Maydan

I have been in a bit of a rut lately, down, unmotivated, not even really all that interested in cooking (I know). I won’t dwell on the cause, but I mention itonly to say that last night was truly inspirational.

We were invited to the soft opening of Maydan, sister restaurant to my fave spot Compass Rose. It was such a privilege to be invited to part of such a special and highly anticipated event, made even more special by the fact it was spectacular and delicious.

Having opened several restaurants in my past career, I know the hell that soft openings can usually mean. Now, I only had the guest perspective, and my observations were only of the front of the house, but Maydan had none of that nervous, insanity that I would have expected, it was a pleasure through and through and through.

Arricing at the Manhattan building on Flida Ave, Maydan is tucked down a alley of sorts, at the end of which one finds a beautiful and imposing turqiose door flanked by exposed brick and tiled panels. There is no sign to speak of, but the façade is a fitting invitation for the culiary intiuige that lies within.

Upon entering this formidable doorway one finds themselves in a small antechamber with a host stand, the separation intensifiews the mystery of what lies within, love this effect. The host staff was friendly, but of course they were, it’s the soft opening, no one is bitter yet. I was quickly ushered inside the main bar space where I encountered a beautiful mixture of exposed industrial architecture and subtle eclectic design queues that hint at the cultural traditions represented in the kitchen. The focal point of the room is a massive copper hood that soars to the ceiling and must be 10 feet in diameter. This sits atop an open woodfire grill surrounded by built in (wc) ovens. It’s an open kitchen of sorts, the grilling occurring in front of the bar guests, expo line behind and then the rest of the work tucked neatly out of sight (a lovely balance if I say so myself). The glow of the copper permeates the bar and surrounding room, the Edison bulb lights are all warm and just a little too bright but perfectly placed just above sight lines so what might be an intense glare becomes an almost glittery part of the surrounding ether.

The scene was much calmer than I expected, and despite being late (2.5 hours travel from bmore, woof), I did not feel guilted or rushed in the least, in fact, I was able to enjoy a (Georgian) tempranillo at the bar while we waited for the remainder of our party. The bar was almost full, not crowded. A few high tops had family and friends in good spirits. The owner Rose was a vision, flitting around between guests, servers and the kitchen, sporting her smile and a flowing jewel toned, empire-waisted number that could not have been more apt for the occasion. I hope someone got her picuture.

I should have known this night was going to be special when I ran into one of the managers of Compass Rose, and in our chat over Maydan and life, discovered he too was a figure skater. We clearly bonded over the shared experience of the highs of competition, lows of self loathing and the years of self induced physical abuse. Anyway…

We took in the scene, enjoyed our wine, and had a taste of what I sure will become Maydan’s calling card, the (wc) bread. Hot from the oven, perfectly pillowy with just the right amount of crisp exterior and tooth, this bread is perfection. It was served with a luxuriant tahini that I just could not get enough of.  As a preview to what was to come, this was certainly the way to set the stage.

We were led upstairs to a dining area outfitted with mismatched modern chairs, amazing and richly textured (I think) botanical wall paper, bohemian light fixtures and a few more decorative touches that harken to the part of the global from which the Maydan draws inspiration.

Now the name maydan, I understand, is a word common to many languages from North Africa through to the Middle East and Eurasia, with a fluid spelling, pronunciation, and meaning referring to a gathering place, town center, or market place. A place where people commune, it’s perfect, while not a word or idea from my culture, I am a willing and humble guest in this Maydan. This leads me to the menu.

Drawing on culinary traditions from Morrocco, Tunisia, Lebabanon, Syria, and many more, the menu is both diverse and an authentic representation of home cooking and dining in this wide-reaching region. It is designed to be shared with sections denoting spreads, salads (some are more appetizers, but that’s such a pedantic word), grilled vegetables, seafood, kabobs, more substantial meat plates, and finally condiments. The condiments, turns out, are one of the highlights and are an important part of the theory behind the menu. Ranging from herbal and slightly sweet charmoula, to spicy and earthy harrisa, these are $1 ramekins meant for dipping and slathering on everything across the menu. You absolutely must order them all, and order back-ups when you run out, they’re only $1! I particularly liked the semi-sweet tomato jam, and my fave was this enigmatic, unctuous, garlic infused almost butter called Toum, I actually put it on everything.

