It was mid afternoon, and after much museum-wandering in New York, Olivia and I were in need of a refresher. We weren't picky, but we did require a casual café with good ambiance in which to recline. We walked for about three blocks on the Upper West Side until we came upon a cozy café/bistro. The prospect of smoothies lured us inside. The interior was spacious and only a few people were dining. We were both craving munchies - the croissants enticed Olivia while the salmon seemed to call my name. We compromised with a "Mezze" platter to be washed down by smoothies. Olivia had the genius idea to combine strawberries and blueberries for the smoothie! It was the perfect combination - sweet from the strawberry, tart from the blueberry, creamy from the yogurt, and cold from the ice. We slurped them down pretty quickly! The Mezze platter came with four adorable ramekins housing tzatziki, hummus, black and green olives, and roasted red pepper purée. Grilled pita was served on the side. Although the tzatziki texture did not look desirable (as you can see, it had a rather watery consistency), its flavor was incredibly fresh. There was a certain brightness from the shredded cucumbers and the minced dill which added a pleasant shimmer to the blank pita canvas. Olivia's favorite was the hummus. Unlike any hummus I've had before, it had curry folded into the soft and velvety spread. The spice made the hummus very earthy and warm, and because there was not a lot of tahini added, the chickpea flavor shined through! The last condiment was roasted red peppers puréed with walnuts - it was my favorite! The roasted pepper made the dip sweet and the walnuts gave it a slightly chunky texture. The fact that it was so unusual made it even more appealing to me. While we dined at our corner table, we "highly encouraged" each other to eat whole olives - an ingredient neither of us are fond of - to expand our culinary palettes. Unfortunately, we were not captivated by the fermented delicacy.
Olivia and I thoroughly enjoyed our café adventure where we had time to dine and to recline from the hustle of the day. Thank you for coming with us; we hope you relished the Mediterranean excursion as well!
