Stina, a new Mediterranean BYOB in South Philly, opens

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — After more than two decades spent working for others, chef Haralampus Bobby Saritsoglou is set to open his own restaurant at 1705 Snyder Ave., called Stina Pizzeria.

"It's a little nickname I have for my wife," he said of eatery, named after his partner and restaurant co-owner, Christina Kallas-Saritsoglou.

Saritsoglou describes the food as "a tour of the Mediterranean."

"We're going everywhere from Turkey to Lebanon to Morocco, back to Italy, and all over," he said.

The menu features pasta dishes, hummus plates, kebabs, Turkish breads known as pide, shawarma, falafel — even an Italian hoagie.

The restaurant's centerpiece is a wood-burning oven from Italy that was imported to the city.

"It weighs 4,000 pounds," Saritsoglou said. "It's a monster. It goes up to 1,000 degrees if you want it to."

Saritsoglou noted a few other dishes, like "octopus, hummus, we have a bunch of really great salads ... and then also, of course, we have a few pastas and the pizza."

He said there is a theme that ties all the food together.

"With all Mediterranean food, it's just all about fresh and clean eating," he explained. "Just simple little vinaigrettes, really good olive oil."

Stina is a BYOB, but Saritsoglou said they offer some non-alcoholic drinks that can easily be spiked.

"We'll have some homemade lemonades, mint lemonade. We're going to do like a beet lemonade, a few different flavors — strawberry, things like that. Some iced teas. And then we'll just kind of leave it open to you, what you want to bring."

Listen to more of Saritsoglou's journey to opening Stina below, and subscribe to to the What's Cooking podcast on the RADIO.COM app.