Israeli Breakfast (two eggs any style, w/ labneh cheese, home fries, Israeli salad & pita)
by Celia Cheng
February 28th, 2008
MIRIAM
79 5th Ave
(St Marks & Warren St)
Park Slope, Brooklyn
718-622-2250
Do you sometimes forget to give credit to those consistently solid neighborhood restaurants and just take them for granted? I think that’s what I’ve done with Miriam. After reviewing Gazala Place, I was reminded of a recent brunch at Miriam, and so while I’m on a roll, let’s talk about another restaurant that serves great Israeli fare.
Miriam is about four times the size of Gazala Place, but even so, its popularity exceeds the number of seats available. On weekends, crowds amass outside, eagerly awaiting their turn to enjoy the scrumptious brunch.
With plenty of windows and light yellow and green walls, Miriam has a bright and cheery atmosphere. In contrast to Gazala’s more demure homemade feel, Miriam is modern and hip. It’s not just the Park Slope location, but the philosophy behind the food emphasizes the cross pollination of modern Jewish culture and cuisine rather than strict adherence to heritage and tradition.
At brunch, I most enjoy sitting at the bar and sipping fresh squeezed orange juice while I wait for my Israeli breakfast. It includes two eggs (my order: sunny side up, extra crispy), labneh cheese, home fries, Israeli salad and pita.
The eggs arrived perfectly cooked as I specified, with the yolks runny, but the edges burnt to a crisp. The labneh cheese has the consistency and taste of yogurt; drizzled with olive oil, it’s irresistible with the piping hot pita. Miriam’s pitas come from Pita Express, but these thick, meaty but fluffy pitas are so good I assumed they were homemade. The Israeli salad of tomato, cucumber and onions was finely diced and provided my serving of vegetables for the day. And no brunch would be complete without home fries. These are cooked soft with juicy onions. I also asked for Miriam’s tahini sauce, which I call “the green sauce,” on the side. Green with a fragrant scent of fresh herbs, it’s tahini blended with cilantro and parsley. I add it to everything on my plate.
The original Miriam on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope (the one I visit) opened in 2005, but given the success of the restaurant, another one opened last year in Cobble Hill.
While Gazala Place and Miriam are stylistically quite different, both offer delicious fare in very diverse neighborhoods. Hurray for good Middle Eastern food in New York.
Posted in Brunch , Israeli , Park Slope
Burekas
by Celia Cheng
February 27th, 2008
GAZALA PLACE
709 9th Ave
(48th & 49th St)
212-245-0709
Though the four-month-old Israeli/Middle Eastern restaurant could be considered a hole in the wall, Gazala Place seems to be on everyone’s radar. The tiny shoebox of a restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen seats less than twenty, and its rustic décor is a clear contrast to its trendy neighbor, Kyotofu. Yet Gazala Place has been very successful in drawing in customers who willingly wait, and amassing much praise from critics.
The secret behind Gazala Place’s crowds is the homestyle cooking of the eponymous chef, Halabi Gazala. All prepared by hand; it’s comfort food that warms you up inside and out. Prices are reasonable and the food always hits the spot. Though the restaurant doesn’t seem like the type of place that would take reservations, it would be to your advantage to call ahead to check availability, whether for lunch or dinner.
There are several noteworthy dishes, starting with the appetizer, kibbe: whole wheat meatballs stuffed with chopped meat, onions, pine nuts and homemade spices and herbs. Just listening to the description makes my mouth water, and each bite of the kibbe fulfills its promise.
The homemade grape leaves are also outstanding. I generally avoid grape leaves on menus because they usually come cold, straight out of a can. At Gazala, however, the grape leaves are hand rolled so they don’t all look uniformly perfect in form, yet they are consistently delectable. The grape leaves, prepared with or without meat, are stuffed with rice and spices and accompanied by homemade yogurt, and my favorite part is that they are served warm.
The lentil soup is another knockout. I tend to expect lentil soup to be heavy and full of brown lentil grains, which I don’t find particularly appetizing. Gazala’s version, however, is smooth, light, and bright yellow in color. It was so flavorful I assumed there must have been other ingredients in it, but Gazala assured me that it was just cooked red lentils. Wow! When you’re good, even the simplest of ingredients is scrumptious.
The burekas seem to be one of the most popular dishes each time I visit. The sesame encrusted phyllo dough is fluffy and flakey, stuffed with homemade goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. Perfectly smooth and creamy, the sun-dried tomatoes are well mixed into the cheese, so that the filling is peach colored with little specks of tomato. The result is perfectly balanced flavor. It’s hard to stop oneself from inhaling the whole bureka, but it’s substantial, so I’d advise taking your time and savoring it.
Some of Gazala’s most notable handiwork is the Druse pita she makes at the front of the restaurant. The pita is paper thin, made of whole wheat with a dash of cornmeal. It’s not particularly flavorful but has a great texture and when served hot, the pita is the perfect accompaniment to the appetizer spreads like the hommus moudammas (hummus with fava beans) — another must-have.
I know I’ve recommended five cravings already but it doesn’t end there. I’ve saved the best for last. Though I’m not a sweets fan, I cannot pass up the dessert osh al-saraia. Gazala won’t say exactly what it is other than it’s a dessert that she learned to make from her grandmother and that now her own version is even better. The waitress describes it as shredded dough with some kind of cream on top. Each critic that has reviewed Gazala Place has a different description ranging from Irene Sax’s “custard that has the texture of clotted cream and the scent of orange-flower water” in the Daily News to Salli Vates’ “halfway between sweetened cheese and cream.” Gazala is adamant that it’s not a cream, but wouldn’t tell me any more than that. I couldn’t decipher what the mystery “non-cream” was, but it did remind me of cream cheese or sour cream-based frostings. Whatever this mystery dessert is, it’s delicious. And at the end of the day, I was happy to retire from the guessing game and just enjoy the perfect finale to a good homestyle meal.
Posted in Bread , Cheese , Hell’s Kitchen , Israeli
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