Food That Rocks Zaytinya Strikes Power Chord with Grand Interior, Excellent Mezzes by Rachel Hunt and Stephen Qualiana If food were music it might sing or soar, swing or sway, or jump or get down, depending on how good it is. Many notable, hip new Washington restaurants like to have their kitchens put a jazz quartet in their dishes, sort of snappy, fresh and tasteful, but without much punch. But at the fairly new Zaytinya, the food rocks. Walking into the restaurant entrance in the elegant Pepco Building, the first thing that strikes you is the grand, modern architectural design. It is easy to see why the interior, which was designed by Adamstein and Demetriou, has won a national award. The soaring cathedral ceiling in the main dining room is impressive, and skylights and track lighting contribute to the modern, airy feel of the space, which is basically shaped like a large ìL,î with the main dining room as the long part of the ìL.î A long bar and another dining area run parallel to this and a smaller low-ceiling dining area are at the short part of the ìL.î The restaurant also has an open kitchen tucked away near the back of the bar. After you get past the grandeur of the ar chitecture, the next thing that strikes you about Zaytinya is how lively it is. The big open space is filled with the high din of animated conversation, drowning out the light Greek folk music in the background. We dined on a Tuesday, typically a slow night for restaurants, but Zaytinya had about 200 bustling customers, a remarkably good sign for a restaurant that opened just 10 months ago. The reason for Zaytinyaís popularity became more apparent as the evening progressed. The first item to arrive was a bread plate of oven-hot fresh pitas and olive oil with a swirl of balsamic vinegar. A drink menu showed the restaurant offered a wide variety of wines, beersómany of them Mediterraneanóand specialty house drinks. The house drink we tried was served in a large martini-style glass. It was called a lemonos maximus ($8.75) and was made of Tanqueray, Sterling citrus, lemon liqueur and fresh lemon juice, all of which tasted like fresh lemonade for adults, a suitable summer drink. And although the cocktail nicely jump-started our taste buds, the food was more enjoyable with a full-bodied Athenian beer ($5) or a glass of mellow Paranga red wine ($8.25). The food was served on modern white plates in the shape of soft squares. The presentation wasnít fussy but was attractive and far ahead of most places that serve tapas-style food. Of course, at Zaytinya, the kitchen of chef Jose Andres kitchen serves Greek, Turkish and Lebanese mezzes. With a good showing on the presentation scale, the tuna tartar ($7.50), a ìcold dish,î consisted of diced pieces of fresh tuna on a hockey puck-shaped serving of freshly made tabbouleh, sprinkled with orange trout roe and accompanied with shredded radish and mint. Although there were plenty of meat and seafood dishes available on the menu, there was no dearth of dishes for vegetarians or vegetable lovers. Getting high marks for creativity, taste and for being relatively healthy was the havuc koftesi ($5.50), a combination of a golf ball-size carrot, and apricot and pinenut fritters with pistachio sauce. The fritters were of the soft sort with a strong carrot flavor that proved to be an inspired match to the pistachio sauce. Our favorite dish of the night was the incomparable squash blossoms ($8.95), which were four large squash buds stuffed with slightly melted tangy dodoni feta and accompanied by Turkish tomato stew. This was a dish that cannot be given justice with a mere description. The squash blossom tastes like nothing else and the combination of flavors was very unique. Our waiter was professional, efficient and helpful without being chatty or intrusive. He really seemed to know the food, so we followed his recommendations, and they were right on the mark. His only mistake that night was serving us the kafta harra ($4.50) erroneously, although a better term for it would be serendipitously because the dish turned out to be terrific: ground lamb in the shape of grapes pungently flavored with cumin and served with crushed wheat in a tomato pinenut sauce. The mushroom saganaki ($7.95) consisted of sautÈed mushrooms in butter served in a tiny skillet with melted cheese over the top. This dish was our only letdown, even though it still had merit. The mushrooms were tasty and in a savory reduction but the onion pieces were a bit tough, and the cheese-mushroom combination was skewed, mainly from the mismatched textures, which were rubbery and more rubbery. The soft-shell crab ($7.95) more than made up for the minor indiscretion. It was lightly battered and crispy deep-fried, yet delicate and not too oily, and it was served with potato skordalia, a thick garlic-potato sauce. The kitchenís knack for cooking seafood continued with the scallops ($6.95), served in a pool of buttery yogurt and dill sauce that thankfully substituted for traditional tarter sauce. The two big scallops were perfectly cooked: seared brown on the outside and medium rare on the inside. Upon recommendation, we tried the Turkish delight ($5.95), a walnut ice cream with goatís milk yogurt mousse, honey-vanilla gelee, orange-caramel sauce and caramelized pinenuts. Yes, it was as good as it sounds and can best be described as ice cream-infused baklava. The ravani ($5.95) on the other hand was a warm semolina cake with yogurt sorbet cardamom sauce and orange flower water compote. We had such a thoroughly satisfying evening that when we left we were humming. It might have been ìSummertime Bluesî by The Who. Zaytinya is located at 701 9th St., NW, in the Pepco Building. On the Metro, take the red line to the Gallery/Place MCI Center stop and leave through the 9th and G streets exit. The telephone number is (202) 638-0800. Dress is urban casual. All major credit cards are accepted. The kitchen is open from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday and Monday, 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, and 11:30 a.m. to 12 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Brunch is served on Sunday. Reservations are recommended for lunch and are limited to between 5 and 6:30 p.m. for before-show theater patrons. Rachel Hunt and Stephen Qualiana are the restaurant reviewers for The Washington Diplomat.