Grape leaves and hummus mingle with Wagyu beef kebab and duck shawarma
At least that seems to be the guiding principle at Ilili, where chef-owner Philippe Massoud (who won raves for his cooking at Neyla in Georgetown) has given Lebanese cuisine the Eliza Doolittle treatment, transporting it from the falafel ghetto to the more rarefied climes of contemporary Mediterranean-fusion dining. There are grape leaves and hummus on the menu, sure, but there’s also a Wagyu beef kebab and duck shawarma with pomegranate molasses.
The fancy ingredients are matched by fancy decor: With its sleek cedar walls and come-hither lighting scheme, the massive place—it seats almost 300—looks and feels like the love child of an executive dining room and a Meatpacking District lounge.
Upon being seated in the cavernous main dining room, we were given a complimentary plate of labneh, the dense, tangy yogurt that in this case came with olives and crisp zaatar flatbread. It got the meal off to a promising start, and also prophesized the diminutive portions to follow.
This is a restaurant that takes small plates seriously, sometimes comically so. An order of grape leaves looked like it came from a doll-house kitchen. The Lilliputian rolls, only slightly bigger than a baby’s fingers, tasted mainly of vinegar; their filling of rice, tomato and olive oil seemed to be present in name only.
An order of chankleech, on the other hand, hit all the right marks. Dainty cubes of feta, seasoned with zaatar, were lined up alongside bits of tomato and scallions; scooped up with pieces of Ilili’s warm, puffy pita bread (which ranks among the city’s best), the dish was an ode to the vibrant, complex flavors that characterize Lebanese cooking.
Likewise, Massoud’s Brussels sprouts (a loose interpretation of Lebanon’s classic fried cauliflower), fried with grapes, fig puree, walnuts and mint, were pure joy: crunchy, creamy, sweet and savory. By comparison, the lightly fried eggplant was downright disappointing: Some were undercooked and tough, while others were pleasingly tender.
Don’t expect any of the food to come in ample helpings, though: This is not a place that satisfies a craving for a gloopy kebab. That said, Massoud’s take on manti was a tasty—and gut-busting—one. Presented in a deceptively small bowl, the Lebanese pasta, stuffed with beef and lamb and doused with minted yogurt, was tender, tangy, carnivorous bliss, even if the mint was undetectable. Likewise, the octopus, sliced thin as prosciutto and anointed with hot pepper oil, was delicious, if a trifle bit skimpy to justify its $13 price tag.
Curiously, it was Ilili’s desserts that came in generous portions. The so-called Ilili chocolate bar—roughly the dimensions of a cordless phone—was original sin served with a spoon. Watching the waiter slowly pour hot chocolate sauce up and down its length felt almost obscene: This is a dessert that calls for a private room and a cigarette.
Slightly less restrained, but no less satisfying, was the embarrassingly named “Date with Chocolate.” What could have been another tired warm chocolate cake was instead enlivened by honey-date ice cream and praline shavings.
Given Ilili’s grand ambitions, its location is a bit ironic. It sits on a stretch of Fifth Avenue that during the day is a faintly grubby wholesale mecca. Come nighttime, it’s all but deserted. But maybe that’s the point: Right now, Ilili is the new, and only, kid on the block. With its weekend DJ, numerous lounges and bite-sized portions of exoticism, it’s positioning itself as a beacon of chic, sort of a Buddakan East.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with wanting to impart more cache to Lebanese cuisine. But it would be a shame if, in Massoud’s bid for style, its substance got lost in translation.
The net results: what people are saying online
[New York Post]: “Can intermittently excellent specimens of a proud cuisine that's poorly represented in New York survive waiters who think an overcooked, whole rouget with the head attached is a ‘filet’?”
[Food & Wine]: “Massoud's cooking retains the intense flavors of Lebanese cuisine, adding smart and surprising tweaks here and there without muddling the taste.”
[New York Times]: “The most elaborate Middle-Eastern restaurant in the city…avoids the usual souk clichés.… The Lebanese wines are worth discovering.”
Ilili
236 Fifth Ave.
between 27th and 28th Sts.
212-683-2929
Photo: Ryan Muir
