We needn't have worried. At Briam, the retsina, like everything else, is first-rate. It's impossible not to warm to a place that tries so earnestly to please. The spare taverna setting has an authentic feel, with its wide-planked pine ceiling, amply sized blond wood chairs and wine bottles and candles everywhere.
Service is attentive and congenial.
While mulling over the menu, toasty flatbread, a cumin-spiked bean puree and olives vie for our attention. Then the kitchen sends forth finely tuned Greek classics on the cold mezze platter, a three-tiered extravaganza loaded with glistening, roasted sweet peppers and a host of ethereal dips, including a satiny taramosalada, a pristine tzatzaki full of shredded cucumber and a mellow, smoky eggplant melintzanosalada. The hot counterpart offers crisp calamari, flaky spinach pie, grilled cheese, quail and more. That quail is perfectly charred, and it can also be ordered as an entree alongside potatoes in a pastry crust and healthy sauteed greens. Alas, when our briam arrives, the mix of summer vegetables and lamb has spent too long in the oven and is black on the bottom.