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© 2003-2007 Michael C. Berch
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Mon, 17 May 2004

It's Greek to me

Every columnist or reporter dreams of having an actual occasion to use the headline above, and I'm no exception. It's supposed to indicate lack of understanding, and that's definitely the case here. Why does the San Francisco Bay Area have so few dependable Greek restaurants?

Most everywhere else I travel has no lack of Greek cuisine, at all price levels from gyros stands to elaborate estiatorion. The champions in North America seem to be Chicago, whose Greektown which offers a cluster of at least a dozen restaurants -- my choice is usually Parthenon -- and Toronto, with a rival Greektown with a dozen or so in the Danforth district, of which Mezes is my favourite. I'm told Detroit's Greektown is no slouch, and New York City has Greek restaurants all over the five boroughs. (I particularly like Molyvos, a relative newcomer, on Seventh Ave. in midtown Manhattan.)

But for some reason, San Francisco, along with cross-bay rival Oakland one of the world's great port cities, remains perennially poor in Greek cuisine. It's not a complete shutout; there are a couple of choices at the high end (people mention Kokkari, which I haven't tried, and Palo Alto's Evvia, which I have). And for casual food there are numerous gyros stands (some of which, sadly, seem to serve pre-cooked, pre-sliced gyros slices) and a few places like Yianni's with locations in SF's Mission district and in Burlingame. Yianni's is quiet, tasty, and serves the standards, with a few daily specials.

None of these places, though, seem to be able to muster the atmosphere of a place like Chicago's Parthenon or Delphi in the Westwood district of Los Angeles -- that is, loud, festive, and with a huge menu and even larger portions, and a loyal clientele of serious eaters (and serious drinkers) who all seem to know each other, and the staff and management. Kokkari and and Evvia are indeed fine restaurants, with an emphasis on innovative Mediterranean food in a refined atmopshere, but they're not by any stretch festive tavernas. Similarly, Yianni's in Burlingame serves pleasant food in a calm restaurant that's nice enough, but not the sort of place where anyone would ever yell "Opaaaaaaa!!!!" at the top of their lungs.

You can imagine my pleasure, therefore, when I learned that a new Greek place had opened in San Francisco -- Minerva Cafe, at Bush and Divisadero. The space used to be a sushi bar, the oddly-named Osaka Sushi Vallejo, which did not last long, and after a period of renovation opened up with a flourish as Minerva, offering the Greek standards. Well, I'm not giving up on them, but my first visit was somewhat underwhelming. The menu is somewhat minimal, not the multi-pages of places like the Parthenon or Molyvos, but most of the standards are there. The appetizers were excellent, including my personal favourite, taramasalata (fish roe whipped with cream or mayonnaise, lemon, and garlic) and dolmades. There were some problems getting the order in, and the kitchen was somewhat slow, which was odd since, sadly, we were the only party in the place at 7:45 on a Saturday evening. (More parties arrived later, and there was live music starting at 8:30, in the form of a two piece combo playing, well, Greek interpretations of popular show tunes.) The maitre d' and staff were very effusive and agreeable, and graciously brought extra retsina at no charge. So, maybe it's a place that really gets going late in the evening, which is fine by me, and I'll give it another try soon, with, say, a 9 pm start. In any case, I hope it gets its Greek buzz going soon.

So, why does the San Francisco area lack the generous Greek cuisine found in most North American cities? I've heard several theories, the most prevalent being that the pervasive Italian influence in San Francisco cuisine simply left little room for the Greeks. It's true that you can find an Italian restaurant on nearly every corner in San Francisco and its suburbs, and Italian cuisine (specifically Tuscan and Umbrian) was essential to the development of California cuisine. In traditional San Francisco, many hamburger joints, bars with food, casual restaurants, and corner stores, were Italian-owned, and every neighborhood had multiple pizzerias. ("Greek pizza", a staple in New England and elsewhere, is pretty much unknown in San Francisco.) And San Francisco's fishing fleet, based traditionally at Fisherman's Wharf, was historically Italian (though it is presently mostly Asian). The Wharf's restaurants are universally Italian seafood houses, and I don't think there's ever been a Greek restaurant on the waterfront, with the exception of the estimable but short-lived Samos, which came and went in 1998, and merely took advantage of the views along the Embarcadero.

If you have a theory about the disappointing variety of Greek food in the Bay Area, drop me a line.

Posted at 23:45 | permanent link

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