Brendan Pelley, known for his work at Boston’s top Greek restaurants, melds wanderlust with family comfort—and baklava ice cream—at his first solo brick-and-mortar venture.
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Kri Kri Grill’s meze plate. / Photo by Brendan Pelley
When chef Brendan Pelley was growing up in the Greek community of Chelmsford, he’d often have pan-fried loukaniko, or fresh Greek sausage, for breakfast with eggs. A common version of this dish, made with ground pork shoulder, includes orange zest, coriander seed, garlic, and a little splash of red wine. “So the scent of that orange zest, pork fat, garlic [combo] always brings me back to childhood,” he says.
Fitting then, that the sausage dish is on the menu at Kri Kri Grill—Pelley’s first solo restaurant separate from his duties as culinary director of Xenia Greek Hospitality—which opened this week in Chelmsford. The cuisine hits close to home, and the location does, too: Pelley lives right in town, where he’s raising three sons with partner Meg Pelley. At Kri Kri, a 36-seat counter service spot that serves Greek meze, pitas, bowls, salads, and a handful of traditional entrées, he serves the loukaniko breakfast-sausage style as a grilled patty, with a marinated onion and pepper salad. Flourishes like this have the Best of Boston chef both honoring his heritage as a third-generation Greek American and giving the cuisine his own signature.
Kri Kri Grill’s loukaniko. / Photo by Brendan Pelley
“This is my interpretation of a Greek taverna through the lens of a Greek-American chef, which gives me the creative license to fuck around a little,” he says. The best examples of him, er, effing around? There’s that loukaniko patty. Also, Kri Kri’s Greek salad—his includes, nontraditionally, lettuce—or its white-miso-based gyro marinade, or even its wild ice cream menu.
Kri Kri Grill. / Photo by Brendan Pelley
Kri Kri takes its name from a wild goat that Pelley and his partner spotted years ago on their honeymoon in Greece. (Pelley was also running his Pelekasis modern Greek pop-up at the time, so the Greek tour was “honeymoon slash R&D, which is like our life,” he says.) On a hike through a gorge in Crete, he noticed the goats known as kri-kri foraging for herbs and felt a connection to the animals. Pelley is a fellow forager, wandering the woods of New England for wild mushrooms and herbs to build the pre-opening stock for Kri Kri, just as he did before opening Kaia in 2024. With decades in the industry already under his belt, he had joined Xenia Greek Hospitality as culinary director in 2022 and shaped the cuisine of Kaia and its older Brookline sibling Bar Vlaha. But he’s been mulling his own restaurant closer to home for a while with the idea that he’d eventually move into a consulting role for Xenia, especially as his kids are in school. So now’s the time to bring some of the spirit of that wandering Greek forager goat home.
Kri Kri Grill’s chicken gyro. / Photo by Brendan Pelley
The vibe of the new restaurant is homey, too, calling to mind the small taverns people run out of their houses in small Greek villages. Rustic stonework covers the counter, a focal point that snags the eye from the front door. While Kri Kri runs on a counter-service model, there’s plenty of room to stretch out and eat with the family. The dining room is split up into two sections. At the front, it’s yiayia’s (grandmother’s) house: mismatched, checkered tablecloths; a bench running the length of one wall; and knickknacks on the shelves sourced from local vintage shops. The dining room narrows to a hallway-like space for smaller tables, where flower-filled window boxes within faux-plastered walls evoke a Greek alleyway.
Kri Kri Grill. / Photo by Brendan Pelley
Some family recipes take center stage at Kri Kri, such as the spanakopita (spinach pie), which melds generations and cultures. It originated with Pelley’s Greek papou (grandfather) and was tweaked and perfected by his Irish mother. Other dishes give diners the reins a bit: For pitas and bowls, “I wanted it to be a little like ‘choose your own adventure,’” says Pelley, “but not like Chipotle- or Cava-style, where guests have complete control.” Diners choose the protein (such as spiced lamb meatballs, crispy mushrooms, or scratch-made pork gyro) and the starch (a giant sourdough pita made to order or baked rice with tomato). Sounds simple, perhaps, but Pelley adds his spin with spice mixes and sauces, including the house Kri Kri sauce, a workhorse flavor-bomb based on maidanosaláta (parsley salad). He spoons it on top of all the meats, and the herby hand-cut fries are the perfect vehicle for the condiment, too.
Kri Kri Grill’s spanakopita. / Photo by Brendan Pelley
While even diners not very familiar with Greek cuisine tend to be well-versed in gyros, Pelley introduces lesser-known gems on a section of the menu with a half a dozen “traditional plates.” Take the makaronia me kima: “If you call it Greek Bolognese, people will get it,” Pelley says. “It’s literally spaghetti and meat sauce covered with Greek cheese, but it’s so satisfying with that cinnamon-, clove-, and nutmeg-scented tomato sauce. It’s a really simple tavern meal.” Similarly, the pastitsio is lasagna-like, with beef ragu and béchamel, while the chicken lemonata is a simple, slow-roasted chicken with lemon-garlic-caper sauce. Pelley will serve local, sustainable New England seafood, cooked Greek-style, as rotating specials, too—shrimp souvlaki, for example, or black sea bass baked in tomato sauce.
Kri Kri Grill’s dolmades. / Photo by Brendan Pelley
Pair the delights with Greek wines, beers, and café beverages, and save room for dessert: Ice cream is likely to be a huge draw at Kri Kri. Pelley purchased a machine from pal Jacqueline Dole, who founded Parlor Ice Cream Co. and made ice cream for Pelley’s past pop-up. “I’m hoping it’ll be a little sleeper hit,” he says of his frozen-treat plans. Generous chunks of phyllo and nuts dot the cinnamony baklava ice cream, while the same Nescafé instant coffee used to make frappés infuses Greek coffee ice cream with a deep espresso flavor. A sour cherry and thyme sorbet is among the dairy-free options. Check out the uniquely local Chelmsford ginger ale float, too, with a scoop of vanilla and olive oil ice cream in Chelmsford Golden Ginger Ale, a sweeter and less spicy take on the soda that Pelley likens to drinking a candy bar. Market Basket bought the rights to the ginger ale recipe when the factory—a brick building that Pelley used to ride his bike around as a kid—closed up shop.
A variety of dishes (left) at Kri Kri Grill, including the pork gyro (right). / Photo by Brendan Pelley
Even as Kri Kri Grill is freshly opened, Pelley is already tempted to think about far-off foraging. Maybe Kri Kri could expand, or maybe he leans into an Italian concept he’s been wondering about. And maybe he’s been poking around the North Shore for another restaurant space. But at the same time, family and stability are on his mind. Customers might even spot his eldest son working at the new restaurant. “I’m crazy and I get bored easily,” says Pelley, “but this was something to build for the family. I think I’m gonna be here for a long time.”
Open Tuesday through Saturday for lunch and dinner. 18 Boston Rd., Ste. 200, Chelmsford, krikrigrill.com.
