A Greek classic on the East Side

By MICHAEL JANUSONIS
Journal Arts Writer

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PROVIDENCE -- On our way to the Avon Cinema on a cold winter night, we decided to first take in a bit of the warmth of Greece right there on Thayer Street at the Andréas restaurant.

Spied through big windows on a wintry night, Andréas' warm, low-key lighting looked so inviting we couldn't resist. Why, even though it was well after Christmas, there were still potted poinsettias in the windows, something that promised to rekindle the holiday glow.

A Thayer Street landmark since 1967, when it was founded by Andrew Mitrelis, over the years Andréas has attracted everyone from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (who dined here when visiting son JFK Jr. at Brown) to Dustin Hoffman, Steven Spielberg, Olympia Dukakis and Ethan Hawke. Yet it somehow remains off the radar for many. Maybe it's because Greek food has yet to become the latest foodie fad.

You can always count on the old standbys at Greek restaurants. Moussaka. Pastitsio. Lamb kebab. Gyro sandwiches. Various forms of tender souvlaki in pita bread. And always a sweet slice of baklava with hearty Greek coffee at the end.

Yes. Yes. All those and more are at Andréas, including Saganaki Flambe, pan-seared Kassert cheese served aflame in a brandy sauce. The day after our visit, my editor rhapsodized with fond memories of the Saganaki he'd eaten in Chicago's Greek Town. But I had to break his heart to tell him we hadn't ordered the dish.

Nevertheless, we bypassed the "American" side of the menu with its broiled scrod, Delmonico steak, pork tenderloin special and even surf 'n' turf in favor of the Greek specialties.

You couldn't argue with the ambience. Why, there even was a bottle of olive oil from Greece on the charcoal marble table, alongside a shaker of Greek sea salt and a big bottle of mineral water, so Greek that all the words on it were in Greek. It left us feeling as though we'd landed on some Mediterranean shore, if not on Mount Olympus itself.

We enjoyed the delicious food, the efficient service and the dressy casual atmosphere of the place with its elaborately designed bottles of Greek wines, cozy feeling and grand bar set on a raised island in the center of the room. (Managing partner Nicholas Makris said in a followup phone call that the restaurant had been remodeled just a year and a half ago and was going to be expanded in the coming months into the former clothing store next door.)

We enjoyed it all so much, in fact, that we dined at Andréas twice . . . on the same night!

A wealth of tastes to treasure

On the first visit, I began with a glass of pale Retsina wine, something I'd acquired a taste for on a long-ago visit to Greece. Makris, who moved to Greece from New York State as a teenager and lived there 10 years, said it's one of their biggest sellers. Something to do with people wanting to have a real Greek experience.

My dining companion gamely took one sip and that was enough of that. Paint thinner? Pine-Sol? Yes, it is a pungent, pine-resin flavored wine. But I sneer at such disparaging name-calling and say, bring me a bottle next time!

The Hot Meze Platter, which the menu said would be "a sampler of Greek appetizers," more than fulfilled its promise. More than a half-dozen selections from the appetizer menu crowded the long oval plate. Our affable and knowledgeable waitress pointed out these goodies in a blurry flash . . . then, thankfully, returned a bit later to add more leisurely details about each one.

Bookended by triangles of pita bread, the Meze Platter featured a ramekin of Taramosalata, a red caviar that had been whipped into fluffy lightness with virgin olive oil and lemon; rectangles of thinly sliced grilled-to-perfection lamb and beef; rounds of sauteed Greek pork sausage; good-sized cubes of fresh-tasting feta cheese; kalamata olives; a chicken breast roasted in a lemon sauce; slices of cucumber, plum tomatoes and sweet onions; Spanakopita, a sort of Greek spinach pie; and a king-sized Dolmathakia, a mixture of ground beef, rice, herbs and spices stuffed into a grape leaf.

At the end, we were glad we'd chosen the smaller ($11.50) of the Meze rather than the larger ($15.50). Yet even at that, we weren't sure there'd be room for the cups of soup we'd ordered AND the entree AND a dessert.

I'm not terribly fond of caviar, but the vaguely fishy tasting Taramosalata was mild tasting and whipped into a spreadable creaminess, sort of like pink whipped butter. It was supposed to be spread on the grilled pita bread triangles, but our waitress advised us to turn the pita into sandwiches stuffed with slices of lamb, some of the vegetables and a creamy cucumber dressing that had been tarted up with dill. What a delicious idea!

After polishing off all the pita this way, we ate the Taramosalata both all by itself and spread on some of the meats, which turned out to be very fine.

Other platter standouts included the very tender chicken, the Greek sausage and especially the Spanakopita. This fragrant blend of minced spinach, feta and herbs in a flaky phyllo dough crust was chewily appealing. By comparison, the Dolmathakia seemed bland and a bit dry.

