by C. von Arte

ntibes Bistro on Suffolk is clean and informal, with a small dining room, comfortable chairs, and a wall length white banquette. With subtle French jazz/pop in the background, guests happily chatted away and the waitress silently flitted from table to table, never letting on that she was the only server on that night. The restaurant for now is BYOB, and our waitress brought our crisp bread slices & butter then opened and poured our store bought wine, kicking off a nice, relaxing meal.

My appetizer, truffle roasted asparagus with mushrooms, shaved parmesan and greens, was tasty. The asparagus didn’t seem roasted (there was no char) but it worked well with the accompanying tower of saut?ed mushrooms, parmesan and greens. My companion had the duck pate with caramelized pear, aged balsamic and a port reduction. The duck pate was great. The pear was the perfect platform for the dollop of pate, definitely the highlight of our meal.

The Dinner menu is small, with just a few entrees. My companion ordered the braised ribs, served with a square of potato gratin & saut?ed spinach. Even if not exactly seasonal, it was delicious. The beef was melt-in-your-mouth tender, and the spinach was perfectly cooked.

The seared tuna was cooked perfectly, a generous portion served on a saffron parsnip puree, and a couple of artichoke hearts. On the menu it also said that the tuna came with caramelized leeks, but they were not on the plate. Still, the dish was good and filling.

We also ordered a side of risotto. After one bite, I wanted to walk back and tell the chef that risotto is traditionally made with Arborio rice. I would never call that dish a risotto, but as a rice dish with mushrooms and spinach, it was ok.

Dessert, Panna Cotta with poached pear. The flavor was good, the texture - not as expected, a bit too gelatinous – it wasn’t creamy enough. The poached pear was great, and the port wine reduction complemented the pear perfectly. My companion had the banana and chocolate mousse. It was rich and flavorful, and with a cup of espresso served with warmed milk (nice touch), it was great.

A nice BYOB dinner for two, $72.00 + tip. Good service and a relaxing atmosphere. Welcome to this corner of the neighborhood Chef David Shemesh, who has gone from sandwiches & pasta in the Essex Street Market to his own Bistro on Suffolk.

Antibes Bistro 11am – 11pm, seven days a week serving Lunch, Brunch and Dinner 112 Suffolk St (bet. Delancey & Rivington) 212.533.6088 www.antibesbistro.com

The Art of the Sabich

Sabich

n Israeli friend emailed this in: In the tiny town of Givatayim, which is an extension of Tel Aviv proper, there’s a food stand that stays open most of the day and night (it’s open whenever I go there), with a line of customers that stretches around the block. It’s the Sabich stand, with an amazingly funny owner, Oved, whose sole interest in life seems to be stuffing frighteningly fresh pita breads with equally fresh and glistening slices of fried eggplant, along with a dizzying array of sauces and pickles.

Oved interrogates each customer about their politics, their sports preferences, their love life, and his response to each question is a new choice of a crunchy or wet addition to your pita. In the end, the Sabich you bite into is not just a deliriously tasty meal, but your psychological profile and aptitude test, too.

The origin of the Sabich is either way back, in medieval Iraq, or only a few decades ago, in Givatayim. I tend to believe the latter, in which case the name stands for the Hebrew acronym Salat, Beitza, Chatzil (Salad, Egg, Eggplant), the holy trinity of the Church of Oved.

The other morning I was treating a few friends to breakfast at Cafe Petisco, outside the Edgies, and on the menu I spotted the Sabich! Without hesitation, I talked my friends into ordering Sabichs all around. They trusted me and we all went for it.

At first glance, the dish looked much paler than when Oved slaps it at you through his food stand window. But the first bite was mesmerizing. The Petisco chef turned this very basic dish into his own. His Sabich is a full, understated dish: the pita is stunningly fresh (nothing else would do), but the ingredients are calmer, tamer. Served on a bed of lemony-sweet greens, it is a whole new kind of Sabich, it is an American Sabich. My friends were blown over, of course. I know some day they’ll check out Oved, in Givatayim…

Cafe Petisco, 189 East Broadway, 212.387.0366

YY

Chocolate Williamsburg

he block at 175 Division Ave. in Williamsburg has just been sweetened a whole lot.

Brothers Yoel and Moshe Halpern, natives of Williamsburg, have recently opened a beautiful Chocolate and Candy Shop in their home town. My daughter, a true candy aficionado, was so excited by the choices, she gathered a pile of treats on the sales counter before I had turned around. I couldn’t decide where to go first. Chocolicious is a wonderland.

Chocolicious also carries a wide range of dried fruits, and on Thursdays and Fridays they sell hot roasted nuts. A complete array of balloons for every occasion is also available. The owners are very proud of their creative selection of sweet confection arrangements for every simcha imaginable.

The shop is worth the 10 minute drive or bus ride across the bridge.

After Labor Day, their hours are: Sun – Wed, 11-8, Thu, 10-9, Fri 10-2 hrs before Shabbat. 175 Division St, Brooklyn, 718.387.3214.

NJK