At around 6 p.m. each weekday, Dr. Dimitrios “Jimmy” Kilimitzoglou finishes seeing his last dental patient in Smithtown.
A few minutes later, the black scrubs come off.
On goes a sport coat, tie and dress shoes.
“I change from Superman into Clark Kent,” Kilimitzoglou said with a laugh.
By 6:30, he’s no longer restoring smiles at his dental practice. Instead, he’s greeting guests, pouring wine and sharing the stories behind thoughtfully crafted dishes at Enology, the St. James wine bar he spent years dreaming about.
For the 50-year-old dentist, opening Enology wasn’t about starting a second career. It was about finally bringing together two lifelong passions that had quietly run side by side since childhood.
Located at 412 North Country Road, the Mediterranean-inspired wine bar opened during the final week of November after nearly a year-long transformation of the former Iberico Tapas Y Vino space and the neighboring storefront, once home to a yoga studio.
While patients know him as the owner of ESI Healthy Dentistry, restaurant life has always been woven into Kilimitzoglou’s story.
How it happened
Kilimitzoglou said he knew he wanted to become a dentist when he was just 6 years old.
“I asked my parents, ‘Does a dentist make a good living?’ And they said yes,” he recalled. “As the years went on, I kept reaffirming the fact that this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to help people — to combine science and art and working with your hands.”
After attending Adelphi University and earning his dental degree from Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine, he opened ESI Healthy Dentistry in 2007, building the comprehensive practice he still operates today.
But another passion was growing alongside dentistry.
His father owned a Greek-inspired restaurant with French influences in Brooklyn Heights, and by age 10, Kilimitzoglou was working there.
“He told me, ‘You’re coming to work with me,’” he said.
What started with food prep evolved into working the line and cooking throughout high school, college and even dental school.
“My father was a traditional cook. He really respected the original recipes. My mom was the innovator. She was always modernizing dishes,” he said. “I loved both of those approaches, and that’s what inspired Enology.”
The opportunity to finally pursue that dream arrived unexpectedly.
Kilimitzoglou had taken his dental staff to Iberico Tapas Y Vino for a holiday party. When the restaurant later closed, one of his employees immediately thought of his longtime dream.
“My front desk person said, ‘That place you took us to closed down. Maybe you could open up your wine bar.’”
He took the suggestion to heart.
Instead of leasing only the restaurant, he also acquired the neighboring suite, expanding the footprint before gutting both spaces and spending nearly a year bringing his vision to life.
Built to tell a story
During years of travel, Kilimitzoglou photographed restaurant interiors, collecting ideas and details that made guests feel comfortable rather than intimidated.
“I wanted it to be cozy, approachable and comfortable,” he said. “Not pretentious.”
Even the materials throughout the restaurant were chosen with purpose.
The polished concrete floors, warm wood finishes and zinc bar all reflect the same philosophy that defines great wine.
“The concrete floor wears over time. It changes. The zinc changes every time its wiped down. Like life, like wine, earthen materials change with age,” he said. “You leave footprints.”
More than a wine bar
The bar area and main dining room at Enology Wine Bar in St. James. (Credit: GLI/Eric Micallef)
For Kilimitzoglou, serving wine was never enough.
“You could drink wine anywhere,” he said.
Instead, he wanted every guest to feel like they were being welcomed into his home.
“We’re going to pamper you as if you’re our cousins or good friends,” he said.
That philosophy extends beyond the wine list.
Rather than stocking nationally recognizable labels, Enology focuses on family-owned wineries, sustainable producers, biodynamic vineyards and bottles made with minimal intervention.
Each selection, he said, has a story worth sharing.
The same goes for the beer program, which highlights the people and families behind small craft breweries over mass-market brands.
A vacation without leaving Long Island
Ask Kilimitzoglou what he hopes guests remember, and his answer has little to do with any single dish.
“I want Long Islanders to come here to have an experience — a mini vacation through food and wine,” he said.
His staff aren’t simply servers.
“I call them wine ambassadors.”
Every recommendation becomes an opportunity to travel.
“Where did this octopus come from? Spain,” he said. “But I’d rather you pair it with an Argentinian Malbec. Now we’re traveling from the Spanish coast to the high-altitude mountains of Mendoza in Argentina.”
“We’re not just eating,” he continued. “We’re traveling through different regions of the world.”
Every plate has a purpose
“We eat with our eyes first,” Kilimitzoglou said.
For him, every dish should engage all the senses.
The seasonal menu emphasizes shareable Mediterranean-inspired small plates with international influences, balancing textures, temperatures and flavors.
A creamy risotto may be finished with crunchy pistachios. Warm cabbage may rest atop cool ricotta. Sweet and spicy elements often share the same plate, creating contrasts designed to surprise diners.
“We want to engage everybody’s senses,” he said, “including auditory, with the stories that unfold.”
He encourages guests to order several dishes to share, allowing conversations to unfold around the table — not only about the flavors, but why each pairing works, and which is the best.
“We want people to know a lot of thought went into every dish,” he said. “We want them excited.”
Because the menu changes with the seasons, returning guests won’t always find the same dishes waiting for them.
“There will always be something new to discover.”
Honoring his parents
Five years ago, Kilimitzoglou lost both of his parents within three months of each other.
Before they passed, he shared with them his vision for opening a wine bar.
“Their eyes lit up,” he said.
Today, he sees Enology as a tribute to everything they taught him.
His father’s respect for culinary tradition.
His mother’s adventurous spirit in both cooking and wine.
Opening the restaurant, he said, is his way of honoring them every day.
Despite juggling two demanding careers, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“People ask me, ‘How do you do both?’ I tell them there’s 24 hours in a day. I probably need five, five-and-a-half hours of sleep. I basically have one meal a day and it’s usually later in the day, which has been working for me for many years.”
“I want to live my dreams,” he continued. “We have one life to live. Dentistry is one of my dreams, and hospitality and culinary creativity is another one of my dreams.”
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