Chef Alon Shaya was born in Israel, but he spent most of his career as a chef cooking Italian food in the United States. That led to his opening in 2009 of John Besh's restaurant at the Roosevelt Hotel, Domenica. A few month Shaya and Besh partnered on another, much more adventuresome restaurant, featuring the food of Israel. In the former quarters of Dominique, Shaya (that's the name of the restaurant as well as that of the owner/chef) is the kind of hip Middle-Eastern eatery that you'd find in Tel Aviv. I have a couple of friends who travel to Tel Aviv often, and they say that the restaurant scene there is nothing less than exciting.
At Domenica during the past few years, Alon has run special menus for all the major Jewish holidays. They have been enthusiastically received and very good. The practice will premier at Shaya starting tonight. It begins with traditional Passover nibbles for the table. It follows through with four courses, served family-style. Here's the menu:
For The Table
Wood-fired matzo, red and white horseradish, Alon's grandmother’s charoset, beet-cured eggs with sea salt, bitter greens with almonds and garlic, lamb shank with date honey, parsley and green chili zhoug with grilled asparagus
Matzo Ball Soup
Duck broth, celery and lemon
Pickled Wild Caught Salmon
Quinoa tabouleh with fava beans and morel mushrooms
Sephardic Roasted Chicken
Yemenite curry, fresh apricots, fennel and ginger
Whole Roasted Apple
Candied walnuts and spiced wine
The Passover dinner is served between five and ten p.m., beginning tonight (Friday, April 3) and running through Friday, April 10. The price is $65 per person, plus plus. It is open to everyone; you need not be Jewish to appreciate either the food or the holiday. If you've never attended a Passover seder before, it would be more enlightening if you were with Jewish friends. Every part of the meal has a story. On the other hand, I don't think the service is strictly kosher (if it were, I suspect they'd say so, and they haven't.) Shaya has enjoyed tremendous popularity since it opened, and reservations have become essential. I suspect that this will be especially true during Passover week.
Shaya
Uptown: 4213 Magazine St. 504-891-4213. www.shayarestaurant.com.
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