So, for a soft opening, typically all or some part of the meal is complimentary, meant to allow invited guests to roam the menu, experience the service and provide feedback for the management in order to guide decision making into full service. We did order just about everything, and that said, I do have some critical feedback, so I am going to get that out of the way first, before I get on to gushing about how much I love Maydan.

Service wise, the minor glitches are so minor that I won’t even mention it, because I know soft openings and these were NOTHING compared to what usually happens. Kinks like clearing plates, extra side dishes (hello it’s free, who cares) and delays in fresh bread (like we really need MORE? actually we do), will be ironed out in a matter of days in a restaurant run by the Compass Rose team. When I asked my fellow diners they thought a few mentioned that they thought that some of the food did not come out as hot as they would have expected. I’ll admit the seafood wasn’t scorching, but honestly it can’t stand up to extreme temperatures without losing its textural appeal, so I am not going to complain when my squid is tender yet tepid. The temp was fine where it counted for me, the beef kabobs, lamb, bread, etc. Now, maybe I am a bad critic, but this is one thing that I rarely notice (I guess I am usually running my mouth or slugging my wine when food hits the table) but it’s worth a mention as did we did hear rumors of issues with their expo heat lamps. I digress. My only material criticism, and I don’t even know if you can call it that, would be that this menu, this restaurant needs a signature. Compass Rose has the Khachepuri, people rave about, travel from near and far to get their fix, and if you’re me you try (and fail) to recreate it yourself. It’s amazing and it alone is the reason I can’t like Gluten Free and will bring me back to Compass Rose for as long as they’ll have me. Maydan needs something like this. The bread and condiments will be their calling card, but I am not going just for that. I mean, I think I know what dish it should be (not telling yet) but I am not sure that Maydan knows and I think that is ok. This is a critical organic marketing process, but I mention it in the hope that management is thoughtful in the evolution of the menu both in the kitchen and in print. Ok, enough feedback, onto the food (and the praise)

As I mentioned we ordered everything, well not everything, but I think we did a decent job, you tell me.

I had been readying myself all day by not eating anything so I was more than prepared to really explore this menu. Our server was knowledgeable in the most accessible, almost casual way, explaining the menu and the concept withtout condescending (you’d be surprised how rare this is, so I appreciated it). When she arrived to take our order we had made a majority of the choices already, but she deftly threw in a few suggestions that turned out to be spot on. We almost missed out on the spreads entirely, but she directed us to the crunch Beiruti Hummus (studded with fresh parley, green peppers, and scallions) because, “well, we’ve all had hummus (knowing eye roll) so try one with a nice crunch.” Later, as we slrted slip in ad, she surpised us with a pate we had not ordered. A light, crunhy, perfectly acidic cabbage salad that was fresher than any slaw I have ever had,. It was the perfect palate cleaners  and was a tablewide favorite.

I’ll proceed lightest to heaviest, hopefully that will make sense.

From the Kitchen

Salads, etc.

Mouneh - Pickled Vegetables – Radishes, carrots, peppers, onions, all perfectly tart and crunchy, great way to whet the appetite

Halloumi – Dukkah (Egyptian spice blend with sesame, sumac) grilled to absolute savory perfection and finished with the sweet counterpoint of honey – I could have eaten three more portions,. I am definitely cheese biaised (as in I love all cheese), but this preparation of halloumi controls what can be overwhelming salt content but maintains the unique umami of this cow, sheep, goat milke delight.

From the Fire;

Baby Eggplant – eggplant, grilled to the perfect char and topped with a sweet, nutty, early combination of pomegranate and walnut sauce. Honeslty, I love egglplant, but I often run out of interesting ways to prepare it. The enigmatic, herbaceous nature of the aubergine is often very difficult to pair with new flavor profiles and in the wrong combo can be downright offensive. This preparation, entirely the contrary, enlightening even. We ended up accidently getting three plates, I am not complaining.

Baby carrots – Cute little roots, grilled to the point their sweetness is coaxed out, these were delightful themselves but even better with a healthy dollop of the spicy harissa condiment.

