You Gotta Try This! Demitri’s Greek White Bean Dip

Located in the Village of Cayuga Heights is The Heights Restaurant, owned by James and Heidi Larounis. If you’ve ever had the dining pleasure, you may have tasted their delightful hummus alternative at the table, a creamy bean dip simply made with navy beans, garlic, lemon, and parsley. The dairy-free, gluten-free dip is newly available in select retail stores, including GreenStar Food Co+op, packaged as Demitri’s Greek White Bean Dip.

It’s fairly traditional for Greek restaurants to serve bread with herbed oil and balsamic before the main meal, but about 10 years ago, The Heights decided to do something a little different. James was inspired by the Greek dip Skordalia, which is a base of mashed potatoes blended with oil and vinegar or lemon juice, but potato wasn’t the right choice for consistency for a chilled dip. White beans though, offered a creamy texture that could come out of a refrigerator smooth as when it was made and with the same fresh taste. The dip became hugely popular over the years and always with the question, “can we get this to market?”

“We learned that everything takes longer than we think it will and we had to have a lot of patience,” James said. From 2020 to 2023, James and his son Demitri, who has been helping with the restaurant business since the age of 13, have worked on every step of bringing the dip to store shelves. “We worked with the Cornell Food Venture Center to refine the recipe, went through shelf-life studies, and tweaked the recipe more until it was just right.”

Always ready to welcome a new local maker, GreenStar was the first to bring Demitri’s to its shelves. Other retailers are following suit and of course, restaurant goers can still enjoy the dip with their meal at The Heights. Next up for James and Demitri is working with The Heights’ Executive Chef on new flavors of the dip, which they hope to roll out over 6 – 8 months in 2026.

With simple, clean ingredients, this is a versatile item – a snack and an ingredient for hearty meals! Dip veggies and pita bread, spread it on crusty bread and top with grilled vegetables, toss with hot pasta, or serve with chicken or fish. Find it in GreenStar’s refrigerated case with dips and condiments.