Where's the Caspian?

I was flipping through the latest issue of CiN Weekly this morning and came across a new restaurant they wrote up, The Caspian (far left). It apparently opened March 10 at 3299 Montgomery Road in Loveland, dishing up Mediterranean and Persian food. (I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I had to do some googling to locate the Caspian Sea. To save you the trouble, just know that it's surrounded by Iran and the -stans -- Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan -- and Russia. I'm intrigued to try the grilled kabobs, falafel, stews and gyros.

I only hope The Caspian meets a better fate than some of the former ethnic restaurants up north -- Aralia (Sri Lankan) in Loveland (formerly downtown); The Kolache Factory in Mason; Phoenicia on Montgomery Road at I-275...

Let's just hope that Samarkand Cafe at Fields Ertel manages to stay afloat (top right photo). I've only been there once, for takeout pilav (pilaf) and some meat dumplings, but I think it'd be better to eat in. Mm, pilaf...greasy lamb rice and a big chunk of lamb!