Corner Grille

Sometimes being fresh is the best

by Margaret LeRoux

Corner Grille
806 Pleasant Street, Worcester
754-8884
Mon.-Sat.
11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Cash only
BYOB
Handicap accessible

I hope the residents of the Richmond Avenue/Pleasant Street part of town won't mind if I let the rest of Worcester in on a wonderful new addition to their neighborhood. The Corner Grille is a little gem where you can eat in or take out foods with a decidedly Greek accent at very reasonable prices.

It's the kind of place where everything looks and smells so good, you'll want to pull up a chair and sample the entire contents of the display case. Four of us did a fair amount of sampling on a recent evening, and we can't wait to go back and try more.

We sat at one of a handful of tables; though the Corner Grille does a brisk take out business. The decor is stark -- white walls, a few colorful posters -- but the place is spotlessly clean, and there is a vase of fresh flowers on each table. A huge blackboard hanging from the Grille's high ceiling lists the entire contents of the menu. Place your order, pick a table; and one of the two cooks who double as waitress and cashier will bring your food.

We started with tabbouleh and feta cheese salad ($4.50), a generous mound of lemony bulgur mixed with lots of parsley, chopped tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers over an assortment of salad greens, dotted with big chunks of feta cheese. It tasted so fresh that three of us were enticed to forgo an assortment of sandwich wraps for more of the Corner Grille's Greek specialties.

I chose a stuffed eggplant half, served piping hot with triangles of warm pita bread. The eggplant had been scooped out, chopped, and combined with a mixture of ground lamb, tomatoes, onions, tiny bits of carrot, herbs, and a dash of cinnamon. The re-filled eggplant half is covered with a thick béchamel sauce and baked till the topping is golden brown. What a delectable dish for a cool, fall evening -- the subtly flavored lamb and eggplant filling and the creamy béchamel. It was only the sizable portions of my companions' meals that prevented them from sneaking more bites from my plate.

Two of them selected grilled specialties, one beef kebab ($8.50), the other lamb kebab ($9.99). Both received several, large pieces of meat served over rice pilaf with slices of charred zucchini and summer squash, red and yellow peppers, onions, and tomatoes.

The meat, flavored with a marinade of lemon, onion, and garlic, was tender, though we were grateful when we were provided with steak knives in addition to the plastic cutlery. The grilled vegetables had a smoky flavor, which added to the heartiness of the dishes. Even the pilaf was noticeably good. In some restaurants pilaf is neglected, served overcooked or mushy, but at the Corner Grille, it's carefully prepared and quite tasty.

Greek salads are served with the grilled specialties. They are a generous assortment of greens, tomatoes, and cucumber slices, hefty slices that especially appealed to the men in our group. You can add feta and tangy Greek olives if you like; we did, and they gave a nice zing to the salad. The dressing is especially good -- very creamy and lemony at the same time.

The Corner Grille's proprietor Raena Heppenstall learned to cook from her Greek grandmother, whose talent shows in the food her granddaughter now serves. The chicken, lemon, and rice soup ($1.60 for a cup, $2.60 for a bowl), for example, combines simple ingredients perfectly.

Heppenstall was raised in the neighborhood and worked in the Greek restaurant that used to occupy the site where she now presides.

"The former owners were planning to sell to someone who was going to open a pizza place. This neighborhood doesn't need another pizza place," she said, so she bought the restaurant herself.

"I decided to go with my gut feeling, so I'm focusing on Greek food, but I've also added sandwiches and wraps," she continued.

The night we dined, one in our party tried a BLT, available as a sandwich or in a wrap. My friend chose the sandwich and was rewarded with a beautifully constructed serving of bacon, fresh tomato slices, and crunchy romaine on a freshly baked baguette. That's right, a whole baguette -- sandwiches here are for hearty appetites or those who want to share.

Heppenstall is a stickler for good bread; she bakes her own for sandwiches and every Thursday travels to Newton to pick up a big load of Iggy's bread. The breads are available only by phoning ahead to order.

In the near future Heppenstall plans to add "comfort foods like four cheese macaroni, shepherd's pie, and quiche."

She also plans to be open for the morning commute with self-serve coffee, crumb cake, and newspapers from 7 to 10 .a.m.

I almost forgot desserts. We loved the raspberry heart cookies ($1.25) and the mille-feuille cake ($2.25). Our bill included soft drinks and a bottle of micro-brewed ice tea was $42.62.