Dolmades in the Desert

Athena’s Rotisserie and Pizzeria is a Greek, Italian and California restaurant--out in rustic Canyon Country, where mostly American and Mexican restaurants have roamed.

But this boxy storefront boldly announces its background with a loud Greek music soundtrack. “Now that I’m used to it,” a young waitress told me, “I look forward to hearing it before work.”

Canyon Country must be getting used to Greek cooking, too. You see colorful Greek salad and slabs of browned meat from the gyro rotisserie on many tables.

The pizzas are a big draw on their own. They come with either a thin crust or the “original thick crust.” The thin crust is actually medium-thick, making for a substantial pie; try Athena’s Mediterranean, a generous helping of tomatoes, olives, feta and onions piled up on the thin crust. The thick-crust pizza is really a double-cruster, with the toppings between the two layers.

If you want something even more substantial, get Athena’s combination plate: dolmades, moussaka and pastitsio, with rice pilaf, Greek salad, grilled pita bread and a pile of spuds roasted in olive oil, lemon juice and oregano. The dolmades, stuffed grape leaves, have a dense rice stuffing; the moussaka is a generous serving of fried eggplant layered with ground beef; and the meaty noodle casserole pastitsio is baked with a two-inch topping of bechamel sauce, the way moussaka often is.

The menu says this plate feeds two or more. For the record, my party of four couldn’t finish it.

Chicken is roasted on a rotisserie and comes out with a crisp skin, glowing a faint orange from being rubbed with olive oil, lemon juice and spices. With the chicken (a half bird portion) you also get pilaf and oven-roasted potatoes. And all this follows your choice of homemade soup or dinner salad.

One dish that doesn’t merit high marks is the gyro, a trencherman portion of meat from a vertical rotisserie, piled into hot pita bread with a smear of the excellent tzatziki (yogurt and cucumber sauce). Unfortunately, the meat is oily and has a flat, floury aftertaste.

At dessert time, Athena’s makes a great baklava, filled with ground walnuts and drenched with honey, and a nicely creamy New York-style cheesecake.

Canyon Country doesn’t have prime-time ethnic dining just yet, but places such as this add a dimension that makes its desert air and mountain views even more appealing than they already are.

BE THERE

Athena’s Rotisserie and Pizzeria, 18853 Soledad Canyon Road, Canyon Country. Lunch and dinner 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Beer and wine. Parking lot. MasterCard and Visa. Dinner for two, $15-$28. Suggested dishes: small Greek salad, $3.25; Athena’s combination plate, $14.95; chicken dinner, $5.95; Mediterranean pizza, $13.95. Call (661) 251-8442.