Squid – body and tentacles, marinated in charmoulah, grilled to exactly the right texture, somebody knows what they are doing with seafood. The delicately briny flavor of the squid, sporting a slight char from the fire, perfectly complemented by the garlic, herbs and sweet perfume of the charmoulah was simple, seafood perfection. Do not miss this plate.

Shrimp – head on shrimp, similarly marinated in the lovely charmouleh, I want to love this dish so much but it kind of fell flat. I mean I love head on shrimp, and while I might have been the only person sucking on them, I did find them a little bland. I think I should have added some of the (wc) the slightly spicy cilantro condiment, but the other crustaceans had already been snatched up before I had a chance to try. I would give them another shot, but not a stand out.

Koobideh – beef kabob with saffron…weirdly amazing. I mean savory yes, beefy (is that a word) yes, the saffron, not something I ever would have expected but such an interesting floral almost funky way to do beef. It lent the kabob an almost sausagey aspect, which I kind of loved. I was slathering this in every condiment and each one gave it a unique characteristic.

Leg of Lamb – This was just out of this world. The leg is slow roasted overnight with a rich, deeply perfumed Syrian spice blend then, when ordered, hung above the open fire for about 30 minutes until it is hot and crispy. The meat is fork tender, smells (enchanting) and the taste is (wc). Dipped in the tomato jam one tastes the sweeter spices in the Syrian blend, spread the garlicky toum on it, and you get all the savory depth you could ever want. This dish will bring me back, and gets my vote for what will become Maydan’s signature.

Dessert was a cardamom cake (which I loved but cardamom is my favorite seet leaning spice of course I did) and this insane hot mozzarella cheese-in-crock creation topped with crunchy honey, nuts (I think pistacios…blame the wine) and rose water. The latter was ridiculous, yea it was cheese, but it was salty, metly, sweet bliss. I have never had a desseert like it or that I enjoyed so much, and apparently neither had my tablemates because in a flash spoons the thing was no longer…

Things we saw pass us by and def need to go back for include the lamb chops, the ‘Aleppo’ lamb kabob, the sardines, and labneh…ok like the other half of the menu, yes it all looks amazing. Our meal was am

 

 

 

I have been in a bit of a rut lately, down, unmotivated, not even really all that interested in cooking (I know). I won’t dwell on the cause, but I mention itonly to say that last night was truly inspirational.

We were invited to the soft opening of Maydan, sister restaurant to my fave spot Compass Rose. It was such a privilege to be invited to part of such a special and highly anticipated event, made even more special by the fact it was spectacular and delicious.

Having opened several restaurants in my past career, I know the hell that soft openings can usually mean. Now, I only had the guest perspective, and my observations were only of the front of the house, but Maydan had none of that nervous, insanity that I would have expected, it was a pleasure through and through and through.

Arricing at the Manhattan building on Flida Ave, Maydan is tucked down a alley of sorts, at the end of which one finds a beautiful and imposing turqiose door flanked by exposed brick and tiled panels. There is no sign to speak of, but the façade is a fitting invitation for the culiary intiuige that lies within.

Upon entering this formidable doorway one finds themselves in a small antechamber with a host stand, the separation intensifiews the mystery of what lies within, love this effect. The host staff was friendly, but of course they were, it’s the soft opening, no one is bitter yet. I was quickly ushered inside the main bar space where I encountered a beautiful mixture of exposed industrial architecture and subtle eclectic design queues that hint at the cultural traditions represented in the kitchen. The focal point of the room is a massive copper hood that soars to the ceiling and must be 10 feet in diameter. This sits atop an open woodfire grill surrounded by built in (wc) ovens. It’s an open kitchen of sorts, the grilling occurring in front of the bar guests, expo line behind and then the rest of the work tucked neatly out of sight (a lovely balance if I say so myself). The glow of the copper permeates the bar and surrounding room, the Edison bulb lights are all warm and just a little too bright but perfectly placed just above sight lines so what might be an intense glare becomes an almost glittery part of the surrounding ether.

The scene was much calmer than I expected, and despite being late (2.5 hours travel from bmore, woof), I did not feel guilted or rushed in the least, in fact, I was able to enjoy a (Georgian) tempranillo at the bar while we waited for the remainder of our party. The bar was almost full, not crowded. A few high tops had family and friends in good spirits. The owner Rose was a vision, flitting around between guests, servers and the kitchen, sporting her smile and a flowing jewel toned, empire-waisted number that could not have been more apt for the occasion. I hope someone got her picuture.

