as The Coney Island, The Soda Straw, Milton’s, Kap’s, the original El Patron, Nick & Jimmy’s, Mykonos, Yanni’s and others. Nick passed away on 11 June 2025 at the young age of 93, leaving a legacy of achievement.
The golden apples don’t fall far from the trees at Hesperides’ garden. Nick’s daughter Nicole Kapnison is a prolific restaurateur in her own right. In an interview with the Albuquerque Journal, she joked that Yanni’s “is where I grew up and spent most of my time.” She was almost fated to become a restaurant impressario. Among her most recent success stories is the fabulous Meraki Coffee & Market on Eubank. Meraki is the product of an immensely crative transformation of an unused space at the northwest corner of the edifice which housed Mykonos Cafe, one of Albuquerque’s most venerable and popular Greek restaurants for generations.
Dorothea is located at the former home of Mykonos, not that you would recognize much of its previous occupant. Few vestiges of Mykonos remain. Even the restaurant’s popular bar was relocated to another section of the space. Though Mykonos was somewhat upscale compared to other Greek restaurants in the city, Dorothea has upped the ante. On the restaurant’s signage, Dorothea prefaces “Fine Greek,” an indication that you’re in not just for outstanding food, but a superb experience. That is reinforced on the website which explains Dorothea is “where culinary tradition meets modern elegance. Inspired by the wholesome and vibrant Mediterranean diet, our restaurant offers a genuine taste of Greece, emphasizing high-quality ingredients and authentic preparation methods.”
Shortly after walking into the restaurant, we ran into Jim March, the restaurant’s director of operations. We’ve known Jim for a long time. In fact, in 2004, he and I shared our first experience with a Kobe burger at the Burger Bar in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jim is a straight-shooter with impeccable credentials in restaurant and bar management. We trusted that he would guide our inaugural dining experience at Dorothea. Jim waxed enthusiastic about the menu, particularly about the sustainability and quality of ingredients. He explained that Nicole is committed to the highest quality of ingredients: fresh seafood, grass-fed beef, New Zealand lamb, and sheep milk cheese, for example. Dorothea mirrors the Greek cooking ethos in Greece — quality ingredients, extra virgin olive oil, butter and lots of lemon and fresh herbs.
Nicole explained to the Albuquerque Journal that “I wanted the space to feel warm, inviting and completely different than Mykonos. I wanted the space to feel cohesive with Meraki — in an upscale evening sense.” Mission accomplished! We were amazed at the continuity of our experience at both spaces. While Dorothea is tailored to elevate your dining experience with a dining room that’s light and airy and perfect for intimate dinners or lively celebrations, Meraki is casual and relaxed. Both are fabulous! Jim related that reservations–particularly on weekends–are highly recommended. Dorothea has become the premier dining destination in the Northease Heights.
Much as we loved the menu at Mykonos, Dorothea takes Greek fine dining to another level. It’s a menu that retained only a few holdovers (such as the saganaki and 12-hour braised lamb shank) from Mykonos and Yanni’s. Studying that menu gave me as much pleasure as reading Greek mythology as a precocious child. There are twelve “shareables” on the menu, some familiar and others such as hamachi (ponzu, yuzu, cucumber, pickled Fresno peppers and micro greens) are new and very intriguing. We found ourselves wanting to try every single starter, but that’s what future visits are for. Four salads grace the menu as do such “Street Greek” favorites as gyros and souvlaki. My recollection of the oustanding pastas at Yanni’s made me happy to see four pastas on the menu. That alacrity was amped by studying the “From The Grill” section of the menu which both carnivores and pescatarians will love. Everyone will love something from among the ten sides.