A customer-friendly touch

My traditional Greek Avgolemono soup (egg lemon soup), which was included in the entree price ($1.75 a cup if ordered separately; $3 a bowl), had a gentle citrus flavor of the lemons in a delicious chicken-broth base thickened with eggs and cornstarch, plus a handful of orzo, bits of tender carrot and a sprinkling of parsley. (You could substitute a Greek salad for the Avgolemono or a soup of the day.)

The Mediterranean Seafood Stew ($3 a cup; $4.75 a bowl) was my companion's choice. A rich tomato-based stew, it included chunks of potato plus large clams and mussels out of their shells and small shrimp. It was so good, we each wished we'd ordered a bowl.

A nice customer-friendly touch: although not included as one of the soups that accompany entrees for free, when the bill came, the $1.75 price of a regular soup had been subtracted from the $3 price of the seafood stew, only leaving the $1.25 difference.

The soups were accompanied by a pair of warm oval rolls, which we broke apart and happily dunked into Greek olive dipping oil, perked up with red pepper flakes and appealingly presented on a little wooden plank.

Although lamb is the more traditional main ingredient in kebabs, for an entree my dining companion went with the beef kebab ($14.50) -- big chunks of tender, moist, marinated beef grilled medium to tender perfection, the meat sharing skewer space with grilled tomatoes, onions, red peppers and mushrooms.

My Moussaka ($13), layered sliced potatoes and roasted eggplant with minced beef in a tomato-based sauce, substituted beef for the usual ground lamb. I didn't mind this one bit. It was topped with the traditional bechamel sauce, which added a heady nutmeg flavor. Garnished with a "feather" of a rosemary sprig and served in a brown crock, it looked as appealing as it tasted.

Both the Moussaka and the kebabs were served with mounds of rice in a hearty tomato sauce, with grilled spears of tender thin asparagus.

A sweet ending on second trip

Our only problem: what with the Meze Platter, the soups and the good-sized entree portions, my friend and I felt more than filled halfway through our main courses. Yet we still felt obliged to sample desserts.

Suddenly, a splendid idea from my friend: go to the movie at the Avon, then stop back at Andréas afterward for dessert and coffee.

It worked out beautifully. We even requested the same waitress, Jamie, because we'd liked her so much.

For me, the homemade baklava ($4.95) was a must. About three times the size of the triangle of baklava I often buy at a local bakery, it was filled with ground nuts in layers of phyllo dough, then topped with honey, the dressing wetter and less sticky than that served in most places. Consequently, the phyllo wasn't as crisp as usual, either, instead coming through much softer. On the side were cherries cooked in the sauce. It was different, but good.

We laughed with Jamie about how the name of my companion's Magic Cube ($5.50) sounded like a concoction one might have swallowed surreptitiously in a dark corner of some rock club during the '70s. But it was a very tasty dessert though not made in-house -- because, Jamie said, Andréas was experimenting with new things.

It really did look like a cube of dark chocolate. The thin exterior was surprisingly soft, however, not crunchy, as it first appeared. Inside, layers of chocolate and vanilla mousse were a double treat. At the center, a dollop of dark chocolate mousse, and inside that a cherry! It really was magic.

As an accompaniment, my friend ordered a tall-handled glass of Greek Monk ($8.50), a surprisingly sweetish brew of Frangelico, Kahlua, creme de cacao, cream and coffee. After one sip, even the non-coffee drinker I am will be moved to try one next time.

****

Details, details

Andréas, 268 Thayer St., Providence, (401) 331-7879. Dressy casual. Reservations for parties of six or more. Smoking at bar through Tues. Wheelchair accessible. Highchairs. Open 11 a.m. Mon.-Fri.; 9 a.m. Sat.-Sun. with an optional brunch menu. Closing time 1 a.m. Sun.-Thurs., 2 a.m. Fri.-Sat. Kitchen shuts down an hour before closing. V, MC, AE, DC. On-street parking.

Appetizers cost $5.50 to $15.50. Sandwiches are $6 to $8.50. Entrees are $7.50 to $17.95. Wine is $4.50 to $7.50 by the glass; $17 to $32 for a bottle.

****

If you like Efendi's, Viola's or Pane e Vino, you'll like Andréas.

****BILL OF FARE

Dinner for two at Andréas might look something like this:

Retsina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5.00

Small meze platter . . . . . . . . . . . $11.50

Moussaka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $13.00

Beef kebab . . . . . . . . . . . . . $14.50

Side of seafood stew . . . . . . . . . . $1.25

Baklava . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4.95

Magic Cube . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. $5.50

Greek Monk coffee . . . . . . . . . . . $8.50

Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5.14

Tip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $13.66

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $83.00

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Andreas Restaurant (Providence-Thayer)