By Jonathan Gold
Thursday, Nov 10 2011
Mezze, in the former Sona space up on La Cienega, is probably the swankest of the new upscale parlors specializing in meze, Middle Eastern small plates, with the former Zen austerity of the dining room softened by designer Waldo Fernandez, the usual fattoush and tabbouleh given a chefly twist. Micah Wexler, who cooked at Craft, is executing more or less a New American menu inflected with Arabic flavors, so the braised tripe is garnished with crisp falafel balls, the flatbreads are topped with things like merguez sausage and tomato jam, and the foie gras terrine comes with freshly made pita instead of toast points and a smear of saffron-tinted lebne, thick yogurt, where you might expect a marmalade. The wood-roasted Cornish hen? Rubbed with the spice blend za’atar. Instead of sliders, there is lamb shawarma, dressed with the Jewish-Iraqi mango salsa called amba on tiny rounds of pita. (A go with Wexler’s aggressively eclectic menu can seem like a pop quiz on Middle Eastern cuisine.) Actually, Wexler, a product of local Jewish schools, has quite a few Jewish-leaning dishes on his menu: a crudo of salmon with cream cheese and rye crisps, which recalls lox and bagels; a version of the Israeli tomato-pepper stew shakshouka with sweetbreads and a yogurt foam; and “Grandma’s” chopped chicken livers with challah. Is what we’re seeing exploded bubbe cuisine? Not even close. But there is cheesecake, make that lebne cheesecake, for dessert. 401 N. La Cienega Blvd., W. Hlywd. (323) 657-4103, mezzela.com. Sun.-Thurs., 6 p.m.-mid.; Fri.-Sat., 6 p.m.-2 a.m. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, MC, V. Middle Eastern.
http://www.laweekly.com/2011-11-10/eat-drink/mezze-essential-restaurants-2011/
