Meet Peter Moutafis of Pete's Taverna in Baiting Hollow

When it comes to succeeding in business, Peter Moutafis has some simple rules that have served him well as a car dealership owner and now as a restaurateur: Consistency, quality, a well-educated staff and making people feel like family.

“I grew up in a restaurant family, but never planned to own a restaurant,” says Moutafis, who now owns Pete’s Taverna Restaurant and Bar, a Greek fine dining restaurant at 3225 Sound Avenue in Riverhead’s Baiting Hollow area. “We’re in the location where the Lobster Roll used to be. I bought the place as a real estate investment.”

He had planned to be a landlord but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many of his tenants couldn’t pay rent.

“They got where they liked not paying and I had to evict them,” says Moutafis, who decided he didn’t like being a landlord. “My dad is Greek and my mom is Italian. I opened the restaurant because there was no true Greek restaurant out here. People were going into New York City to get Greek food.”

As an entrepreneur, he saw an opportunity to give people what they were missing – really good Greek food.

“We taught the kitchen staff to cook Greek food,” Moutafis says. “We use the best Greek ingredients. The olive oil is Greek. The wine is Greek. The herbs are the ones you use in Greek cooking. We use Greek cheeses. If you know Greek food, you will take one taste and know dishes are made with authentic ingredients.”

From Executive Chef Peter Toole to the sous chef, the pastry chef and Moutafis, they have more than 100 years of culinary experience in the kitchen.

“Chef Peter was all in on learning to cook Greek food,” Moutafis says. “My dad came over and taught him. Chef Peter was ready to transition to something new. He just took the whole concept and ran with it. He was willing to take himself out of his comfort zone. It also helped that he had a staff he knew and myself standing behind him and supporting him.”

In addition to training the kitchen staff, Moutafis makes sure the wait staff tries dishes and is knowledgeable about them before service.

“How can they be knowledgeable about what they’re serving if they’ve never eaten Greek food,” Moutafis says. “Perfection doesn’t happen in a day, but that is what we are striving for. We did keep a couple of things from the other restaurant: the lobster roll and the blowfish. They’re two of our biggest sellers. I don’t think we can take those off the menu. Keeping our customers happy is important. We already have people who come two or three times a week. We are becoming a ‘go-to’ place.”

When he finally decided to open a restaurant, he promised the staff that he’d have a place for them. It worked, because many of his current staff are from the previous restaurant. While there was a learning curve before they could open, he knew they were dedicated, hardworking and cared about those who walked through the door and wanted to treat them well.

“That’s important,” he says. “Your back-of-house staff and your front-of-house staff are both important and I respect their commitment and knowledge. They were willing and wanted to learn about Greek food.”

He has the same attitude about his latest venture on the property: The Barn at Pete’s Taverna, which is open Friday through Sunday from 4 p.m. to midnight.

“It is a more casual place to kick back and have a good time,” Moutafis says of the location behind the restaurant. “It is open now and we’ve had music, a lamb roast, football game watch parties and other fun activities.”

Unless The Barn is hosting a private event, all activities are open to the public.

Moutafis says it is a great way to experience both Greek food and fun. The venue is large enough to host company parties, holiday events and other festivities. They also host a range of musical performances that have included Motown, rock, country and Greek-themed.

“We’ve even had line dancing classes,” Moutafis says. “It also is a great place to watch football or other sporting events.”

While The Barn doesn’t have a full menu, it does offer drinks and other light fare. And, Moutafis gives the same attention to detail that he does in the Taverna.

“We can pretty much do everything back there, but want to give it a more casual feel,” Moutafis says of The Barn, which will also play host to such special events as “Cars and Cigars,” a Halloween Bash and themed events. They’ve already started booking holiday parties. “The important thing is that our guests know they’ll have as enjoyable an experience in The Barn as they do the Taverna. We have a lot of fun things planned, but don’t want to give it all away.”

Todd Shapiro is an award-winning publicist and associate publisher of Dan’s Papers.