"For those in search of a sleek downtown eatery, visit Eleni's newer northwest branch, which opened it's doors only a few months ago. For those in search of a comfort and romance, the original location offers warmth, candlelight, and a Sellwood address."

-Portland Mercury, 9/04

"Vivid, elemental ingredients like lemons, olives, garlic and honey form the basis for traditional Greek food, and Eleni Touhouliotis knows how to make the best of them

-Portland Tribune, 10/04

"The prize of the evening was definitely the gigantes, a shallow bowl of enormous lima beans sauteed in olive oil with garlic, peppers, and tomatoes, lightly spiced with fresh chili pepper. It sounds too easy, but somehow this simple combination created a beautiful harmony. The intricate strains of chili pepper brought the whole chorus of tastes to life; it was one of the most satisfying and original dishes I've ever had."

-Portland Mercury, 9/04

"Great portion size, and the flavors are great," says Matthew Sturken of Porto Terra. "It's right on for Greek food. Their tapenade was amazing."

-Portland Monthly, 10/05

Greek Love

In America, most Greek food has an unremarkable consistency--a few iconic ingredients (lamb, legumes, parsley), predictably prepared. A little olive oil, a little garlic--tasty, but unsurprising. After all, just how creative can you get with chick peas?

At Eleni's Philoxenia, the new restaurant in the much-loved Cafe Azul's Pearl District spot, that's not a rhetorical question. Here there's much, much more to Greek food than garlicky grout. The menu offers many favorite Cretan dishes and preparations from the owner's successful Sellwood restaurant, Eleni's Estiatorio, which opened in 2000. At the new restaurant, diners can expect an even more extensive menu, with a fresh bit of downtown flourish--graceful garnishes, stylish plating.

A classic introduction to chef Eleni Touhouliotis' food is the feta me filo ($7), a cheese-filled packet of house-made filo dough doused in ouzo, then baked and drizzled with honey. Its barely crisp edges yield to a chewy inside, the salty-sweet seasoning and dusting of chopped olives on top keeping it from verging into dessert territory. You'll find calamari among the starters as well, either grilled (schara kalamari, $8) or pan-fried (kalamarakia, $8). Both arrive steaming hot from the pan and impressively tender, the schara kalamari mixing the squid with granules of crisp-fried minced garlic and accompanying it with a lemony herb salad.

Traditional dishes are re-envisioned and revived here. Tzatziki ($6), often little more than a few chips of cucumber wallowing in runny yogurt, is presented as a thick, garlic-infused spread piled atop elegant ribbons of peeled cucumber, The moussaka entree, a recent special, transcends its reputation as Greek lasagna by mingling ground beef, shredded lamb, tomatoes, eggplant, aromatic peppers and a thin, tart tomato broth over wilted greens.

Diner 2005: Eleni's Estiatorio and Eleni's Philoxenia

When chef Eleni Touhouliotis opened her namesake restaurant in Sellwood a few years ago, she changed perceptions about what the Greek dining experience could be: Here it was elegant, understated and blessedly quiet. With her new Pearl District spot, she digs deeper into the cuisine, exploring the flavors of the island of Crete. Some dishes are so enticing they've found their way onto the original's menu.

Cuisine: Greek, heavy on the garlic and lemons

Atmosphere: Relaxation carries the day at both places, though the Pearl location has a more elegant black-and-white decor.

Menu: More than 30 appetizers and salads, most around $8;
17 entrees ($12-$16).

On the cheap: Approach those appetizers tapas style, and stick to the by-the-glass wine list.

Must-have dishes: Skordalia, a spread of potatoes and walnuts; pan-fried calamari; phyllo stuffed with feta cheese; chocolate torte.

Reasons to go: You love Greek food, but you hate places with a carnival vibe.

-The Oregonian, 4-22-05

-Greek Love (cont.)

Meat hogs the spotlight on many restaurant menus, but Eleni's treats carnal ingredients democratically; beef harmonizes with onion, herbs and tomato sauce in the biftekia meatballs ($8) and lamb is paired with cheese, tomato and pan-broiled broccolini in a filo special entree, while wine-braised Carlton pork is served unceremoniously on toast in the mpekri meze ($8). This evenhanded approach allows the diner to explore new tastes without feeling gluttonous.

The back page of the menu is devoted to pasta dishes, but it seems senseless to fill up on noodles when there are so many other fragrant dishes that cut right to the chase. If makaronia you must have, try one of the dishes that features fresh and salty Prince Edward Island mussels: Eleni's offers mussels baked with tomatoes, onions and chilis over ziti (zita me midia chania, $15) or with clams, prawns, scallops and fresh vegetables in tomato sauce (linguini tou psara, $16).

A Greek meal ends best in baklava, and Eleni's is certainly the best in Portland. The typical brick of thinly layered filo and chopped nuts is sparked up by the splashy addition of candied orange zest, broken cinnamon bark and a generous sprig of mint ($6) Molten, crunchy and swimming in honey , there's something erotic about a dessert you have to eat this slowly. If you're in a rush, try the ouzo-cinnamon ice cream, served atop a seriously dense chocolate tart ($6).

If you're used to the poorly lit, depressingly furnished, ouzo-splattered variety of Greek restaurant, both Eleni's locations are a treat. Touhouliotis (co-owner along with husband George, who owned the much-missed Portland rock hall Satyricon) originally hails from Chania, Crete--you know, that tiny island off the Greek coast where the Minoan civilization used to hang out. Since emigrating to the United States at age 18, Eleni has been hip-deep in dolmades, working years at Dimitri's on Burnside (which is owned by her brother-in-law) before opening her first restaurant.

The new downtown spot--the Greek name, by the way, translates as "hospitality"--is freshly dressed up with warm wood and black and white draperies, glossy-dark wainscoting and organic Noguchi-like pendent light fixtures. The space feels airy, cosmopolitan and--two words we finally have the opportunity to apply to Greek food--classically elegant.

-Elizabeth Dye, Willamette Week, 01/06