HIGH SPIRITS FROM A GREEK CONNECTION
The Greek Connection, 401 N. La Cienega Blvd. Open every day from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Entertainment Thursday-Saturday. All major credit cards accepted. Valet parking. Reservations advised: (213) 655-7214. Dinner for two: $40 to $50 (food only).
All restaurants are not created equal. They do not serve the same mood or purpose, or have the same virtues. Some are simply for hunger. Some encourage abstinence by offering no temptation. There are restaurants to please the frugal, the extravagant, the convivial, or the loner. Some are meant for snobs and others for the adventurous. Some for lovers, some for businesspeople and some for the discerning.
The Greek Connection is for fun. The food is not for the gods, exactly, but it should not displease any ordinary mortal. There is music. Constant music on some nights; serious conversation is for other times and places. But music is better than the cacophony rapidly becoming a mistaken mark of distinction in otherwise sensible establishments. And there is something special about the bouzouki, especially when played well, as it is.
There is also Greek dancing, more or less according to the mood of the guests. If you are willing, you are able. There is even a mini-lesson for those who wish they could. But sometimes a musician will lead off with one of the waiters, or two women will clasp shoulders and move smoothly into those slow, liquid steps. Or some nights there may be a featured dancer in a restrained belly dance. A man who could lift tables by his teeth could also dance in a wild and wonderful way.
In his “Food of Italy,” Waverley Root described gnocchi alla romana.
“For me, (it) means the first I ever tasted in Rome . . . a dream of succulent lightness. . . . Alas, I have never tasted gnocchi as good since.”
Alas, I have the same feeling about moussaka. Indeed, I think perhaps I dreamed that first rich, creamy, tangy lightness. (Unfortunately, I cannot remember where it was.)
So it may be unfair to say I was disappointed in the moussaka at the Greek Connection. I am always disappointed in the moussaka. It was quite acceptable. Indeed, everything was quite acceptable. Nothing, however, was a real bloody wonder. Nothing to make me want to get up to dance. But I did want to get up to dance, which is a point of some sort.
It meant I had a good feeling about the Greek Connection, which is one of the back-of-the-neck criteria I find--not always, but almost always--infallible. It seems very Greek, in spite of a sleek, contemporary look--or maybe because of it. Sometimes Greek restaurants appear deliberately dull and makeshift, the music more brave than merry--which is not what one expects from the Greeks. There is nothing either makeshift or dutiful about the Greek Connection. The restaurant is polished and bright, and spirits are high.
And I am being a little unfair to the food. The calamari, for instance, are as fine as any I have ever had, the crust as light and as lacy as the best tempura. The Greek salad is less hearty than most, a careful hand on the olive oil. There is nothing wrong with the dips-- hummus, tarama, satziki, etc.--or the pita bread. Dolmas were satisfactory, as was the spanakopita. I have never been happy with the Greek way with lamb, so I cannot be too critical of this restaurant’s well-done version, although it was also a little dry. My friend, who lived in Greece, shrugs and tells me that’s the way it is. (It is better on a skewer as souvlaki, with a good, peppery flavor from the marinade.)
There are a couple of special arrangements: The Platter, with an assortment of appetizers ($14.95 per person), and The Feast, with almost everything ($21.95 per person).
Christos Haritonides was born in Kyrenia, Cyprus, and learned the restaurant business by studying electrical engineering. He left when the Turks moved in, and he opened the first Greek Connection in Vancouver, British Columbia. When he heard there were too few restaurants in Los Angeles for the 75,000 Greeks in residence, he decided we needed another.
He describes his menu as contemporary Greek, making use of California bounty in the traditional recipes, but not going as far as to make them unrecognizable. He is delighted with the fresh things of California and tries Greek methods on local produce.
But the food is only the background for what Haritonides calls the “fine, literate madness” of his restaurant.
“Madness and happiness are very close. Then, if you are happy. . . .” Friday and Saturday are the nights. Thursday offers a more mellow madness. Sunday-Wednesday is relatively calm.