Avra

Whole fish chosen from the ice

The fish sits whole on ice before the grill takes it. Christos Philippou, former Chef at Avra in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, worked inside a house built around that decision: let the guest see the catch, choose it by the pound, then send it to the fire with little more than olive oil, lemon, salt, and heat. His Avra Beverly Hills tenure runs from 2018-2024, alongside his longer executive post at Avra Estiatorio from 2016-2024, a stretch that asked for the same dish to hold its shape across two rooms. Before that, Philippou held executive chef posts at Little Buddha Nicosia and Bastione, after study at the Culinary Institute of America and University of Maryland University College. The through line is not novelty. It is control of pace, clean execution, and a kitchen that can keep a large, lively dining room supplied without letting the fish lose its center.

The grill keeps the method plain

Avra’s program is built on whole Mediterranean fish, displayed on ice and grilled to order. Branzino, Dover sole, langoustines, St. Pierre, loup de mer, New Zealand red snapper, lithrini, tuna, and Chilean seabass all belong to the vocabulary of the room, with the final choice shaped at the counter before it reaches the pass. The cooking stays close to the Greek estiatorio model: charcoal, citrus, olive oil, salt, and the discipline to stop before the garnish takes over. Around that center sit the house plates that regulars recognize before the menus open, fried zucchini chips, grilled octopus, Greek salad, crab cakes, oysters, roasted red pepper with barrel-aged feta, tuna sashimi, lobster pasta, and galactoboureko in orange-lemon syrup. The olive oil is tied to a small family farm in the Peloponnese, drawn from first-harvest fruit. That detail matters here because the food leaves little room to hide. A cut of tuna dressed with oil, lemon, and salt either carries itself or it does not.

A breezy room around the pass

The room is large, airy, and bright enough for the seafood display to read as part of the service rather than a backstage detail. Soft lighting, open space, and the movement of servers give the place its tempo; the noise is lively, but the work at the pass depends on repetition rather than flourish. Plates move in a Greek rhythm, small dishes first, whole fish after, vegetables and spreads holding the table while the grill finishes its turn. The wine program is curated around that seafood center, with the glass doing the work of lift rather than weight.

What remains on the bench

Philippou is now associated with San Vicente Bungalows, but his Beverly Hills work at Avra remains legible in the house method: consistency across volume, a calm pass, and an insistence that seafood arrive at the table without disguise. The dish to hold in mind is still the whole grilled fish, chosen from the ice at Avra Beverly Hills.