Hellenic Pizzeria emerges on Elm Street
Walking down Elm Street in Manchester, you notice a new pizzeria next to Cat Alley, and you stop short. Wait a second, wasn’t that the new—?
Yes, owner Dionysius Lemos said, it was the Statesman Diner.
“We had an occupancy permit for 21 days. Out of 21 days, we only opened for nine days.” This problem, he explained, was with the Statesman’s kitchen’s exhaust system. “We kept triggering off the fire alarm in here. What was happening, the exhaust was going up the ductwork, but it was bellowing out because we have an open concept kitchen into the dining room, and it was affecting the patrons, and then the fire alarms would go off.”
This led to a quick redesign of the restaurant, one not built around an exhaust system. Lemos installed ventless pizza ovens and changed his restaurant’s focus to traditional Greek pizza. “We use a Greek recipe,” Lemos said. “It’s a Peloponnesian recipe for pizza. It comes from southern Greece. It’s been around for hundreds of years. Greeks’ public position [is] they recognize the influence that the Italians have had with pizza, but they’ve also played a major role with pizza since the 1600s. So this recipe is well over 300 years old. It’s a recipe that nobody uses anywhere around us.”
What makes Hellenic’s pizza special, Lemos said, is the dough.
“It’s a thick crust,” he said. “But the difference is in our fermentation process. We sit on the dough for two days. The longer you sit on that dough, the tastier it is.” The dough is cold-proofed, which means it is left to rise in the refrigerator, so the yeast in the dough has time to develop flavor.
“So we specialize in 10-inch Greek pies. Everything’s fresh. Our own dough, our own sauce, our own cheese, which we shred ourselves,” Lemos said. “We use a blend of cheddar and mozzarella.” The pizzas are baked for a short time at a high temperature. “We’re running at about 800 degrees, and we’re running seven-minute pies.”
While the Statesman had a long and ambitious menu, Lemos said, the change in concept has led to a smaller, pizza-focused range of dishes. But that leaves a question hanging in the air: What about the french fries?
Hellenic Pizzeria is next to Cat Alley, an alley covered on one side with murals of cats made by area artists, which has become a cultural landmark in Manchester. During renovations to the restaurant in its diner iteration, Lemos installed a walk-up french fry window on the non-mural side of the alley. The goal was to make top-quality fries available to late-night customers leaving concerts or downtown bars. There has been a lot of excitement about the french fry window among late-night foodies.
“The french fries are gone,” Lemos said sadly. “But the window is being repurposed. It will still be open, but it will serve rotisserie hot dogs. In deference to the cat people, it’s going to be called Cat Alley Landmark Dawgs. There will be a hot dog [available], a cheese dog, a chili dog, or a chili cheese dog. I’m really sad to see the fry station going — on weekends we’re selling 50 pounds an hour, some days — and that was when we were only open for nine days.”
Hellenic Pizzeria
Where: 836 Elm St., Manchester, 932-2751
Hours: Open seven days a week 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Hours of operation for the walk-up hot dog window are still being determined.