Eating At Grandma's

Alon Shaya has had tremendous success introducing the Jewish culture to those unfamiliar with it by serving them his delicious food.. Jewish food isn’t all he does. He’s pretty great at New Orleans food, but Jewish food iseems to be where his heart lies. He has exported  his food to the Denver market, with his popular restaurant Safta, named after his grandmother. I was surprised to see he had plans to again celebrate his grandmother, this time in New Orleans, with the arrival of Safta’s Table. 

Safta’s Table is a much more casual place than I expected. In fact, it is indeed fast casual service, though the menu runs the gaunt. It is a happy, whimsical place. 

I was also surprised to see what an ambitious endeavor this was for both Alon and his wife Emily. Safta's Table is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. These might have been the hours at the turn of the century, but restaurants today not only aren’t open  every day, most are only open a few days a week and usually only a few hours a day at that. This is a big commitment. Emily's profile has risen exponentially in the last few years with her increased involvement in the brand. Alon has been very gracious to include Emily in his online presence, and they are often pictured together on Instagram. On a recent visit to Miss River, the red beans & rice were Emily's signature dish, and she was credited on the menu.

Breakfast offerings are not  plentiful, but there is enough here. Alon is a very good baker, and his baked goods are what greet you at the beginning of the line to order.  Besides my current favorite peanut butter cookie, there is a plate of his wonderful espresso crinkle cookies you’ve had at Domenica, a Snickerdoodle, and a tray of Bourekas, an insanely delicious flaky pastry offered all day. Also at breakfast there is a cereal option, pancakes, and a breakfast plate of two eggs, etc. The menu for the other meals is the same, and it is not overwhelming. A lot of choices, but not too much.

The first time I tried to go to Safta’s Table, I arrived at 4:30pm to see chairs on top of tables. A note on the door said they were sold out. I was so jazzed about eating  some of the things I saw on the menu I returned the following day at lunch.

I got a peanut butter cookie, Safta’s meatballs, a Boureka, some plain hummus with cucumbers instead of the pita, and an Israeli salad which he was quite famous for in the Shaya days.. I got an extra side of fennel slaw. And a side of pickles, just because.

Sesame seeds thrill me. I detest sesame oil, but I can’t get enough of the toasted seeds. I love a seeded loaf of bread, and densely seeded burger bun, and my eyes nearly popped out when I saw the Boureka. It was a long pastry  wrapped around a spinach and feta filling. This is the Spanikopita of my dreams. The pastry was light and flaky  and inside was just the righ amount of spinach and feta filling. This is a strong flavor (which I lob=ve,) but there is sometimes too much of  a good thing here. This was perfect in every way, with a bonus of a blanket of sesame seeds. It was served with a herbal olive oil like a chimichurri sauce, and a roasted tomato sauce.  The Boureka and its accompniements was nothing short of sublime.

I have often said that Desi Vega’s grandma’s meatballs are the best in town. I love everything about them, and the sauce. But Safta’s are right there. These came as an order of three, and they were larger than the Desi Vega version, but I loved these meatballs. The sauce was fresher and more vibrant in color than the other, but this was wonderful. The edges of the sauce wre drizzled with olive oil. This with a bite of the Boureka was a great bite of food.

I loved the fennel slaw too. It was creamy but just lightly so, without a strong fennel taste, and was crunchy like a slaw should be. Very nice.

I was not so enthusiastic about the Isrtaeli salad, because the tiny vegetable salad at Shay was my benchmark, and this one didn’t compare.  It seemed a little tired. Too bad. I loved it at Shaya. The bowl of pickles I ordered as a side was nice.

The hummus was wonderfully creamy. I loved this dense but ih so smooth texture.  Usually it is buried under the lamb ragu that we were obsessive about at Shaya, but this time I could savor it on its own merits, and for the first time I realized how extraordinary just the plain version is.

On the way out I started in on the peanut butter cookie, which was sensational. I rarely eat what may be my favprite cookie, but this was a treat. It was a very good version of the peanut butter cookie. I knew I woud be back for another one, and soon.

It was not only the cookie that drew me back to Safta’s Table. It was embarrassingly the very next day. I had more business across the lake and that gave me a chance to include breakfast in this report.

I got an order of the pancakes, and I ordered a two eggs breakfast because I wanted to try the latke. I got bacon instead of turkey sausage, and the latke instead of the toasted challah, but I got a side of the Challah too.

The pancakes were too fancy for me, though they looked rather homely. They were slightly darker than I expected, and  au natural in terms of shape. They were a little dense and thick. They tasted of lemon, which I have come to accept as the vogue in pancakes. Lemon  

Ricotta rules the day. These were not as mellow as the ones with Ricotta, but they were fine. Nothing more.

The breakfast plate was very basic. The eggs were done beautifully, exactly as I requested. I liked the thick smoky bacon, which was not as crispy as my preference. The potato latke was an education. I don't recall having had a latke, which I assumed was hash browns. That is how Alon described them, but I woud disagree. Hash browns are best when the mass is not as thick. Crispy hash browns should be just that-crispy. The latke is too thick for that, meaning the interior has cooked shredded potato, but it is not crispy. They were fine otherwise.  

The Challah was a nice thick slice of perfectly toasted bread. I chose berries for this plate and it was agenerous cup of assorted berries.

And I got another peanut butter cookie, because I coudn't help myself.

I am so happy for Lakeview. They will enjoy this new addition. It wil be a regular stop for me when I am in the neighborhood. To get a peanut butter cookie of course, but there is also that Boureka…