One shareable sure to delight turophiles is the tiropita (sheep’s milk feta baked in filo, thyme and lavender topped with sesame seeds and honey). If you’re wondering what the difference is between tiropita and spnakopita, the latter is a spinach pie containing feta, herbs and spices encased in layers of phyllo) while tiropita is a a cheese pie, usually with feta as the dominant cheese. Few things in life are as delightful as the melodic crisp of a fork penetrating phyllo dough then scooping up a forkful of absolute decadence. The contrast of salty, briny, slightly sour feta and floral honey is especially delicious. Pity the poor gods of Mount Olympus who didn’t know the pleasures of eating tiropita (whose origins are in ancient and Byzantine cuisine). It’s a relatively recent dish in the pantheon of ancient Greek cuisine.
In the 2006 movie The Pink Panther in which Steve Martin portrayed Inspector Jacques Clouseau (not nearly as well as Peter Sellers would have), the bumbling inspector compared women to an artichoke: “because you have to work to get to her heart.” Ironically, it doesn’t always take a lot of work to get to my Kim’s heart. Sometimes it just takes artichokes, one of her favorite cruciferous vegetables. Dorothea’s grilled long-stem artichokes (meyer lemon aioli, arugula, Greek bread crumbs) won my heart, too. As usual, the artichoke heart is the most tender with a delicate creamy texture and flavor. The long stems were redolent with a delightful earthiness punctuated by the tanginess of the Meyer lemon. This is an outstanding starter!
One of the few remaining grilled options from the Mykonos days is the bone-in porkchop. It’s quite simply the best, most tender and delicious pork chop we’ve had in Albuquerque. When our server asked how my Kim wanted the chop prepared, my Kim asked for it to be at the “medium” degree of doneness. It arrived at our table at a dictionary-definition-perfect medium degree of doneness with plenty of moistness and just a hint of pink. Greek seasonings penetrated deeply into as tender a cut of pork as we’ve ever had, imbuing the chop with luscious flavors. It was a paragon of porcine perfection. The pork chop is served with one side. My Kim chose lobster mashed potatoes. You might think the bits of lobster would get lost among all those rich, buttery mashed potatoes, but they didn’t.
My recollections of the outstanding pasta at Yanni’s meant a pasta is what I’d be having at Dorothea. There were four wonderful choices from which to pick, including the aforementioned lamb shank (which no one does as well as Mykonos once did). It’s a certainty that the other three choices will soon festoon adorn my plate, but my inaugural choice was the lobster pasta (yiayia organic tomato sauce, crème fraîche, spaghetti, lobster claw meat). While some may prefer the lobster tail to contain the most meaty and best part of a lobster, my preference has always been for claw meat which is sweeter and more tender. That I expected. What I didn’t expect was just how fresh the lobster was (this is landlocked Albuquerque after all). The only thing that could have made this dish better was even more, more, more of it. The spaghetti was wonderfully al dente and the sauce a perfect ameliorant. One ingredient not named but easily discernible is chili flake which cuts the richness of the tomato sauce just enough.
My mom’s garden always included carrots: sweet, earthy, beautiful carrots. Alas, her children always considered adding carrots to stew a desecration of a vegetable best eaten raw and just out of the earth. Fast forward a few decades and carrots in any form have become a passion. Though we had thoroughly enjoyed our two shareables, Dorothea’s roasted carrots (honey balsamic, whipped feta, pecans, mint, zested lemon, pomegranate) beckoned insistingly. This beautifully plated array of carrots had the perfect balance of earthiness and sweetness with ingredients that added to their deliciousness. Perfectly roasted, they retained a balance of crisply satisfying crunch despite being soft enough for a baby’s gums.
You might expect to pay more for such outstanding quality as Dorothea offers, but we’ve recently experienced similarly priced meals that left us unsatisfied and wondering why we wasted our hard-earned money. With nearly eight months having elapsed in the year, Dorothea has given us the best overall restaurant experience of 2025. It’s a wonderful restaurant owned and operated by restaurateurs who really care about giving their guests great value, wonderful meals and a superb experience.
Dorothea – Fine Greek
5900 Eubank, N.E.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505) 291-1116
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LATEST VISIT: 21 August 2025
# OF VISITS: 1
RATING: N/R
COST: $$$ – $$$$
BEST BET:
REVIEW #1484