A Decade of Feeling at Home in My Other Kitchen

As Anna Stifano waited for her order, rich aromas permeated the aptly named restaurant. A regular customer of My Other Kitchen, she eagerly relayed why she has been returning again and again as the warm eatery celebrates its milestone 10th anniversary.

“The service is great. People are friendly. They treat me like part of the family,” she said.

As a second-generation restaurateur, owner, chef, and Belmont resident George Manetas knows all about making his customers feel like family. His father, John, is his right-hand man in the kitchen.

Growing up, Manetas “dabbled in the kitchen with my father, mother … aunts,” but it wasn’t until his parents began running the former Andros Diner in Belmont that he became immersed in the food business.

Manetas learned all aspects of working at the Greek eatery, from washing dishes and prep work to cooking. Although he attended Northeastern University for business management, he ultimately decided to return to his true calling. In 2014, he opened My Other Kitchen on Pleasant Street.

“A food business is not easy to launch, [but] if someone knows you, it’s a big help,” said Manetas, reflecting on patrons who remembered his family’s former diner.

Liam Sullivan, another regular customer, said he sometimes comes in two times a week to get the chicken gyro plate and other dishes.

“I like supporting the local business,” he said as he waited for his order.

Stifano said she often buys her employees gift cards to My Other Kitchen and recommends it to other people.

Manetas’ longtime employee Angelini Rabello said she enjoys chatting with customers and echoed Stifano’s opinion about the restaurant’s warmth.

“It’s like a family,” she said. “It’s a nice place to work.”

While Rabello’s favorite dish is the moussaka, she praised the sweet baklava made by John Manetas.

One of the most popular items on the menu, however, isn’t a main dish or dessert; it’s the addictive house salad dressing. In fact, it became such an in-demand item that George Manetas decided to sell it by the jar for $6.50.

“People were asking [for more of the dressing,] so we stepped up and said we can offer it this way,” he said. When asked what goes into the recipe, he said, “It’s kind of a trade secret that we don’t give out.”

Surmounting Covid challenge

While Manetas jokes he has an easy “commute” to work from his Belmont home, My Other Kitchen faced the same challenges many other restaurants faced during Covid.

“We had to adapt,” he said.

When they could reopen for carryout, he said, “We were hand-delivering to cars” for curbside pickup.

During that time, he also improved the eatery’s website, enabling online ordering.

“That helped us streamline the whole operation,” said Manetas. “We were able to keep going.”

Another big change was flipping around their hours. Before Covid, the restaurant would open at 7 a.m. and serve breakfast. But, after the pandemic, dinner became busier, so now they open at lunchtime.

Regulars like Stifano said she was glad the eatery survived and continues to thrive after COVID-19 so she can keep coming back to enjoy the dishes she enjoys most.

“We’ve been very fortunate to have a loyal customer base,” Manetas said.

My Other Kitchen is located at 762 Pleasant St. For more information, visit https://www.my-other-kitchen.com/