Barbounia

Stepping off a busy New York City avenue directly into another country may seem impossible, but the abundance of possibility becomes evident after crossing the threshold of one of many ethnically-diverse restaurants within the city. I easily imagined myself lounging in a breezy, sea-side café overlooking the Mediterranean as I savored each delicious course Friday night at the upscale Barbounia on Park Avenue at 20^th Street.

After exploring countless department stores on 5^th Avenue all afternoon, we had worked up quite an appetite. Wandering downtown, this alluring restaurant drew us in with its vibrant blue, yellow and orange hues of Provencal pottery and welcoming autumnal decorations adorning the stoop.

We arrived about a half hour before the kitchen opened for dinner. Claiming a couple chairs in the bar area, we watched as, nearby, the waiters tasted and discussed the dishes they would be serving that night. I consider a briefing of waiters before work an essential aspect of running a reputable restaurant, or any other business, for that matter. It is important for one to know the product one will be selling. At a restaurant, the waiter must understand first-hand the intricacies of the flavors he will be suggesting. I worked at a restaurant once where it was not their policy to allow their servers to taste the dishes. It made it difficult to answer the questions asked by customers about specific dishes. How can one be expected to speak on the spiciness, sweetness, consistency, etc. of a dish without having tried it oneself? How can you recommend something you have never experienced?

Barbounia’s policy of allowing their servers to taste their foods before setting out on the floor left me confident about their service and food before we even commenced with our meal.

We were the first table of the night seated in their warmly-lit dining room. The large mirrors adorning the walls, alongside the fair blue colors of the sea, gave the room a sense of brightness, even as the last rays of sunshine disappeared with the day outside.

Our waiter, Gabriel, was gracious, burly man from Romania. He spoke with a thick accent, sounding almost Greek to me. (Perhaps it was suggestive due to the surroundings.) He was attentive to our every need, perched nearby, ready to move in as soon as we glanced in his direction. After explaining to us the range of countries—such as Turkey, Greece, and Israel—that the menu included, he left us to explore the tantalizing possibilities that lay out before us.


We started off our dinner with a Mezze—a tzatizi made with Greek yogurt, fresh herbs, scallions and olive oil. It was served with warm flatbread straight from the oven. The bread was surprisingly moist considering its thickness (about ½ inch) and the tzatizi was a wonderful mingling of tart yogurt with bitter herbs.


Our appetizer was a beet salad consisting of arugula, walnuts, raisins, Stilton cheese, and thinly sliced pears and red beets, splashed with a red wine vinaigrette. The bitterness of the arugula was a perfect combination with the sweetness of the Stilton cheese. I find sweet, soft cheeses are a wonderful complement to bitter greens such as arugula or mâche. Très delicieux.


Swimming in a sea of green tabouli in a braised fennel yogurt sauce was a citrus-marinated salmon—the entrée. Grilled to a moist medium-well, the fish literally melted in our mouths.


I made certain to leave a small pocket in my stomach empty so I could try one of their succulent desserts. Every one of the eight listed on the menu was unique and intriguing, but I finally settled on the yogurt panna cotta. The creamy panna cotta covered a thin layer of chopped hazelnuts and almonds, drizzled with a tangerine honey, sprinkled with mulberries and candied oranges pieces, and, finally, garnished with a tiny dollop of pistachio ice cream. There was also a cookie made with shredded wheat, held together with a light honey, balancing out the textures with a bit of crunch.


I could have melted away into that dessert; it was simply incredible. Every flavor provided a fascinating view to the harmonious dialogue, resulting ultimately in a faultless conclusion.

Strawberry Cream Cheese!

I started off Saturday morning with the intention of making my way down to the Chelsea Markets located in the southwest corner of the district, but the hunger rumbling in my stomach didn’t allow me to make it that far. I passed a bagel shop with people seated in the window, enjoying their large New York bagels slathered in cream cheese.

After continuing a block or so, the image remained in the fore-front of my mind and beckoned me to join. I couldn’t help myself. I did a quick 180 and high-tailed it back up the street to Murray’s Bagels. I’ve never heard of this place before, but I am certain they must be a popular hang-out, judging by the crowd inside.

The shop had about 20 different choices of bagels, including cinnamon raisin, whole wheat poppy seed, and everything. THEN, you got to choose your smear from their variety of freshly made cream cheese spreads! They had pimento, maple walnut raisin, scallion, jalapeno…so many choices!

I opted for a multi-grain bagel with strawberry cream cheese. There were huge pieces of strawberries mixed into the cream cheese! I cannot tell you how happy this made me. I have this thing for strawberries, and I mean, fresh strawberries, not artificially-flavored strawberry concoctions. The strawberry cream cheese spread made by Philadelphia is okay, but this strawberry spread was out of this world! Fresh chunks of strawberry and cream cheese on top of an enormous, chewy bagel…you can’t get much better than that. It was creamy and full of the wonderful taste of STRAWBERRIES!!!

What an excellent beginning to my Saturday! I’m glad my tummy made me stop. :-)






Can you see the chunks of strawberries?!?!?

New York City space

I am wide-awake this morning at 5 am, jet-lagged from a trip to New York. This was my first visit to the Big Apple. Although very much like I imagined it to be based on the descriptions offered by many friends, the experience is not one I would have passed up. I firmly believe that the only way to really understand a place is to personally move around in its space. No matter how many pictures are painted of it for you, visually or mentally, it remains an enigma until you have first-hand experience of it.

Here's a taste of my ruminations on NYC. But don't take my word for it. Go try it for yourself....

Having been blessed with the opportunity to see many cities throughout the world, my mind was doing a comparison/contrast to other places I have traveled. Its similarity to Paris stood out. I suppose it is the fascination with and love of art that ties these two cities together. Both claim to be the fashion capital of the world. I stand by Paris, although NYC comes in a close second....

Inside Saks on Fifth Avenue

Another thing that reminded me of Paris was NYC's open air markets in the parks. We stopped by the one in Union Square to take a peek at the vendors wares. I was attracted to the fruit and vegetable stands. They had some succulent-looking apples of many varieties being sifted through by the locals.


These large cabbages stood out with their vivid purple and green hues next to a ripe pumpkin.

I was bummed that I did not live here and, thus, could not take some of these luscious fruits and vegetables home with me to bake into delicious tarts and pies.

Another comparable element of NYC to Paris is the caliber of cuisine and its richness of diversity in ethnic foods. I'll share some of my encounters with NYC cuisine over the next few posts. Stay tuned....