A couple months ago I read about a new restaurant opening up in the lower east side, Blue Elm, and decided this would be where I had my birthday dinner. Not only does it seem innovative, but I was attracted to its philosophy. Chef Malik's restaurant and cuisine is based on his experiences in the African village of Sangalkam with French influences from where he went to culinary school and Asian flare from where he has traveled extensively. His restaurant and cuisine tell a story of coastal life in Senegal where the food was always fresh as the women visited the local market daily, seafood was brought directly from the ocean, and produce was purchased from farms within walking distance from the village. While this is not all possible in New York City, the dishes aim to be fresh and simple. Furthermore, the goal of Blue Elm is to mimick the dining experience of Sanglakam where there were no courses and the family gathered to share plates while telling stories and singing local folksongs. 
Food and family meals are of central importance in many cultures but that I find lacks in priority in the States. Being most familiar with the Spanish-speaking cultures, it's rare that you would be too busy to find time daily to sit with your family, even extended family, to share in a home-cooked meal. This being important to me, I am usually drawn towards restaurants where there are sharing plates or tapa-type restaurants. It used to be that you could only find this type of experience at Spanish tapas restaurants, which became popular only about 10 years ago. But, now, fortunately, many cuisines offer sharing plates from Italian to Sengalese. Last birthday, my first in New York, I celebrated with friends at Pipa, one of my favorites where the ceiling is covered in gorgeous chandeliers that are for sale from ABC carpet next door in addition to antique mirrors on the walls. It's the perfect tapas restaurant with wonderful sangria to give even non-dancers the courage to move to the live salsa band. Despite my eagerness to try the new Blue Elm restaurant this year for my birthday, two hours before the time the reservation was for, I changed my mind. Yes, I'm a libra! I decided to go with another one of my favorite restaurants in Soho, Antique Garage. It was exactly the place I wanted to share with my dad and sister on my birthday, warm, comforting and charming with live music that made me feel like I was in the 20's with Frank Sanatra and sorrounded by sweet antiques. Utkul Cinel combined his two passions of food and antiques to create a magical dining experience. Antique Garage allows for a mediterranean sharing experience, chosing from a variety of fresh meze options. While I still hope to try Blue Elm, Antique Garage was the perfect place for this year's birthday dinner with my family.
Growing up in a mostly Jewish and Arab neighborhood, mediterranean cuisine became a favorite and was always a staple in the fridge. We always had hummus and tabboule with pita to snack on. My best friend's mom who is Chaldean would always cook the most delicious and fresh middle eastern food from yogurt to rice and tomato sauce to baklavah. While out of the country, or even out of the state of Michigan, I always craved this food but am lucky to be in a city now that has great Mediterranean restaurants, specifically Turkish ones. Beyoglu on the upper east side used to be a frequently visited spot when living in the area but Antique Garage is an even more special experience. For dinner, the tree of us shared a mezze platter that had tastes of hummus, eggplant salad, tzatziki, borek (phyllo dough cigars stuffed with feta), circassian chicken (chicken salad with walnut garlic sauce) and shepard salad. We additionally ordered another shepard salad topped with crumbled feta, grilled octopus and a special of grilled shrimp skewers over a bed of mediterranean couscous and lentils. I'm not usually a dessert person but of course was forced to order one knowing that the inevitable of a song was going to accompany it. None of the desserts automatically striked my fancy, but I chose the fruti de basco described as a mixture of wild berries a top cream filled pastry shell and then decided to ask the waiter (who was the best I've had in as long as I can remember) for his recommendation. He said the apricots were his favorite, sweetened dry apricot stuffed with Turkish kaymak and almond, and that he would try and find a few for us to taste. The desserts surpassed my expectations by far! The fruti de basco was more like a light layered cream cake with tiny wild berries topped with a blanket of powered sugar, and the apricots were amazing! They were not at all how I could have imagined. It would be worth venturing to the restaurant just for a coffee and apricots with background Frank Sinatra as an end to a great night. I kept thinking how perfect the restaurant was for this night and could not have been happier sharing it all with my family.
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