Kyriaki evokes feel, flavors of Greece

They say that taste is a powerful memory trigger, and I certainly found that to be true on a recent Friday night. For a couple of hours, I was 22 again and sitting in a whitewashed taverna on the Greek island of Ios eating pleasantly pungent skorthalia with a posse of post-college travelers.

The reality of it is I was sitting in the cozy dining room at Kyriaki, a new Greek eatery off bustling Northwest Highway with a couple of other moms dredging torn pieces of fresh pita through that wonderfully garlicky potato spread and longing for those carefree days of my past.

These days I can't head off to the beaches and ruins of Greece so easily, but thanks to Louis and Georgia Giannakopoulos I can drive to Barrington for authentic tastes, smells, sights and sounds of the bucolic Mediterranean country.

Kyriaki (meaning Sunday in Greek) marks the first restaurant venture for the Norridge family, and it's off to a solid start.

“Sunday, in Greece, is the family day,” Louis Giannakopoulos says, explaining how they chose the name of the restaurant.

Furnished with heavy wood tables and pillowy benches, cobbled tiles, a fire place, and authentic pottery and knickknacks, the restaurant exudes ambience; you feel like you've stepped into a home in the middle of the Peloponnese.

“It's what I remember my grandfather's house looking like,” says Sparta-born Louis Giannakopoulos, a contractor who has designed and built restaurants throughout the area.

His 12-table restaurant, a former counter-service gyros spot that sat vacant for several years, is divided into two spaces and roars with the chatter of families, couples and groups of friends as lyrical Greek music plays above. Friendly, attentive servers further the welcome-to-our-home feeling.

The restaurant does not take reservations and there's no inside space to park yourself should you have to wait for a table (which is likely on a weekend). You might find a seat on the patio, that is if it's not a Saturday or Sunday evening when Kyriaki hosts a Greek-style barbecue with lamb and chickens spinning on the wood-stoked rotisserie grill.

The couple shares many of the kitchen chores — Louis makes the stocks, sauces and grinds the sausage while Georgia, also born on the Greek mainland, bakes desserts like the ethereal honey-soaked walnut cake (karidopita) and cooks from recipes passed down from their families. Hint: You might want to put in your dessert order before dinner so your favorite sweet doesn't sell out.

The menu holds many Greek-town favorites — saganaki (flamed tableside that heats up the entire room), spanakopita, stuffed grape leaves, pork and chicken souvlaki (kebabs), moussaka ... and some exciting interpretations and new tastes.

The tiropita appetizer was a new and tasty experience for me. A block of imported feta cheese gets blended with herbs and wrapped in delicate phyllo; it comes to the table warm but not overly gooey, and pairs nicely with a glass of Greek wine.

Kyriaki's gyros plate held even more surprises. It comes from a family recipe that combines lamb and beef in a 50-50 ratio into a sausage; the meat is then wrapped in grilled pita with red onion and tomato. The tzatziki, which accompanies the gyros and many other menu items, is so well-balanced with dill and garlic that you'll want to buy the cucumber sauce by the gallon.

The homemade Greek sausage is a palate-pleasing all-pork product blended with oregano, lemon and other spices served with grilled onions and peppers and roasted potatoes. The pastichio, a dish that's often likened (for better or worse) to lasagna, likewise did not disappoint. A brick-sized slab of tender noodles, ground beef with undertones of cinnamon, tomato sauce and a decadent cream sauce was splendid, and there was plenty to share.

Shrimp Santorini proved another hit; five jumbo shrimp were cooked in white wine and tomato sauce. Feta cheese tops the dish before it's baked.

I plan to head back with my family to try the Sparta Burger, a half-pound beef burger topped with feta, red onions and tomatoes, and the lamb served with a lemon-infused wine sauce. Maybe on a Sunday.

<b>Kyriaki</b>

301 W. Northwest Hwy., Barrington, (847) 842-7005

<b>Cuisine: </b>Classic Greek

<b>Setting: </b>Rusticly quaint room brimming with Greek collectibles

<b>Entrees: </b>$12.95 to $34.95

<b>Hours: </b>11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily