It’s been almost four years since New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells designated Ayat, a Palestinian restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, a “Critics Pick.”
What exactly is Palestinian cuisine? While a precise answer is elusive, Wells’ take at the time on the menu at Ayat offers a good starting point. In his review, he noted that “Her view of Palestinian cuisine is informed by her family’s traditions, which overlap with those of cooks from the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. Although the recipes enjoyed by Palestinian families like Ms. Masoud’s may have been passed down for many generations, the notion of a Palestinian cuisine is a relatively recent one.”
The person Wells was referring to is Ayat Masoud, the restaurant’s namesake and the spouse of the restaurant’s owner, Abdul Elenani. A closer-to-home explanation of Ayat’s cuisine and the philosophy behind it may be found on Ayat’s website, in the context of a loving tribute to Ayat Masoud from Elenani:
“AYAT is a bistro where you will find honest, authentic Palestinian food made with love. I am confident you will find this here because this bistro was created in honor of my wife, Ayat. She is a Palestinian lawyer with a real passion for food. Ayat is honest, hardworking, and loves her career; but there is a different kind of love that radiates through her when she is cooking. Seeing this passion in her and experiencing her delicious food, it was clear to me that the community needed to experience this too. So I created a bistro named after her where she can come to cook with local ingredients sourced from our Falahi Farms. A space where she can share her passion for food with the community she loves and works hard for.”
Much has happened in the four years since Wells’ review, but Ayat Masoud and Abdul Elenani’s vision seems to have remained unchanged. What has changed is that diners in Princeton and environs need not travel to Bay Ridge to experience Ayat’s cuisine. The recent opening of an Ayat outpost at 15 Spring Street follows the opening of others in Brooklyn (Ditmas Park and Industry City), the east Village in Manhattan, and Allentown, Pennsylvania.
A recent visit to Ayat in Princeton, prompted by friends long-familiar with Palestinian, Lebanese, and other Middle Eastern cuisines, affirmed that the expansion of the original Bay Ridge establishment into what’s become a sort of mini-chain has not diminished the quality of the dishes that Wells enthused about four years ago.
Ayat’s spacious dining room seats about 60 guests at well spaced tables and 10 or so at a counter that faces the kitchen. Our party of four was warmly greeted, shown to our table, and presented with menus. As we were contemplating Ayat’s offerings, a basket of fresh, warm pita, a small bowl of green olives in olive oil, and a small bowl of za’atar spice mixture for dipping were provided.
And it is an exhaustive menu, one that demands a bit of contemplation and covers too much ground to go into detail here. To those who have been to a stereotypical neighborhood Middle Eastern restaurant, many of the choices will be familiar. I suspect that many first-time visitors to Ayat will not be familiar with a number of the other choices on offer, and unfortunately the menu is not readily available online to peruse in advance.
As a result, I was happy to place myself in the capable hands of my dining companions, who thoughtfully chose a sampling of familiar preparations as well as some that were less so.
First, the more familiar “hits”; hummus (freshly ground chickpeas blended with lemon, tahini, olive oil and garlic), falafel (deep fried chickpea flour and spices), lamb kebab (tender, flavorful, well-spiced), and kefta kebab.
Salads included salata filistini (finely chopped Mediterranean cucumbers, tomatoes, and parsley, dressed with lemon and olive oil) and Palestinian salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions, finely chopped and tossed with fresh parsley and mint). On a subsequent visit one of my dining companions sampled and recommended the grilled halloumi and watermelon salad (grilled halloumi cheese, watermelon cubes, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, and mint, dressed in a lemon-sumac dressing). Salads are priced from $6.24 on up to $21.84 for the grilled salmon salad.
Some of the less familiar dishes to explore include kousa mahshi (Persian squash stuffed with rice, parsley, tomatoes, onions and spices), malfouf (stuffed cabbage leaves filled with a ground meat, rice, and spices, then rolled, cooked, and served hot with fresh lemon juice, and zahir (fried cauliflower served on a bed of tahini and topped with pomegranate molasses).
We also sampled the Za’atar Pizza Margarita (San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil on a za’atar infused crust), a welcome re-interpretation of an Italian classic.
A “must try” on the section of the menu devoted to “Traditional” dishes is Chiken Ftat (aka, fatat jaj), a six-layer dish of roasted chicken, rice, chickpeas, mint, yogurt, crispy pita, garlic sauce, and slivered almonds. One of my dining companions compared it favorably to the version of the dish prepared by his mother that he enjoyed as a child.
Alas, the only dessert we sampled from the extensive list was basbousa (semolina cake soaked in sweet syrup and flavored with coconut) and we would happily order it again. Other choices include chocolate tahini brownies (fudgy brownie topped with a layer of creamy tahini and sprinkled with sesame seeds), knafa (imported akawi cheese melted on a bed of ghee topped with semolina dough and pistachio, drenched in syrup), and baklava. Desserts are priced from $6 and change to $16 and change for the knafa.
Mint tea, espresso, and lattes from the list of hot beverages topped off the meal. A selection of sodas and other soft drinks is available as well. Observing that two couples had brought in bottles of wine, I asked one of the staff whether Ayat was BYO (some Middle Eastern restaurants discourage the consumption of alcohol) and was assured that it was.
I’m certainly no Pete Wells, and these first impressions do not qualify as a rigorous review, but all of us agreed that return visits to Ayat were in order (my spouse and I have already returned, twice). Our food was uniformly fresh, delicious, and deemed authentic by my knowledgeable dining companions. Service was courteous, professional, and low key. In short, Ayat is a welcome addition to Princeton’s ever-evolving dining scene.
One final note. I would be remiss in neglecting to mention that in addition to discovering the delights of Palestinian gastronomy when visiting Ayat, one will encounter (largely subtle) references to the political and attendant humanitarian situation facing the Palestinian people. I take that to be part and parcel of the message that the owners wish to graciously but clearly deliver to Ayat’s guests; that theirs is an establishment dedicated to advancing an awareness of Palestinian culture and identity through its cuisine, while assuring all who enter that Ayat is a place where everyone is welcome to take a seat at the table.
Ayat, 15 Spring Street, Princeton. Open daily 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. ayatnyc.com.
Ayat opened in the Spring Street space formerly occupied by the Planted Plate vegan restaurant.,
