Lin Songtao 254238712@qq.com AFTER nearly a month of a pre-opening, Panos Steakhouse & Lounge, a new steak restaurant under the charge of Panagiotis Kalamidas, a Greek chef, officially opened in Nanshan District on Wednesday. With experience in a three-star Michelin restaurant, Kalamidas has worked as a corporate chef for over 18 years across the world and operated several restaurants in Shenzhen. In April last year, he started thinking of opening his steakhouse in the city. Located near Shenzhen Bay, the restaurant provides floor-to-ceiling windows with an open view, elegant, quiet private rooms, and wood and blue colors to create a stylish and comfortable dining environment. When diners enter the steakhouse, they are offered welcoming drinks at the bar. In the cabinet behind the bar, more than 100 Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé wines including 2013 Chateau Lafleur, 2012 Vieux Chateau Certan and 1999 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou are on display. For appetizers, the must-trys are Panos’ signature crab cakes — jumbo lump crab meat packed in a cake with barely anything else and served with sea urchin sauce, and the 5J Iberico ham — Spanish 36 month aged Iberico ham served with mini pita bread, dry tomatoes and olives. Others include river Beluga caviar, oysters on the half shell (chilled or grilled) and dry-aged pigeon with rougie foie gras. There are also cold and hot seafood towers for sharing. As to soups and salads, the highlight is Panos’ Greek salad with tomatoes, kalamata olives, oregano, and adequate Greek olive oil. Also, Maine lobster and crab bisque is provided. The steakhouse offers wood-grilled steaks and chops aged with the dry aging technique. “We age the meat using humidity and wind for over 45 days to get the real flavors,” Kalamidas said. There are Australian New York striploin, Australian tomahawk and rib eye being offered. The restaurant also uses the water aging technique in Australian filet Mignon, which makes the meat much tender. Moreover, smoked steaks are offered soaked in choices of bourbon, cherry or maple. Panos’ secret peppercorn sauce, foie gras and truffle butter can be chosen as add-on dishes. There are also seafood such as classic Boston lobster (grilled or steamed) and side dishes including oregano fries and grilled asparagus with Bottarga being served. | 