I should have known this night was going to be special when I ran into one of the managers of Compass Rose, and in our chat over Maydan and life, discovered he too was a figure skater. We clearly bonded over the shared experience of the highs of competition, lows of self loathing and the years of self induced physical abuse. Anyway…

We took in the scene, enjoyed our wine, and had a taste of what I sure will become Maydan’s calling card, the (wc) bread. Hot from the oven, perfectly pillowy with just the right amount of crisp exterior and tooth, this bread is perfection. It was served with a luxuriant tahini that I just could not get enough of.  As a preview to what was to come, this was certainly the way to set the stage.

We were led upstairs to a dining area outfitted with mismatched modern chairs, amazing and richly textured (I think) botanical wall paper, bohemian light fixtures and a few more decorative touches that harken to the part of the global from which the Maydan draws inspiration.

Now the name maydan, I understand, is a word common to many languages from North Africa through to the Middle East and Eurasia, with a fluid spelling, pronunciation, and meaning referring to a gathering place, town center, or market place. A place where people commune, it’s perfect, while not a word or idea from my culture, I am a willing and humble guest in this Maydan. This leads me to the menu.

Drawing on culinary traditions from Morrocco, Tunisia, Lebabanon, Syria, and many more, the menu is both diverse and an authentic representation of home cooking and dining in this wide-reaching region. It is designed to be shared with sections denoting spreads, salads (some are more appetizers, but that’s such a pedantic word), grilled vegetables, seafood, kabobs, more substantial meat plates, and finally condiments. The condiments, turns out, are one of the highlights and are an important part of the theory behind the menu. Ranging from herbal and slightly sweet charmoula, to spicy and earthy harrisa, these are $1 ramekins meant for dipping and slathering on everything across the menu. You absolutely must order them all, and order back-ups when you run out, they’re only $1! I particularly liked the semi-sweet tomato jam, and my fave was this enigmatic, unctuous, garlic infused almost butter called Toum, I actually put it on everything.

So, for a soft opening, typically all or some part of the meal is complimentary, meant to allow invited guests to roam the menu, experience the service and provide feedback for the management in order to guide decision making into full service. We did order just about everything, and that said, I do have some critical feedback, so I am going to get that out of the way first, before I get on to gushing about how much I love Maydan.

Service wise, the minor glitches are so minor that I won’t even mention it, because I know soft openings and these were NOTHING compared to what usually happens. Kinks like clearing plates, extra side dishes (hello it’s free, who cares) and delays in fresh bread (like we really need MORE? actually we do), will be ironed out in a matter of days in a restaurant run by the Compass Rose team. When I asked my fellow diners they thought a few mentioned that they thought that some of the food did not come out as hot as they would have expected. I’ll admit the seafood wasn’t scorching, but honestly it can’t stand up to extreme temperatures without losing its textural appeal, so I am not going to complain when my squid is tender yet tepid. The temp was fine where it counted for me, the beef kabobs, lamb, bread, etc. Now, maybe I am a bad critic, but this is one thing that I rarely notice (I guess I am usually running my mouth or slugging my wine when food hits the table) but it’s worth a mention as did we did hear rumors of issues with their expo heat lamps. I digress. My only material criticism, and I don’t even know if you can call it that, would be that this menu, this restaurant needs a signature. Compass Rose has the Khachepuri, people rave about, travel from near and far to get their fix, and if you’re me you try (and fail) to recreate it yourself. It’s amazing and it alone is the reason I can’t like Gluten Free and will bring me back to Compass Rose for as long as they’ll have me. Maydan needs something like this. The bread and condiments will be their calling card, but I am not going just for that. I mean, I think I know what dish it should be (not telling yet) but I am not sure that Maydan knows and I think that is ok. This is a critical organic marketing process, but I mention it in the hope that management is thoughtful in the evolution of the menu both in the kitchen and in print. Ok, enough feedback, onto the food (and the praise)

As I mentioned we ordered everything, well not everything, but I think we did a decent job, you tell me.

