GOUVERNEUR — It's white and it's bright. And you might at first think it was still a Chinese restaurant, judging from the back-lighted food photos hanging behind the counter.
But the broken-down Chinese restaurant on the corner of East Main and Park in downtown Gouverneur is gone, replaced by Carolina's Greek & American Restaurant.
Photos of moo goo gai pan and egg foo young have been replaced with photos of mousaka, dolmades and gyros (pronounced YEE-rohs). The funk factor of the previous eating establishment is history too, replaced by clean, white walls and bright fluorescent lighting.
The lights are a little too bright, but there's nothing we can do about that. And the photos are of the ultra-predictable Greek fare that you can find in any Greek restaurant.
But check out the menu. For appetizers, there's saganaki (flaming cheese), spanakotiropita (spinach-cheese pie), melitzanes tiganites (pan-fried eggplant) and octapodi skaras (charbroiled octopus).
Lunch/dinner entrées include soutzoukakia (Greek meatballs), kalamaria tiganita (pan-fried squid), garides skaras (charbroiled shrimp) and lamb four ways: lamb shank, lamb chops, lamb youvetsi (boneless lamb with orzo) and lamb fricassee (lamb shank with fresh endive).
And there's an impressive bakery showcase full of fresh, homemade Greek pastries: baklava, baklava "fingers," almond cake and confectioners' sugar-dusted almond cookies, along with All-American chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies for the less adventurous.
Carol was our waitress. Or you can call her Carolina, ergo the name of the restaurant. Carol is the significant other of Tony (Antonios Doganis) the owner. Tony has been in the restaurant business most of his life. They met in Florida several years ago. Carol dragged Tony back to her hometown of Gouverneur.
She's largely local, a little loud and lots of fun, occasionally slipping in a few "youse guys." We had lots of questions about the menu. If she didn't know the answer, she didn't hesitate to holler to the kitchen way in the back of the restaurant.
There are 18 appetizers in all, written in Greek with English translations, priced from $2.50 for Greek fries to $16.95 for thallasina skaras (charbroiled shrimp, octopus and kalamaria, aka calamari).
Saganaki (flaming kefalograviera cheese, $6.50) was a spectacular presentation and delicious start. One of the cooks emerged from the kitchen with a slab of the slightly salty sheep's milk cheese on a platter and hit it with her lighter, sending flames shooting into the air.
Was that booze or lighter fluid, we joked, since the restaurant doesn't have a liquor license yet. Whichever it was, they weren't about to serve us a shot of the stuff.
We heard that Carol isn't allowed to flame the cheese at the table because Tony's afraid she'll set herself on fire.
Spanakotiropita (spinach-cheese pie, $5.95) was a little heavy on spinach and light on cheese and spice, but still good, wrapped in flaky phyllo.
We splurged on mezethakia skaras ($16.95), a charbroiled platter of soutzoukakia, pork souvlaki, chicken souvlaki and gyro, an appetizer that could easily suffice for dinner for two.
Although there was no soutzoukakia (Greek meatballs) on the platter, the chunks of moist, marinated and grilled pork and chicken made up for it, wonderfully prepared and skillfully grilled.
The gyro meat (lamb) was thinly sliced and nicely spiced. Tzatziki sauce (yogurt, cucumber and mint) accompanied for dipping. Thinly sliced white onion made for an edible decoration.
Entrées (28 in all) are served with soup or salad and homemade Greek bread.
The bread was warm and wonderful with a nice crust. The salad was a bit of a letdown, simple chopped iceberg lettuce with some onions plopped on top and balsamic-tasting vinaigrette. I guess we were expecting some cucumber or feta to jazz it up.
Soups didn't knock us out either. Split pea was run of the mill with diced deli ham. Chicken rice was downright nasty: lots of overcooked rice in a thick, opaque liquid that didn't look or taste very appetizing.
Where the soups and salad lacked, the entrées excelled.
Lamb is big in Greek cooking. Their lamb youvetsi ($10.25) is as good as it gets, slow cooked with vegetables in wine and stock until it literally falls off the bone (the menu indicated it was boneless, but ours wasn't — not a problem). The shank was served over orzo, small pasta often mistaken for rice.
Lamb fricassee ($9.95) began with a similar lamb shank, but it was placed over wilted endive and sauced with traditional avgolemono, made with egg, lemon and in this case, dill.
There are three shrimp (gardides) dishes: mykonos (tomatoes, onions and feta), skaras (charbroiled) or the one we chose, "ellinike" ($12.25), sautéed in garlic, oregano and Greek spices.
The shrimp, at least eight good-sized ones, were perfectly cooked in a mellow garlic butter, very light on the spices.
I love dolmades (stuffed grape leaves, $9.95), and it was agreed around the table that Carolina's were excellent. They were definitely made fresh right there, grape leaves wrapped around ground beef, rice and herbs. They were covered with avgolemono sauce, made just a tad too gelatinous for me.
Charbroiled kalamaria ($10.25) was our least favorite, a bit naked, a little underseasoned and perhaps overcooked. For the same price we probably should have gotten the pan-fried version of the squid.
Sides can sometimes be an afterthought. Not here. Eggplant was real and tasty and nicely seasoned. Greek oven potatoes were lovely, lightly lemony and warm tasting — top notch. Even the side of spaghetti was prepared with care.
Homemade desserts? We didn't need any, but we indulged anyway.
Baklava is a traditional Greek pastry, layers of butter-drenched phyllo with spices and chopped nuts, soaked with spiced honey-lemon syrup after it's baked. We liked the smaller version baklava "fingers," too — just enough to satisfy the sweet tooth.
The almond cake was unique, just mildly sweet and laced with dates (or were they figs?). Almond cookies with their dusting of confectioners' sugar were also small treats to treat the sweet tooth.
Dinner for five — appetizers, entrées and desserts — totaled $98 before tipping Carol, our effusive and vociferous waitress.
We all agreed, the food is real — prepared from scratch right in their own kitchen, not delivered to their freezer by a food service vendor.
Stop by Carolina's next time you're in Gouverneur. And give Carol a big hug and a kiss for us.
You can contact Walter E. Siebel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.
Carolina's Greek & American Restaurant
91 E. Main St.
Gouverneur
535-4165
The food is real — authentic Greek cooking, prepared from scratch daily in their kitchen
HOURS: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.
Be sure to try their flaming cheese appetizer and their charbroiled meat appetizer sampler, "mezethakia skaras."
The lamb entrées we tried — youvetsi and fricassee — are wonderful, as are the dolmades (stuffed grape leaves). Shrimp dishes are worth a try, too.
Ask for the Greek oven potatoes or the eggplant for your side.
Desserts made right on the premises are all good — baklava, almond cake, baklava "fingers" and almond cookies.
RATING: 3 and one-half forks
