Dagon is the perfect new NYC restaurant of the pandemic

Dagon is the town’s greatest new restaurant to come up out of the pandemic and my favourite new Higher West Aspect place for the reason that millennium. A kaleidoscopic whirl via fashionable Israeli delicacies, the place hummus and falafel meet the pungent pleasures of the Arab Center East and North Africa, it hits the spot for a Manhattan craving one thing new and great after many beloved locations closed.

I flipped for the meals in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Acre and Golan on a 2019 journey to Israel. Dagon’s sun-drenched taste constellations introduced again the pleasure. Plus, not like many current “openings,” Dagon is made for grown-up eating, with a cushty setting and a civilized sound degree. The well-trained, cheerful flooring crew know their harissa from their horseradish.

Transporting Dagon’s “Someplace within the Mediterranean” theme to Broadway at 91st Avenue took two lengthy years. Proprietor Simon Oren was able to launch it in March 2020 when the pandemic struck. He started gearing up a second time when low-capacity indoor eating was permitted final Oct. 31 – however the door slammed shut once more earlier than Dagon may open.

Eventually it’s right here (at 2454 Broadway, DragonNYC.com; 212-873-2466).

Oren owns a dozen profitable Manhattan spots, together with long-running hits Barbounia, L’Categorical, Marseille and Café d’Alsace. A lot of his locations endure for many years. However Dagon may not have seen Day 1 if he didn’t have a caring landlord – well-known hotelier Ira Drukier.

Throughout the 12 months when Dagon couldn’t open, “He by no means pushed me on the lease,” Oren mentioned. “He understood our hassle. He principally mentioned, ‘Pay what you’ll be able to, when you’ll be able to.’ ”

The end result: a gently unique eatery in a neighborhood the place many locals favor familiarity on the plate over even modest departures. For timid tastes, Dagon’s heart- and soul-satisfying duck matzo ball soup, the place floor duck is rolled into the matzo and used for the consommé, could be too radical.

“On the finish of the day, they principally need consolation meals,” Oren chuckled. However he identified, “I do know the Higher West Aspect,” the place he additionally runs south-of-France themed Good Matin and none too unique 5 Serviette Burger. “I believe the neighborhood’s hungry for a brand new, grownup restaurant.”

Dagon’s a buzzing oasis on an eerily quiet stretch of Broadway, drenched in cheery colours and furnishings — polished Moroccan flooring tiles, white-and-black banquette coverings and inexperienced and blue accents.

Government chef/companion Ari Bokovza, born to a Tunisian-Israeli father, is French-trained and has labored in Barcelona, Spain, Israel and New York. He was chef de delicacies for 3 years at Danny Meyer’s the Trendy.

Oren pursued him “for 10 years,” he mentioned. “I attempted to carry him to Barbounia however he was all the time busy with different tasks.”

There are simply 9 “small plates” ($14-19) and 5 entrees ($28-35), plus mezze ($9 every, three for $21), breads (together with a huge, yeasty Jerusalem bagel baked right into a log somewhat than twisted as it’s in Israel) and salads. With such a restricted menu, Bokovza, grasp of a gas-fired taboon oven, brings to life one of many world’s most dramatically reworked cuisines.

“Thirty or 40 years in the past, Israel was very restricted,” Oren mentioned. “Then, cooks started touring around the globe and created the brand new Israeli delicacies.”

I beloved supple quick ribs braised in a tagine and impossibly juicy-throughout harissa barbecue hen. Bokovza sends the usually bland snack dish often known as a Moroccan cigar to ending faculty: the bottom lamb sausage that fills the pastry enjoys an infusion of recent herbs, potato, turmeric, cumin and egg.

Star sommelier Aviram Turgeman presides over a well-priced lineup of menu-appropriate wines, cocktails and beers. I used to be stunned to search out mineral- and fruit-rich chardonnay from the Yarden vineyard, which I final loved within the Golan Heights.

However Dagon’s greatest shock is that it’s right here in any respect – an inspiration for each restaurant struggling to outlive the worst time in our historical past.