King of the Greeks.
The name could be better. Snack Taverna is an offshoot of Snack, a five-table Greek place in Soho that specializes in salads and sandwiches. Usually the upscale restaurant precedes the takeout version. "Taverna" is a bit misleading as well, unless your idea of a tavern is Gramercy Tavern. All the better if it is, given that the cooking done in this cozy West Village space recalls that Flatiron landmark during its peak. There's a similar adventurousness, executed with such confidence that each success seems to establish a classic.
Among these is pastourma ($8), an autumnal appetizer made from squash, chestnuts and a thin, delicate version of the air-cured meat that lends the dish its name. The latter comes spiraled throughout what amounts to a cold pie?a unique and pleasing presentation to match the ingredients' combined flavor. Bite-sized chunks of squash, as firm as a Granny Smith apple, prove far more intense than the usual roasted mash. Ideal chestnuts, a version of pecan-pie seasoning and the quietly deep meat round out the harvest dimensions.
Snack Taverna's melitzanosalata and taramosalata ($6 each, plus $1 per order of pita) are both traditional, though extraordinarily tasty. The roasted eggplant salad has a generous drizzle of luxury-grade olive oil and a shimmery wisp of smoke. The taramosalata is super-smooth and lively. There's an uncanny fluffiness to the texture, and the flavor of concentrated fathoms. The pitas that accompany the starter dips are grilled to the consistency of an old-school New York pizza crust.
The eggplant mousaka ($9) is baked in a bath of bechamel. It comes with a crust on top, where vegetable matter had morphed into a amazing sort of eggplant jam. The bechamel, for its part, is mild, almost like a yogurt. The mousaka is a powerful enough starter for those who avoid heavy meats. For those who don't, there's loukaniko ($10), a fresh country sausage run through with enough herbs to make it greenish inside, complemented by ripe pear preserves. Delicious.
The bartender at Snack Taverna is also the sommelier, and I strongly advise spending a few minutes with him before being seated. The man is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. I asked for something soft to start, and he steered me toward Palivou Nemea, a fruity red with a bakery-warm note of vanilla. A citrusy-yet-not-sweet white, Domaine Tselepos, was just the thing for our seafood entrees; a request for a balanced red to please all tastes brought Constantin Lazaridis "Amethystos"?as luscious a $32 bottle as I've ever had. Greek wine is seriously underrated.
Service got a tad worse when we moved to our table. Our waiter seemed overly fastidious, snatching every plate that hadn't seen action in the last 10 seconds. On a second visit we encountered the same problem. Snack Taverna's waiters must be trained to clear unfinished plates without asking. A clean table is so important, they even ignore requests to leave a wine list. But these are trifles.
The room seats about 40 (the famous diner Shopsin's used to occupy the space). Both sidewalls are exposed red brick; the bar is black wood and the ceiling white pressed tin. Dinner lighting is so soft, it approaches the feel of candlelight. The atmosphere is classy olde Manhattan.
None of our entrees disappointed. Arni Vrasto ($19) is a lamb stew made with shoulder meat, which is stringy and hard to get right. This one had the consistency of filet mignon, and a succulent flavor that infused the whole dish. Tomatoes and olives, bitter dandelion greens, yogurt and mint leaves were the other movements in the symphony.
Lavraki ($19) is a thick filet of wild striped bass. Served with raw onions and some fava bean puree that became an electric sauce with a squeeze of lemon, it was a major seafood experience. Everyone who eats out a lot knows what it's like to get past-its-prime fish. Fresh filets, well cooked, are infinitely more satisfying, though hardly less common. This, on the other hand, was a piece of fish we'll remember a year from now.
Snack Taverna's chef (who cooked for a while at French Laundry, in the Napa Valley) does a similarly awe-inspiring job with scallops ($21), proving that there's an extremely elusive window between raw and overdone with these critters. Hit it and a sunburst moment ensures: This is the flavor of a scallop. They come garnished with potato-and-garlic skordalia, toasted almonds, anaheim chili and caramelized cauliflower.
For weekend brunch, Snack Taverna offers a completely different menu. One of its many egg dishes in the $10-$12 range is strapatsada, a plate of spicy egg, tomato, thyme and sheep's-milk yogurt blended into a frothy, pale-red scramble. The taste is powerfully evocative of a gentle Mediterranean morning. Another brunch highlight is the beet salad patsarosalata ($9). It includes mesclun, toasted almonds, gigantes (gigantic white beans), chunks of roasted beet and a dollop of that excellent skordalia. It's big enough for two?if you enjoy beets even a little, go for it.
Desserts are decent, which makes them Snack Taverna's weak suit. The baklava ($6) is a crepe-esque roll of nuts and honey, not the overwhelming nuts-and-honey experience available at the other superb Greek restaurant downtown, W. 20th St.'s Periyali. Yiaourti Ravani ($6) is a semolina cake with sour yogurt, sliced apples and honey spiced with thyme. It didn't quite come together the way the appetizers and entrees did.