Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Try Zaytoun!

Tired of the hustle and bustle (now there's a really old-fashioned word) . . . let's try again . . .
Tired of the screaming music and 30 minute waits while you're crowded into the windy entrance of a popular restaurant on Smith Street in Brooklyn Heights? (Luluc, to be exact!) The music was so loud that Marash Girl had trouble even imagining how to swallow the food that might be offered at brunch, much less how to taste it . . . After 20 minutes of cuddling with numerous other hopefuls in the frosty restaurant entranceway, Marash Girl and her entourage decided to try another luncheon venue -- but what? There were many small restaurants along the throroughfare, but all of them were empty . . . this could not bode well.   Marash Girl's son Deron solved the dilemma, (as he is so often wont to do when restaurants or geographical questions rear their pretty heads . . . ) "I know a small place with delicious food -- Zaytoun -- it's right up the street -- only a short 6 block walk."
[Beginning on Smith Street, in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, it would be a mere 15 minute walk  from Montague (the main drag in Brooklyn Heights) in good weather,-- of course, on this day the roads were covered with ice and slush and snow as were the sidewalks, and snow was raining from the skies!]

Zaytoun Restaurant - Photos by Marash Girl


Seated at Zaytoun, a major discussion ensued when Marash Girl found garmir kufte incorrectly named and attributed to an ethnicity other than her own, but since she makes garmir kufte all the time, she knew what it was . . . Marash Boy's great grandmother -- an ethnic Armenian, as is Marash Girl -- made it all the time . . . Now let's call an Armenian dish an Armenian dish!
Appetizers at Zaytoun . . . Garmir Kufte on the right

Zaytoun did not disappoint us!  The service was charming and the food tasted as good as it looks (see photo by Marash Girl above)!

8 comments:

  1. Zaytoun is a city in eastern turkey. But, I am sure you knew that, with or without son, Deron's internal gps. Nes pas?

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    1. Zeitoun is the city in historic Armenia!

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    2. Zeytun, the former name of Süleymanlı, a town in Kahramanmaraş Province, Turkey. i do not think this is the one you are thinking of. was the famous mountain redoubt in kahramanmaras Province?

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  2. What is garmir kufte? Ichli or chi?

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    Replies
    1. Watch for a recipe for garmir kufte in an upcoming Marash Girl blog post!

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  3. I think the reference to Zaytoon at this restaurant has little to do with the ancient Armenian city and more to do with Zaytoon = Olive in Arabic.

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  4. And int Turkish; Zeit in Armenian.

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  5. Zeit is not proper Armenian, dzet is, ձԷԹ, ("dz" as it sounds in "dzov = sea".

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