Parentally assisted small plates on 17th

There's no shame in putting dad to work for you, whether he's helping out with your science project, or tricking chalice-coveting Nazis into getting old really quick and disintegrating, which coincidentally, would be an awesome science project. Bringing in pop to help him craft an authentic Aegean menu: the owner of Agora.

Tired of his spot being more about happy hour than haute cuisine, Jack's proprietor's transformed the 17th street standout into a 170-seat, brick walled, cast-iron lanteren'd Turkish small-plate den, flying in his father from his small hometown on the Aegean coast of Turkey to help shape the menu, because old people don't know about Skype yet. Starters're creatively baba ghanouj-less, with spreads like yogurt/cucumber/dill Cacik and cured roe Taramasalata, hot veggie plates like dates/saffron/fried shallots Osmanli Pilav, and "cold mezes" like the rice-stuffed mussels Midye Dolma, and the red onion'd/green olive'd Wild Catch Boiled Octopus, which unlike Summer Catch Boiled Octopus, doesn't contain dangerous amounts of Matthew Lillard. Hot stuff's cooked via a wood oven or charcoal grill, with meat options like Yaprak Dolma (beef-stuffed grape leaves atop a lamb chop) and Bonfile Sarma (wrapped filet mignon w/ tomato sauce) plus seafood (flown in weekly from the Aegean Sea) including a mostly-naked branzino, grilled Turkish anchovies called Hamsi Shish, and a brushed honey filet of Red Mullet, the fish that's business in the front, and (Communist) party in the back.

To make you feel like you're at sea, they've got five Turkish-inspired specialty cocktails, like the kumquat/tequila/agave nectar "Fig Delight", the dried apricot/orange vodka "Apricot Bliss", and the Bacardi/cherry schnapps/mint leaves/dry cherries "Visne Ruby", an interesting combination that's totally worth Dr. Jonesing for.