Mediterranean Amphora heavy on Greek specialties

As we waited -- and waited -- by the empty host's stand at Amphora in Rogers Park on a recent Friday night, two customers came past and said, "The maitre d's on vacation, but the chef is great. We should just seat you -- we come here so often."

That kind of characterized our whole experience at this new/old Mediterranean/American restaurant: Friendly atmosphere, great food and service often out to lunch.

Amphora is new, because it opened just this spring, but old because it inhabits half of the building alongside the spiffy Gateway Centre shopping plaza that used to be Gateway Bar & Grill and before that, the venerable My Place For ?, and it's still owned and run by Steve Dorizas, who was behind the previous incarnations. (The other half of the remodeled structure is now African Harambee. Watch for a review later this month).

Dark wood furnishings contrast with an oaken floor in the spacious restaurant on the rapidly gentrifying Evanston/Chicago border. The restaurant offers a sleek and ample bar, muted lighting and understated elegance.

As in the two previous Dorizas establishments, the menu might be described as Greco-Mediterranean/American cuisine. It includes a few favorites from the earlier bills of fare, although here the range stretches a bit beyond Greek into items like grilled kefta, a Middle Eastern mixture of ground beef and lamb flavored with onions, garlic, parsley and fresh mint, and a trio of spreads that contains not only taramasalata (Greek caviar spread), but hummus and baba ghannoush. Quite a few Italian-style items figure, as well as American dishes like a grilled pork chop with garlic-mashed potatoes.

The menu begins with starters like flaming saganaki and an artichoke parmesan bake. Very good spanakopita (Greek spinach-cheese pie) comes out crisp and hot, delicate phyllo enclosing a well-balanced spinach and feta mixture, with a little dish of cool yogurt on the side for dolloping on top.

A handful of "flat breads," thin-crust pizzas by any other name, have crackling crusts and a range of Mediterranean-style toppings, from the Cyprus, with goat cheese, olives, tomatoes, dill and onion, to the Tuscan, with grilled chicken kalamata olives, capers and smoked gouda. The "Traditional" features mozzarella, marinara sauce and scattered slices of pepperoni, but also, in a decidedly nontraditional touch, a wonderful accent of fresh arugula leaves. These ample disks would feed several as an appetizer or serve as large main course for one.

Salads include tabbouleh, the Middle Eastern parsley and bulgur mixture; a rustic Greek salad with olives, feta, vinaigretted greens and veggies; and a Caesar, which you may order supplemented with grilled chicken, shrimp or salmon. Vegetable bisque and Moroccan lentil soup also feature.

The rest of the menu divides into small plates -- hefty appetizers or smallish entrees -- and large plates. The list of smaller portions contains such items as mussels steamed in wine and saffron, cod cakes with a lemon-red pepper aioli, herb and grilled-vegetable risotto and giambotta, mild Italian sausage sauteed with green peppers, onions and potatoes in Chianti-laced marinara. Don't miss the outstanding shrimp de Jonghe, heady with garlic and wine under its nicely crisped crust of crumbs, and be glad that Dorizas wasn't so wedded to a Mediterranean concept as to omit this venerable Chicago-born delicacy.

The menu could use a proofreader; I wouldn't pick on typos like "giambolta" or "dijonghe" ordinarily, but "steak tornado" is too funny not to share.

From the "large plates" section, this pair of tournedos, or beef tenderloin medallions, comes with fresh-cut frites. Another beef option, skirt steak paniolo, offers a substantial and flavorful, if slightly chewy, grilled steak given a Hawaiian take with a bit of diced papaya on top; it's paired with redskin potatoes.

Lamb figures as a braised shank or a marinated rack. Seafood includes grilled Atlantic salmon topped with tomato tapanade, pan-seared scallops with red bell-pepper sauce and Seven Seas soup swimming with the chef's choice of ingredients.

Terrific Greek chicken, crisp-skinned, moist-fleshed and on the bone, starts with a free-range Amish bird.

Desserts seem a bit like afterthoughts. There's nothing wrong with the baklava, drenched in honey-lemon sauce and plated with good vanilla ice cream, but the vanilla shake proved to be a glass of sweetened milk full of ice cubes.

Amphora offers a full bar and a compact but well-chosen, affordable wine list.

I can't quite endorse Amphora as a destination restaurant, especially given the inattentive or overworked service staff. Among other things, our server managed to forget to bring our change (which cost her, not me, since I'd intended to supplement it for the tip). I certainly say Amphora could be worth your consideration if you happen to be in the area.

Amphora

7547 N. Clark St., Chicago, (773) 262-5767, www.amphorachicago.com

Cuisine: Greco-Mediterranean/American

Setting: Casually upscale spot on the Evanston/Chicago border

Price range: Appetizers and small plates $3 to $10; entrees $13 to $24; desserts $5 to $6; wine $5 to $7 by the glass, $16 to $75 by the bottle

Hours: 4 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 4 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; noon to 9 p.m. Sundays

Accepts: Major credit cards; reservations

Also: Bar open till 1 a.m. Tuesdays to Thursdays, 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 10 p.m. Sundays; free parking; close to Howard L station