Greek Classics

Rob Dergham has a full year under his belt as the owner of Cafe Graikos in Northridge --long enough to gain a regular following and, as you might think, pay some dues in the restaurant business.

But although Cafe Graikos is Dergham’s first venture as an owner, he’s no stranger to the kitchen. He took his degree in hotel management from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and has worked in hotels and restaurants ever since.

“After 15 years of running hotels, I decided I needed to be back in the restaurant business,” he says. “You have no idea how much I love to cook. When I was in college, when we had parties, I was always the one chosen to cook for everyone--even over my teachers.

“My chef is Jay Shahoud,” Dergham adds. “I have known him for many, many years, and he is a very dear friend. When I decided to open this place, I asked him whether he wanted to come with me.

“We are both Syrian, and Greek food is very close to Syrian food. He does all the cooking, but the recipes all come from my imagination.”

People come to Cafe Graikos for the result--Greek food prepared with a hint of the cooking of Syria, including a number of inventive vegetarian dishes. They also come for the clean blue-and-white decor and for the moderate prices.

“There is a large community of Greek people in the San Fernando Valley,” Dergham says. “I like it when they come here and say our food is better than they got back home in Greece.”

Among the dinner-menu favorites of the regulars:

* The $7.75 gyros plate--grilled meat served with pita bread and steamed vegetables.

* The $7.95 dolmades--grape leaves stuffed with seasoned ground beef.

* An $8.25 vegetarian dish called imam baldi--eggplant stuffed with walnuts, tomatoes, onion, garlic and cilantro, and topped with a tomato sauce.

* Another vegetarian dish, for $7.95, called briami--a mix of herbed vegetables baked in a tomato sauce.

Dergham and Shahoud also offer appetizers, dips, salads and sandwiches, none priced at more than $6.25.

Their lunch menu includes a marinated chicken breast served with pilaf and steamed vegetables, falafel patties on a bed of lettuce with tomatoes and parsley, and, last but not least, a pizza baked on pita, with chicken breast, tomato sauce, herbs, and mozzarella and feta cheeses. Prices on the lunch menu max out at $6.95.

Cafe Graikos serves lunch and dinner seven days a week. It is in the Porter Ranch Shopping Center at 19346 Rinaldi St., Northridge, (818) 831-1187.

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El Hatuchay in North Hollywood is another choice if you seek moderate prices and unusual cooking--this time that of Peru, whose cuisine rarely makes it onto menus in these parts.

Tucked into a small shopping center on Sherman Way, the restaurant serves from the same menu for lunch and dinner alike, seven days a week, and everything goes for the same low price, $5.90.

As you might expect, many of the items on the menu follow a theme, no doubt making the low price possible, and they reflect the predilection of the Peruvians for simple fare.

A sampling:

* Seco de carne--stewed beef in a cilantro sauce.

* Pollo saltado--strips of chicken served with onions and tomatoes.

* Bistek encebollado--steak topped with seasoned onions and tomatoes.

* Lama saltado-- strips of llama meat with onions and tomatoes.

The Peruvians eat breakfast too, of course, and El Hatuchay offers no fewer than 14 choices to start your day, including ham, fried fish, sausage and chicken soup.

El Hatuchay is at 12853 Sherman Way, North Hollywood, (818) 765-9907.

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Lawrence Casperson, having struggled since March to make a go of his restaurant, Bistro 818 in Sherman Oaks, closed down last week, succumbing to the intense competition in the restaurant business in the San Fernando Valley.

Bistro 818 was featured in this space last month. Casperson hopes to reopen after the New Year, so stay tuned.

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Gaetano’s Ristorante in Calabasas offers a prix fixe five-course meal for New Year’s Eve party-goers, complete with music and dancing.

The menu: appetizers followed by cappellacci pasta stuffed with ricotta and spinach; a salad of baby greens and lobster; and a choice of four entrees--a veal chop with mushrooms in a wine sauce, a baby lamb chop with rosemary and garlic, Chilean sea bass with lemon and capers in a chardonnay sauce, and a breast of chicken in a Dijon sauce.

For dessert: a chocolate mousse cake with a raspberry sauce.

The price: $95 per person. Reservations are a must, of course. Gaetano’s Ristorante is at 23536 Calabasas Road, Calabasas, (818) 223-9600.

* Juan Hovey writes about the restaurant scene in the San Fernando Valley and outlying points. He may be reached at (805) 492-7909 or fax (805) 492-5139 or via e-mail at JH[email protected]