I had been readying myself all day by not eating anything so I was more than prepared to really explore this menu. Our server was knowledgeable in the most accessible, almost casual way, explaining the menu and the concept withtout condescending (you’d be surprised how rare this is, so I appreciated it). When she arrived to take our order we had made a majority of the choices already, but she deftly threw in a few suggestions that turned out to be spot on. We almost missed out on the spreads entirely, but she directed us to the crunch Beiruti Hummus (studded with fresh parley, green peppers, and scallions) because, “well, we’ve all had hummus (knowing eye roll) so try one with a nice crunch.” Later, as we slrted slip in ad, she surpised us with a pate we had not ordered. A light, crunhy, perfectly acidic cabbage salad that was fresher than any slaw I have ever had,. It was the perfect palate cleaners  and was a tablewide favorite.

I’ll proceed lightest to heaviest, hopefully that will make sense.

From the Kitchen

Salads, etc.

Mouneh - Pickled Vegetables – Radishes, carrots, peppers, onions, all perfectly tart and crunchy, great way to whet the appetite

Halloumi – Dukkah (Egyptian spice blend with sesame, sumac) grilled to absolute savory perfection and finished with the sweet counterpoint of honey – I could have eaten three more portions,. I am definitely cheese biaised (as in I love all cheese), but this preparation of halloumi controls what can be overwhelming salt content but maintains the unique umami of this cow, sheep, goat milke delight.

From the Fire;

Baby Eggplant – eggplant, grilled to the perfect char and topped with a sweet, nutty, early combination of pomegranate and walnut sauce. Honeslty, I love egglplant, but I often run out of interesting ways to prepare it. The enigmatic, herbaceous nature of the aubergine is often very difficult to pair with new flavor profiles and in the wrong combo can be downright offensive. This preparation, entirely the contrary, enlightening even. We ended up accidently getting three plates, I am not complaining.

Baby carrots – Cute little roots, grilled to the point their sweetness is coaxed out, these were delightful themselves but even better with a healthy dollop of the spicy harissa condiment.

Squid – body and tentacles, marinated in charmoulah, grilled to exactly the right texture, somebody knows what they are doing with seafood. The delicately briny flavor of the squid, sporting a slight char from the fire, perfectly complemented by the garlic, herbs and sweet perfume of the charmoulah was simple, seafood perfection. Do not miss this plate.

Shrimp – head on shrimp, similarly marinated in the lovely charmouleh, I want to love this dish so much but it kind of fell flat. I mean I love head on shrimp, and while I might have been the only person sucking on them, I did find them a little bland. I think I should have added some of the (wc) the slightly spicy cilantro condiment, but the other crustaceans had already been snatched up before I had a chance to try. I would give them another shot, but not a stand out.

Koobideh – beef kabob with saffron…weirdly amazing. I mean savory yes, beefy (is that a word) yes, the saffron, not something I ever would have expected but such an interesting floral almost funky way to do beef. It lent the kabob an almost sausagey aspect, which I kind of loved. I was slathering this in every condiment and each one gave it a unique characteristic.

Leg of Lamb – This was just out of this world. The leg is slow roasted overnight with a rich, deeply perfumed Syrian spice blend then, when ordered, hung above the open fire for about 30 minutes until it is hot and crispy. The meat is fork tender, smells (enchanting) and the taste is (wc). Dipped in the tomato jam one tastes the sweeter spices in the Syrian blend, spread the garlicky toum on it, and you get all the savory depth you could ever want. This dish will bring me back, and gets my vote for what will become Maydan’s signature.

Dessert was a cardamom cake (which I loved but cardamom is my favorite seet leaning spice of course I did) and this insane hot mozzarella cheese-in-crock creation topped with crunchy honey, nuts (I think pistacios…blame the wine) and rose water. The latter was ridiculous, yea it was cheese, but it was salty, metly, sweet bliss. I have never had a desseert like it or that I enjoyed so much, and apparently neither had my tablemates because in a flash spoons the thing was no longer…

Things we saw pass us by and def need to go back for include the lamb chops, the ‘Aleppo’ lamb kabob, the sardines, and labneh…ok like the other half of the menu, yes it all looks amazing. Our meal was am