Zavos is a carefree sort of place. It's been serving Mediterranean food on the fringe of East Nashville's Inglewood neighborhood for more than a month now, but there's no sign, and the liquor/wine license has yet to be inked, so the place has a casual, unfinished air to it.
In certain dishes, the cooking is the direct opposite: There's fine attention to detail, delicate balances of spice, little flourishes of brilliance. But in much of the food I tried at Zavos, I got the feeling there isn't a lot of attention paid to what's coming out of the kitchen. Only that could explain why some plates were utterly ho-hum while others were beyond reproach.
On the happy side, the uvarlakia is a marvel. It's an egg-thickened meatball soup with rice, which doesn't sound like much, but once the nutmeg kicks in, watch out. That spice and a bright tease of lemon dart in and out of your awareness as you sip it, and the juicy chunks of beef are delightful distractions. It's comfort food that's also fascinating.
The house-made hummus is also fantastic, as is the pita bread, and therefore the Mediterranean sampler plate is a very good idea for an appetizer. The portions of delicacies for dipping the bread are somewhat small, but not disappointingly so; there's just enough to leave you wanting a little bit more, like all those classic, early Beatles singles that seem so short and titillating when you give them a spin every now and then.
I loved a special dish of braised cabbage stuffed with beef and lamb, drizzled with a haunting bechamel sauce. The big leaves were soft enough to cut with a fork, and the filling was impossibly rich. It would work extremely well as a regular menu choice.
Hits outweigh misses
Such successes are why it's so maddening that many of Zavos' dishes are outright bland and forgettable. The white bean soup and spanakopita are unremarkable, and the undersized souvlaki offerings are overpowered by that soft, buttery pita bread. There also are some seasonal slip-ups, and so the salad of cucumber, tomato and olives is predictably lifeless, a dim image of what it could be in August.
Zavos' interpretation of baklava is refreshing; it's not drenched in sugar syrup, and so you get a good dose of pistachio in each bite. It's a little dry, but better than the average by far. There's also a puff pastry filled with intensely spiced pumpkin (kolokithopita), but it let me down twice. The first time, it had been microwaved, so the flaky layers of phyllo had become soggy. The second time I made sure to ask for it unheated, and it still lacked crispness, though not as badly as before.
Whatever its shortcomings, though, Zavos' food is priced right. Most entrees are under $10, and you can up the portion for a reasonable surcharge. Appetizers also are affordable, and so you can get pretty wanton (two appetizers, two entrees, two desserts, a couple beers) for a little more than $40.
At those prices, I can forgive a few missteps, and at the end of the night, Zavos gets the job done. It's more of a neighborhood kind of hang than a high-aiming dinner destination, and you know what? We could use more of those in Nashville.
The decoration certainly bears that out; the seating (mainly high-backed bar stools) is uncomfortable enough so that you're not tempted to while away the night over a multi-course feast. The lighting is tasteful, the overall look trim. I liked the music, which was an intriguing sort of mash-up combining traditional Greek music with Europop — imagine dueling bouzoukis over a drum machine, with a chanting chorus over it.
Speaking of music, I think restaurants are better off making a statement or leaving it turned down extra low. We hear enough canned music at the grocery store, the drug store, the mall, ad infinitum. I'd like to see more restaurateurs go out on a limb and play what they think is cool, not what they think diners would find inoffensive. It adds to the character of the place. So bravo, Zavos; keep the oddball tunes pumping.
I have a feeling they'll keep the good dishes coming, too. East Nashvillians have never been afraid to offer their opinions to their local merchants, and so businesses on that side of the river have an unusually close rapport with their customers. With time, I think Zavos will likely adapt and mature, dropping some of the duds and focusing on what works.
Zavos
1115 Porter Road, 258-4637
5-11 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
