In 2002, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” became one of the biggest surprise indie hits of all time, grossing $369 million on just a $5 million budget. It shocked Hollywood as a Top 5 grosser of the year, behind only “Spider-Man,” “Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones,” “Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets” and “Signs.”
This Friday, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” opens in movie theaters — and a D.C. chef can’t wait to see it.
“I remember my whole family watching it when it first came out in 2002,” Chef Jenn Crovato told WTOP. “I’m Italian, so it was very relatable, from when she brought her lunch to school and the kids made fun of it, to the whole family being involved in your whole life — my grandmother is very much involved in my daughter’s life still. It was just very relatable, I watched it I don’t know how many times, but very much looking forward to the third.”
After the movie, moviegoers can celebrate with Crovato’s Mediterranean cuisine at 1310 Kitchen & Bar, which opened in 2019 on Wisconsin Avenue between Dumbarton and N Streets, Northwest in Georgetown.
“Everybody is welcome if you want to go to Georgetown, go down to the waterfront, watch the movie, come up the street and come up to us: 1310 is both the name and the address,” Crovato said. “One of the things we’ve been making is moussaka. It’s frozen, so if you want to take it home and eat it at your house, you can do that, but we’ll also feature it on the menu this week if people want to go and watch the movie in Georgetown then come up.”
The menu includes all kinds of delicious Mediterranean favorites.
“Greek salad we’ve always had on there, it’s sort of a staple here,” Crovato said. “We also have the grilled calamari. It’s done sort of the same way in Southern Italy as they do in Greece where it’s just black Kalamata olives, potatoes, we put Chimichurri on top, which is just a light vinaigrette with parsley, chalets, garlic, peperoncini and then we squeeze fresh lemon on top. Most places have fried calamari, but we do not fry it, we grill it and I love.”
If you’re looking for even more seafood, check out the shrimp with a tangy lemon and basil orzo.
“We do have grilled shrimp tacos on the menu,” Crovato said. “We also use the Chimichurri on that as well. I just think it’s the best. We put it on our grilled steaks, we kind of put it on everything. It’s the best addition and we have a lot of people who come here and just get their own jar of Chimichurri to take home so they can have it and put it on their own food when they cook at home.”
Speaking of cooking at home, Crovato penned a cookbook about a decade ago called “Olive Oil, Sea Salt and Pepper.” Her approach was honed growing up in Silver Spring in a big Italian family, who taught her to cook at age 16, along with her Greek best friend, before studying at the Culinary Institute of American in New York City.
“The whole idea is method cooking using only those three ingredients [olive oil, sea salt and pepper],” Crovato said. “You only need those three ingredients in your pantry. If you only have those three, you can cook anything. It’s not about seeking out a laundry list of ingredients so you can cook. … It has that whole Mediterranean flair to the food. It’s just taking the freshest products you can find and doing as little to it as possible.”
Listen to our full conversation here.
