The spices can be unexpected, the heart-pumping music videos a little racier than you might expect in a Middle Eastern restaurant, and the service a little bumpy.
Service usually struggles in an eatery's first week, and two of Alaska's newest restaurant operators are excited to be past their opening jitters at Sahara Middle Eastern Cuisine, the latest eatery to occupy the northeast corner of the Fireweed Lane and C Street intersection.
We caught up with Khaled and Nisrin Azzam last weekend for an assessment and a look ahead.
The food: If Turkish is your frame of reference for Middle Eastern food, this Palestinian couple from Israel is ready to change your expectations. "I want people to know the food we have in our homes and in my country," Nisrin says.
Some Alaska touches make an easy entry point. "We have halibut and salmon, which are familiar," she says. "People who aren't sure about our food have tried those and been surprised by the spices and flavors. Then they are ready to try something else."
The fish is not really an anomaly on the menu, Nisrin says. "Fish is very plentiful in Israel. We eat a lot of it."
Also: Variations on many traditional Middle Eastern foods, including baba ganoush, falafel, hummus, kebabs (including skewers of fresh, tender lamb) and shawarma.
How it came together: The couple came to the U.S. to visit Nisrin's brother Faisal in September 2000, and they thought Alaska was a place to build their future. Neither spoke much English, "but we had a lot of determination for our dream," Khaled says. He gave up his auto-mechanic shop in Israel, went to work for a similar business here and later started working for himself.
Nisrin went to work in day care but hesitated when friends and customers advised her to set up her own day-care business. "Food is very important in our culture -- for our home life, our friends," she said. "So having our own restaurant -- and developing a family of customers -- was what I really wanted to do."
Look and ambience: There's no trace of the ghosts of restaurants past here. Walls are a clean sand color, and a large flat-screen TV is tuned to pop videos, most broadcast from Lebanon and Egypt. (I could hardly sit still in my seat on an earlier visit, and I promptly went online to hear more by swaggering Egyptian crooner Mustafa Amar at www.musicoflebanon.com.)
"A lot of our family is helping with the service," Nisrin says. "And we have belly dancing on Friday and Saturday nights."
What's next? Beer and wine -- the alcohol license arrived last week, and diners can enjoy those beverages as well as teas and Arabic coffee.
What's most unusual? Desserts. Besides the familiar baklava, there are several less familiar to Americans -- most with a pleasing aura of rose water. "That rose water sauce is very typical of our sweets, and sweets are big in our culture," Nisrin says. "Dessert is served every day at home, and so it was important to us to do that well in our restaurant."
Layali Beirut ($6.99) is a smooth, layered stovetop dessert topped with house-made whipped cream and then drizzled with rose water. Namoura ($6.99) is a brownie-like wedge of baked cream of wheat mixed with homemade yogurt, topped with roasted peanuts and marinaded in rose water. The most exotic-looking is kanafee ($8.99), a square of baked cheese wrapped in slivers of phyllo dough -- dyed with bright-orange food coloring and sweetened with honey and rose water. There are also two ice cream offerings.
• Play dining reviewer Mike Peters can be reached at mpeters@adn.com.
Sahara Middle Eastern Cuisine
Location: 2409 C St.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
Phone: 279-0777
Web: www.saharaalaska.com
By Mike Peters
mpeters@adn.com