I can't put my finger on exactly what it is about Anita's Kitchen in Ferndale that makes me feel so good, but every time I'm there, I pick up the same positive vibe.
Maybe it's the soothing celadon green walls and silk fabrics that hang from the open ceiling in the contemporary dining room. It could be the natural light from the big front windows, the oh-so-comfortable chairs or even the interesting mix of people who fill them.
But atmosphere isn't the main reason the restaurant has built a following since it opened on Woodward 14 months ago.
What keeps customers coming back is Anita's authentic, flavorful, well-prepared -- and well-priced -- Lebanese food.
The menu features original recipes by longtime restaurateur Anita Farah and some new interpretations by her daughter, Jennifer Wegrzyn, who runs the restaurant with her husband, Joe. Farah also owns a small American and Lebanese restaurant in Troy. At the Ferndale location, you'll find all the most popular Lebanese favorites -- from hummus, baba ghannoush and grape leaves to shwarma, shish kebab and lamb chops -- plus contemporary treats such as pita pizzas.
I always struggle with what to order at Middle Eastern restaurants because I love so many of the cuisine's signature dishes. But the easy solution is Anita's Mixed Meze, a feast of 10 items.
The menu says it's designed for two to four guests, but I'd say four to five is more like it. For $30.95, three of us ate all we wanted at dinner and still took home two boxes of food.
Our first course of cold meze included two falafel patties, nicely spiced and moist inside; two vegetarian grape leaves; a mound of super-fresh, lemony, chopped-parsley tabbouleh; cool and creamy hummus spread; some delicious freshly pickled vegetables, and a generous mound of fattoush -- which Anita's makes without romaine.
It's a mixture of cubed tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers and some parsley with sumac dressing and toasted pita bits. While it's a colorful, substantial salad, the lack of greenery annoys some of my fattoush-loving friends who frequent the restaurant.
But the dish is true to the original Anita Farah grew up with, in a part of Lebanon where lettuce isn't often available, says Joe Wegrzyn.
The second Mixed Meze course brings hot items: classic rice pilaf garnished with pickled purple turnips and topped with a skewer each of shish kafta, or spiced ground lamb, and shish tawook -- meaty, moist char-grilled chicken breast skewered with green peppers -- plus a serving each of spicy chicken and beef shwarma.
Anita's shwarmas are deliciously complex, marinated with haunting spices that taunt you to recall their names. Cardamom is one, but Joe Wegrzyn won't reveal more. Farah's original recipe uses eight or nine spices, he says, compared with four or five in many other recipes.
On other visits, we skipped around the menu. I loved the light, bright, lemon lentil soup ($2.65 and $3.65) with carrots, onions and spinach.
The Arabian pita pizza ($5.95) spread with red-pepper hummus and topped with ground lamb, roasted red pepper slices and chopped artichokes was pleasant, but its flavors were more subdued than its toppings suggested.
With 10 entrée salads on the menu, picking just one was difficult. I tried the Mediterranean ($9.50), with mixed greens, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, pitted Kalamata olives and crumbled goat cheese. The meaty sun-dried tomatoes gave it heft and richness, but something crunchy -- maybe nuts or diced cucumber -- would add textural interest. Guests can add grilled chicken or shwarma for $3.50.
Dinner entrées come with rice pilaf, hummus, tabbouleh, pita bread and soup; most are under $12. Lunch specials are just $7.50. Anita's bar offers 25 wines, most in the $20s and $30s, and nearly all can be ordered by the glass. But don't ignore the luscious raw-juice smoothies ($3.95) with names like Berries Over Beirut.
For me, the only real downside is the lack of a pita oven turning out hot, crisp, puffy breads. The pitas at Anita's are like most others, cut in quarters and wrapped in plastic.
The Wegrzyns and the Farahs -- Anita and her husband, Pierre -- keep refining and improving the restaurant. For example, heaters and roll-up walls added to the side patio will allow it to open in a couple of weeks.
Sounds like a good place to kick back with lunch and a Wango Tango smoothie, watch the Woodward traffic go by and wait for spring to catch up.
