Fresh ingredients, bold flavors, fine olive oil, and fragrant herbs emerge from Jim Botsacos's marvelous kitchen at this upscale taverna. Meals start with a selection of salads, or meze. They include gigantes beans stewed with tomatoes, taramasalata (a creamy spread made with smoked carp roe), garlicky skordalia (potato puree), saganaki (fried kefalotiri cheese), supreme pastitsio (baked pasta casserole), and a real Greek salad with vegetables, olives, and feta -- but no lettuce. Seasonal entrées include traditional Greek dishes, such as moussaka, lamb yuvetsi (marinated lamb shanks braised in a clay pot), and cabbage dolmades (cabbage stuffed with ground lamb in a lemon-dill sauce). Reservations essential. Subway: F, N, R, Q, W to 57th St.