In partnership with Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, which is dedicated to identifying ocean-friendly seafood sources for consumers and businesses, Kellari now only offers seafood rated highly by the program and supports independent fishermen who practice sustainable methods of fishing and farming.

The restaurant acquires its salmon from a sustainable wholesaler in the Faroe Islands, an archipelago between Iceland and the U.K. governed by Denmark, and uses it for dishes like these salmon keftes, or croquettes, topped with creamy mustard sauce and scallions.

Kellari collaborates with Demetra Organics, a bakery and wholesaler in Queens, N.Y., to offer diners sourdough breads and pitas made with zea, a Greek ancient grain. Zea flour is organic, high-fiber and low-gluten, and its usage helps to support local farmers in Greece.

A signature Kellari dish is its grilled octopus. Aktipis found a new alternative for this menu item as well, looking to an importer operating from the coasts of Spain and Portugal. This source only catches octopi between February and October and leaves the other months for reproduction, allowing the octopus population to replenish.

The lamb in entrées like this grilled lamb chop with giant Greek beans hails from an Australian company with family farmers who raise flocks in free-range pastures completely free of additives, added hormones and growth promoters.  

The pork in this dish, roasted sausage with slow-cooked beluga lentils, is sourced from a farm in Modena, N.Y., that feeds its livestock organic and non-GMO grains, local produce and brewers grains, and a forage-based diet. Also, none of the animals receive antibiotics or hormones.

Guests at Kellari can view its fresh seafood offerings from the open display located in the main dining room that executive chef Dan Nistorescu and his kitchen staff grab for their cooking each day. Each kind is marked with its place of origin.