Fresh fish on ice, ready to be to grilled or roasted, greet diners looking for Greek food as they entering Lithos. Inside a solid brick building in Darien, blue-washed wood and ochre walls and a white-washed stone hearth evoke Greece. Spacious and sturdy, with tables set a comfortable distance, Lithos, which opened in April, was instantly welcoming.
I’d heard a good report from a friend who had enjoyed a solitary dinner at the 11-seat bar. He started with loukaniko, grilled pork-and-leek sausage. He chose a fish from the display and ordered it pan-roasted whole, topped with lemon-caper sauce. (The staff will filet it if you wish.)
This is beyond-moussaka Greek food (though friends raved about the silky, creamy quality of the béchamel sauce, the lightness of the thin layers of eggplant). On my visit, a table of very Darien-looking people — silver-haired, arty elegance and expensive, eye-catching jewelry — seemed like happy regulars, greeting another friend who happened to be dining there, too. They ordered a plate of Lithos chips, stacks of airy, crisp disks of eggplant and zucchini, with cucumber and yogurt dipping sauce.
I started with classic avgolemono. The chicken soup was light textured and lemony, topped with fresh parsley and little slicks of olive oil. The bowl revealed lovely poached chicken and comforting orzo.
Grilled fresh sardelles ($12) (three big, plump silvery sardines) were simply seasoned with olive oil, salt and lemon, and presented on a slate decorated with sweet mango sauce. The rich, omega-3-healthy flesh is a treat, if you don’t mind dealing with bones.
Oven-roasted goat shoulder ($30), and an 8-hour boneless suckling pig ($28) sounded like a celebration for another day.
The most affordable way to sample the menu is the $16 prix-fixe lunch, which starts with meze, all house-made: a stuffed grape leaf, cool and lemony; smooth, garlicky hummus; a fried patty whose crisp, deep-fried crust gave way to smoky eggplant and chickpeas. Gigante beans were soft and flavored by a sweet tomato sauce. A basket included whole wheat and white pita.
The choice of prix-fixe entrees included souvlaki and moussaka, and, more interesting, a filet of branzino on an “olive tart” — a Napoleon of crisp phyllo layered with jammy tomato sauce and olive tapenade. Dots of smooth olive puree added briny umami flavors.
Our waiter recommended a Greek wine he thought we’d enjoy, but we were so pleased to see a $7 glass that we tried the white from Crete. Our friend who dined at the bar drank Albarino.
Well-staffed, Lithos was one of the most hospitable restaurants I’ve been to in a long time, with everyone, the host, waiters and bartender, ready to help and explain. (The ladies room deserves an award for being gleamingly clean.)
Though we hardly had room for it, dessert came with the prix-fixe lunch: thick, cool, creamy Greek yogurt, drizzled with honey and surrounded by an orange segment, raspberries and berries. At Lithos, even dessert is healthy.
>>Lithos, 319 Boston Post Road, Darien, is open Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday 12 to 10 p.m. 203-202-7777 and lithos-restaurant-darien.com.
