Ninth Avenue in Manhattan boasts an impressive succession of restaurants serving attractively priced food from around the world, but Gazala Place, a couple months shy of its one-year anniversary, is especially distinctive, since, according to the owner and chef, Gazala Halabi, this is the only Druze restaurant in the U.S. Ms. Halabi, a warm and enthusiastic host, hails from a family of cooks and restaurateurs in Daliat el-Carmel, the largest Druze village in Israel. Mention of the word "Druze" in the U.S. will generally generate puzzled looks. The Druze are a very small religious community concentrated in Syria, Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan. The actual religious beliefs of the sect, an offshoot of Shi’a Islam, are unknown to outsiders, and Druze cuisine is virtually unheard of in the West.
Like a beacon to homesick and hungry Druze from all over the country who have heard about and sought out this sliver of a restaurant, a sajj is visible in the front window. This round, domed griddle, which looks like a wok turned upside-down, is used to make the characteristic, napkin-thin pita of the Druze. This bread reminds me of the rumali ("handkerchief") roti I've enjoyed in Northern India. Next to the sajj, right next to the front door, you will usually find a tray of bourekas, flaky pastries as big as squashed softballs, topped with black and white sesame seeds and filled with Gazala's whim of the day, usually spinach, meat or goat cheese and sun-dried tomato, the last combination being so ethereal as to inspire obsession. These phyllo pastries resemble two doughy New York Jewish staples—bagels, in shape, and knishes, in concept—but these bourekas have the virtue of being simultaneously light yet substantial.
With the exception of a few novel transliterations here and there, most of the menu looks familiar to any fan of Eastern Mediterranean cuisine. When asked what constitutes the essence of Druze cuisine, Ms. Halabi explains with a mischievous chuckle that most of what she learned to cook is "Israeli things…but we fix it." Gazala uses a uniquely Druze (and secret) blend, hand-ground and imported directly from her grandmother's spice shop back in Daliat el-Carmel. She dismisses the spices found here as flavorless and lacking a certain terroir. She makes her own yogurt, which is the base for several dishes on (and off) the menu, from thick, tangy labanee to ash al-saraia, an alluring, honey-sweetened dessert that is a sort of Levantine tiramisu. Gazala acknowledges that she could cut corners here and there with ingredients to save money and a lot of effort, but feels this would betray her principles and her mission to provide authentic, honest Druze cooking.
Ms. Halabi hadn't even heard of The New York Times when Peter Meehan's positive review was published in February, so she was dumbfounded when there was a line out the door for four days beginning on the morning after publication. She is thankful for the benediction of the Times review, an honor to which any ambitious restaurant aspires, but she did not open Gazala Place seeking critical acclaim. Far more important for her is the recognition she enjoys back in her very traditional birthplace, where women's roles outside the home are usually limited to part-time work. Most women toil in the house, cooking and cleaning and generally making life comfortable for their husbands. By coming to the United States and opening a successful restaurant—in New York City nonetheless—she has become a hometown hero and, most importantly in her own view, an ambassador for Druze cuisine and culture.
709 9th Avenue (between 48th and 49th Streets)
New York, New York 10019
212.245.0709
BYOB
