Paris 2nd: such a near Orient | Gilles Pudlowski's blog

All three of them worked at neighboring Dalia: Or Bitan and his two roommates, Victor Yasar and Léon Desarmegnin. The first, born in Tel Aviv, worked at Eyal Shani, at Abraxas, Miznon, boulevard Ibn Gabirol, like this in Paris, rue des Ecouffes, as well as at Shouk, the second is Kurdish, native of Turkey, while the third, born in France, is of Tunisian origin. All three had the idea of ​​a modern deli, with its long counter at the entrance, in front of the kitchen, its twenty seats, its continuous service, its savory brunch on weekends.

The house program: Levantine cuisine with ideas from throughout the Middle East. The name of the place “leven” means lips in Kurdish. And everything here pays homage to a kind of ideal, gourmet and friendly Middle East. Hummus, zhoug and zaatar, corn ribs, parsley, lemon, Urfa chili aioli, potatoes cooked in embers, with spring onions, crème fraîche, zhoug, parmesan, grilled pointed cabbage, with tahini (sesame paste which makes a very common condiment in Israeli cuisine today), date molasses, zhoug, pumpkin seeds are delivered in joyful and spicy mezzés to share.

Or Bitan excels in spicy seasoning but too much, tasty and cheerful. An example? The “chichi” cream of butternut, cumin, garlic, gremolata. Or the exquisite labneh rekevé of olive oil zaatar, like gozleme – a homemade Kurdish bread with feta and spinach. We will also love lamb with Greek yogurt, fresh herbs, pomegranates, pickles or beef and lamb kofta, tahini, grilled onions, served in “durum”, the flatbread of Turkish origin, homemade, and , for vegetarians, oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, portobello marinated in Baharat served with sumac red onions.

To soothe the heat of the spices, homemade lemonade has its effect. There are some wines in light escorts, like the “foot of the wall” of the Chemins de l'Arkose, which we discovered at Trou Gascon in a new way. And, for dessert, the “purple carrot cake”, with walnuts, crème fraîche, cinnamon, purple carrots, Espelette pepper syrup, or the orange blossom malabi, kiwi coulis, grated coconut, peanuts and pomegranates are nicely delicious. Sweet addition and very friendly atmosphere.

To live