Elyssa Dido
A night in Tunisia on the L.E.S.
By Ethan Wolff
September 05, 2007
By Ethan Wolff
My buddy J. has been a bad-luck charm for restaurants. Lately I’ve taken him out for E.Vill sushi, W.Vill Italian, and Harlem Latino, and all of them have been dogs. Last week I met him on the L.E.S. He had a sixer of Brooklyn and a newly purchased Statue of Liberty bottle opener. Maybe the latter turned our luck. In any case, BYOB plus Elyssa Dido equaled a great night out.
The name honors the founding queen of Carthage. Dido lived in what is now Tunis, and traveled through North Africa and the Mediterranean. Tunisian partners Talel Hmaidi and Gaston Glali reflect that heritage in their menu. There are the couscous and tagines you would expect, but also forays into French territory. The common element is heartiness. Main ingredients stand on their own. Filler interference is kept to a minimum.
On the aps side, brik au thon comes across like a ginormous wonton trying to pass as a ship’s sail. The phyllo dough is packed with tuna, egg, cheese, and parsley, with capers to slant the flavor in a Medi direction. Shrimp kofta arrives in an arugula-topped patty, with lots of flavor thanks to the big chunks of shrimp. An attractive presentation circles around in white (lebna, a creamy yogurt) and red (red pepper coulis).
Creative flavors mark the entrées. The lamb shank benefits from prunes and shaved almonds in a cinnamon orange sauce. Duck is usually too gamy for my taste, but the smoked version here was spot-on, the medallions bracketed by nice firm parsnips. The accompanying pomegranate reduction was a little sweet for the bed of sautéed spinach, but just right for the meat. The steak frites comes as a nice long slab of sirloin topped with a tangy steak sauce that’s like a Tunisian take on A-1 (though vastly more sophisticated). Frites are tasty, too, parsley-dusted homemade shoestrings served in a metal cup.
Desserts follow the hearty and straightforward philosophy of the savories, especially the homemade baklava. The diamond-shaped pastries aren’t sticky-cloying, but packed with a meaty, nutty filling beneath the thinnest of phyllo caps.
The décor is on the loungey side, but the space is so small it’s hard to imagine it feeling sceney. A banquette runs the length of the front room, across from some two-tops, metallic walls, and twin gold-framed mirrors. The most distinctive design element is a black and white horseshoe arch that caps a pair of gilded columns, a nod to Moorish empires past. An upbeat Tunisian soundtrack adds a little exotica, but there’s nothing theme parky here. It’s too neighborhoody for that, all that play for sleekness be damned.
The L.E.S. kiss-off du jour seems to be “good luck with that liquor license,” but from the consumer side, what’s the rush? Beyond the cheap date potential, Elyssa Dido is great for popping a couple of brews and catching up with an old buddy, and convincing him finally that he’s not a good-meal jinx.
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