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Into its third decade, Theo’s remains a Greek haven

Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2005

Click here to enlarge this photo Brian Lewis⁄The Gazette Chef Khalil Yachefoune (left), owner-chef Andria Kyriakides and son, manager Demetris Kyriakides, present some favorites: Theo’s sampler platter and grilled baby lamb chops at Theo’s Restaurant in Rockville.

The man who greets us with a smile and a booming voice sets the tone for the restaurant’s warm atmosphere. Diners range from toddlers to grandparents. Echoes of Greece grace the pale yellow walls. Local artist Gavin Glekas captured a beach and white houses on a hill in Kefalonia on the Ionian Sea in the main room’s large mural; he also created some smaller works. Lively Greek music makes you want to get up and dance.

Owner Andria Kyriakides, a native of Cyprus, shares the Greek and Mediterranean kitchen with Khalil Yachefoune, who is from Algeria with a French background. Kyriakides’ fortes are the daily specials that change with the market basket. They might be filet mignon, lamb shanks with eggplant, swordfish kabobs or fresh fish prepared the Greek way with olive oil and lemon juice.

Lamb is a crowd-pleaser, according to Kyriakides, as chops charbroiled Athenian style with olive oil, lemon and oregano, as kebabs or as lamb kapama (shanks braised in wine and tomato sauce). Also high on regulars’ radar are the gyros and mousaka, a bechamel-crowned, layered casserole of eggplant, zucchini, potatoes, ground sirloin and herbs.

The Greek menu comprises more than a dozen appetizers, almost as many standard, half a dozen meats and a quartet of fish dishes. Pastas topped with seafood primavera or fra diavolo and Italian favorites like chicken, veal or eggplant Parmigiana are other options. Specialty pizzas have a Greek accent. Zorba’s pizza has gyro meat, feta, black olives and fresh tomatoes and cheese on it and the Mediterranean pizza tops a white pizza with grilled shrimp, basil and manouri (a buttery-tasting, Greek sheep’s-milk cheese).

Can’t make up your mind? The Greek mezedes for two offers an overview. Its bounty includes keftedes (meatballs), pork souvlaki, lamb chops, mushrooms stuffed with spinach and feta, grilled manouri and spanikopita (spinach, feta and herbs wrapped in fillo) triangle. Alternatively, a single diner could sample spanikopita that hits the mark, mousaka, pastichio, dolmades and slices of gyro, all present and accounted for in Theo’s sampler platter.

How can the kitchen be out of the soup of the day so early in the evening, we wonder. Alas, there is no lentil soup, but the avgolemono, a subtle egg-lemon soup with rice, will do.

Another standard, chicken riganato, emerges from the kitchen accompanied by roasted potatoes and Greek-style green beans. The generous half-bird is well-flavored with olive oil, oregano and lemon, its dark meat moist but its white meat slightly dry, a common problem with roast fowl.

Garides Saganaki, a favorable marriage of jumbo shrimp, tomatoes, feta and herbs, pairs perfectly with rice pilaf.

Kyriakides prepares dolmades (grape leaves stuffed with ground sirloin, rice and herbs) from her grandmother’s recipe. By special request (most recently by diners from the Greek Embassy), she makes pork-filled sausages called sheftalia.

Theo’s Restaurant 2415 Wootton Parkway, Rockville 301-340-8900 Hours: Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Entrée prices: $9-$20.95 Credit cards: AE, MC, V Catering: 301-340-8902 Accessible Web site

She relates in a phone conversation, how each island uses different spices. Cyprus, the big island at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, is known for its distinctive use of mint, cinnamon and cumin. This is not so surprising, considering its proximity to Turkey, Syria and Israel.

Kyriakides also makes all the desserts — flaky fillo pastries like nut-filled baklava and custard and semolina-filled galaktoboureko bathed in honey and cinnamon. Not everyone is partial to the sweet Greek pastries so she bakes chocolate cake, raspberry lemon cake and pistachio cake (a rarity, she says) every day.

If you drop by Theo’s at breakfast time, you might savor the popular Zorba’s omelet, a grand melange of gyro meat, feta cheese, tomato and spinach. At lunchtime, sandwiches, subs, burgers and pasta are available in addition to many selections from the regular menu.

With its something-for-everyone menu, Theo’s is a true family restaurant. And stay tuned: They plan to start serving Sunday brunch later this month.