Far be it from me to complain about what many consider one of the cushiest beats in journalism—getting paid to eat and write about food. In my view, the only thing better would be getting paid to travel and then write about it.
Still, if I could voice one frustration, it would be that having to seek out and report on new restaurants prevents me from returning to ones I have reviewed and loved. People are forever telling me about their wonderful meals at what they know are my favorite places. “I had the most fabulous dinner at [fill-in-the-blank] last week! Have you been lately?” No, I have not. In fact, I haven’t been to fill-in-the-blank since I reviewed it three years ago.
This bit of information-passing does serve to remind me that I need to get out more; to figure out a professional reason to revisit some of our town’s culinary treasures.
A few weeks ago, a fellow fan of Salama Market on Nolensville Road told me of some building improvements and menu additions he noticed on his last visit there. Owned by Abdirizak Hassan, Salama opened in the spring of 1997 and quickly became a gathering place for Hassan’s fellow Somali immigrants. In the beginning, there were just a few bare tables, a counter and stove in one corner, and a menu limited to either goat or beef served with rice or spaghetti. Though Somalis eat with their hands—or more specifically, one hand—Americans who venture in are given utensils as a matter of course.
I dropped by for lunch last week and discovered several changes. Hassan has added more tables, covered them with oilcloth, and adorned each with vases of plastic flowers. The kitchen has been enclosed—not necessarily an improvement in my opinion, as I liked watching the cooks at work.
The menu has been expanded considerably. To the sautéed beef tipps and goat meat, add chicken and tuna steaks. These are served as platters with a bowl of beefy broth delivered first. Then the meat comes with rice or spaghetti; lettuce, tomato, and onion salad; and a whole banana. Another new dish is angero, a Somali pancake-type bread similar to the Ethiopian injera, but not as wet or sour-tasting. It comes with the goat or beef tipps. No disrespect to Ethiopia, but I found I prefer the angero to the injera. Even better was the muufo, a mound of bread with a biscuit-like consistency, cooked in a skillet until it achieves a crisp, golden exterior. All of the platters are $7, with the exception of the tuna, which is $8.
Salama Market is located at 2521-B Nolensville Rd., 248-2695.
Baba-licious
My first and only visit to Ali Baba, owned by Iranian immigrant Ali Shahosseini, was in the summer of 1997, when I took 13 people there for dinner—an entourage that allowed us to sample the entire menu. We were all absolutely blown away by the different shish kabobs, the kashk (an eggplant side dish), the falafel patties, and the aromatic rice. Since that divine dinner, every one of those people has told me of their delightful return visits to Ali Baba, noting that Shahosseini immediately took our suggestions to lower the lights and change bread vendors.
About a month ago, Shahosseini opened an Ali Baba outpost in the Arcade downtown, just the excuse I needed for a return visit. I was hardly in the door before Shahosseini brought me behind the counter to show off his bread oven, where tandori is baked fresh to order. Ali Baba in the Arcade only serves lunch, has just four tables inside, and doesn’t carry the entire menu from the Thompson Lane locale, but it still has enough of the highlights to send you running to the original for a dinner some night soon.
The prices are also lower: $4.99 and $5.99 for kabob platters, lamb shank, and gaymeh, a beef-stew dish with split peas and tomatoes. All come with rice and salad Shirazi—diced tomato, cucumber, and red onion dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. The Arcade store also has the distinctive kashk, superlative dolmah, and wonderful barberry rice. Persian chicken salad—made with chicken, diced potatoes, eggs, and Persian pickles—makes a fantastic sandwich on the tandori bread, topped with cilantro, lettuce, and tomato. The menu insists “You will love it.”
That’s not the only thing you’ll love at Ali Baba. I have thought often of the wonderful meal I had there in the summer of ’97 and frequently recommend it to curious diners. Standing at my friend’s kitchen counter last week digging forks into the half-dozen take-out boxes I had carted from the Arcade, I was reminded why I harbor such a fond memory of the tasty treats offered by Ali Baba.
Ali Baba is located at 216 Thompson Lane (333-3711) and at 10 Arcade (255-9909).
Out of India
On my way out of the Arcade, toting two huge bags of food from Ali Baba, my professionally trained nose picked up the distinctive smell of curry. Only the lack of a third hand prevented me from sampling some of the foods on the small East Indian buffet set up in a corner of the 4th Avenue Deli, located just outside the 4th Avenue entrance to the Arcade.
Owned and operated by Taj Mahal restaurant in the Hickory Hollow area, the buffet has been set up for just a week but has already lured a sizable contingent of Indian food fans. Served from 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri., the buffet is just $4.95 for all you can eat on one trip. Selections change daily; last Thursday you could have had vegetable fritters, chicken mahkani, jeera aloo, matar paneer, rice pudding, and naan bread.
With the arrival of the Indian buffet and Ali Baba, and the presence already of Manny’s House of Pizza, Calypso Cafe, and a Greek restaurant, the Arcade has become a veritable international lunch market, offering some of the best food in town for prices that can’t be beat.
4th Avenue Deli is located at 223 4th Ave. N.,726-1835.
Coffee Talk
Bob Bernstein, owner of Bongo Java and Fido, is shuffling staff at his two coffee shops/cafes. Kim Totzke, who overhauled the menu at Fido and is credited with pumping up its food business, is moving over to Bongo Java, hopefully to work some of her culinary magic there. She will spend about a month in the kitchen, tweaking the menu and assembling a staff to execute the dishes. She will then move into the general manager spot, replacing Koree Knight who leaves in July. Taking over Totzke’s toque at Fido will be Nerissa Ferrel, who has been under Totzke’s tutelage for about eight months.
Correction
The Scene stated in a May 27 restaurant review that Ray Danner's original Shoney's Big Boy franchise was brought to Madison in 1971. The year was 1958. We apologize for the error.
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