Restaurant blends freshness with tradition
For some of us, 86th St. is the north side of town; others rarely venture south of this heavily trafficked route. But, no matter how you orient yourself, one thing is certain: If you like to eat, 86th St., particularly the stretch running west from Meridian to the verge of Trader’s Point, is restaurant country.
The Istanbul Café (1450 W. 86th St.), for example, holds the corner space of a strip north of the intersection of 86th and Ditch. Its immediate neighbors include Smee’s, Lulu’s Electric Café and fine dining destination, Oakleys. Istanbul Café’s corner position is fortunate; it makes it relatively easy to spot amidst the welter of signage along this car crazy corridor.
Open since 2007, Istanbul Cafe defines itself as offering “Mediterranean Cuisine.” But, as the name suggests, Istanbul Café’s understanding of this cuisine is distinctly Turkish, placing it at the crossroads of Europe and Asia and expanding its flavor horizon to include an extraordinary array of nuances that have been successfully appropriated throughout centuries of travel and trade.
The team at Istanbul Café brings a sophisticated skill set to this great culinary tradition and updates it with an emphasis on fresh ingredients that lend an almost startling clarity to even standby offerings, like the requisite table serving of pita bread.
For starters, we ordered a couple of appetizers, Humus ($5.00), a dish of pureed chickpeas blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic; and Ezme ($7.00), a mix of finely diced tomatoes, parsley, walnuts and hot red peppers seasoned with lemon juice and sour pomegranate extract. This turned out to be a stellar combination of the familiar (the Humus) and the novel (the Ezme) that served to accentuate this restaurant’s strengths.
The Humus had a bright taste and almost silky texture, with a welcome nip of spice that provided a reminder for those of us habituated to buying the packaged stuff of just how good this dip can be when it’s fresh from the kitchen.
And the Ezme was a revelation. Forgive me for mixing my cuisines, but the overall flavor of this wonderfully refreshing (and not at all soupy) dish was very reminiscent of gazpacho – if, that is, gazpacho included ground walnuts. In fact, the walnuts lent the dish a welcome bit to bite on – an ingenious extra texture that puts this starter in a class by itself.
Our entrees included Vegetarian Stuffed Cabbage Rolls ($13.00), large leaves rolled over and around rice, tomatoes, onions and herbs and covered with a rich, smoky tomato sauce; and the Adana Kebab with Yogurt ($16.00), shavings of ground lamb seasoned with red and green bell peppers, onions, parsley and dry red pepper, served over a bed of chopped pita bread immersed in yogurt.
The sauce on those cabbage rolls gave this dish a grilled quality even a carnivore might love. As for the lamb, it was meltingly tender; the garnish of deep green and red grilled bell peppers made for a brilliantly vivid presentation.
We sampled white and red Turkish wines (available by the glass for &8.50 and $8.75, respectively) and found them pleasingly dry – apt accompaniments for the meal. A full wine list and cocktails are also available.
Istabul Café’s brick and tile, white tablecloth décor is warm and comfortable (though the silent, wall-mounted television broadcasting The Food Channel, no less, was a gratuitous distraction during dinner). Our server was attentive, cordial -- and speedy almost to a fault. Everything was so delicious, we really wouldn’t have minded lingering a little between courses. A discovery like the Istanbul Café is worth savoring.
