Dining with my sister is a pleasure.
Tamara is funny, smart and knows food. She’s a graduate of the
French Culinary Institute, who has worked as a pastry chef, restaurant
manager and, at times, world-class waitress. She expects a lot
from a restaurant’s kitchen and front-of-the-house behavior.
Give Tamara a great meal and attentive service, and she’ll sprinkle
compliments like sea salt over a sirloin. But when she encounters
mediocre food and a blase waitperson the waitstaff would prefer
a thousand bee stings over the biting comments my sister would
level on them and the cafe’s management.
Taking her to Le Dakar, Pierre Thiam’s restaurant in Clinton
Hill that opened in September, seemed like a safe choice. I’ve
visited Thiam’s first restaurant, Yolele on Fulton Street, and
Le Dakar before, and each time I’ve had splendid meals served
by waiters who appear to care whether their customers love a
dish.
We sat at a table in the front room of the restaurant, near the
bar. We sipped the Le Dakar, the house cocktail, a deep garnet-colored
martini made with a sorrel flower infusion, sweetened slightly
with honey. It’s more pungent than sweet with a floral perfume,
making the drink a perfect compliment to the meal.
We sipped and looked around the room.
"It’s like eating in an African art gallery," Tamara
said, noticing the masks and dramatic sculptures hanging on the
walls. The setting lives up to Thiam’s exciting cooking.
Le Dakar’s Senegalese menu is an abbreviated version of Yolele’s,
but each dish is just as deftly executed. The appetizers we tried
were exactly as they should be. His tomato soup tastes as if
it’s layered with spices, but it’s simply the slow roasting of
tomatoes, onions, carrots and celery that draws out each vegetable’s
intensity. Then Thiam purees them to the texture of velvet, making
this potage such a dream.
The pastry that enfolds a fresh-tasting blend of tilapia, onions
and a touch of cayenne brightened with cilantro is light yet
rich, crisp and tastes of butter. And the fried plantains, a
dish that rarely excites me, were sweet and crisp, not at all
oily.
Tamara’s verdict: "One of the best soups I’ve tasted."
She gobbled up the pastries, called "pastels," and
plantains, too.
For the "porgy caldou," Thiam braises an entire porgy
fish in a light, lemony broth brightened with a few sweet tomato
pieces and a dried and smoked fish called "guedge,"
that adds a touch of sea flavor to the mix. The waiter expertly
slit the silvery skin, lifting the remarkably tender, silky and
delicate filets to our plates.
"I could eat this every night," Tamara said, spooning
the broth over the jasmine rice that accompanied the entree.
So could I.
The "thiebou djenn," Thiam says, is a traditional dish
served in every Senegalese restaurant. A thick blue fish steak
(Thiam uses whatever fish is the freshest) is braised in a broth
layered with tomatoes, okra, garlic and chilies. Wedges of cabbage
become tender and irresistible in the stew, while squares of
eggplant absorb the flavors. It’s stunning. On the side is a
mound of moist broken rice that’s been cooked slowly in a rich
tomato paste. With this lusty dish, nothing else would work as
well.
One dessert that is on the menus of both Le Dakar and Yolele
is the Paris Dakar tart, a thin pastry with layers of finely
sliced apples and mango topped with browned butter. It is crisp,
light and cinnamony.
Licking a few crumbs from the tart off her fork, Tamara said,
"I’d be proud to say I baked this."
Another delight is the warm disk of chocolate with the melting
center. Nothing new. But the chocolate was pleasantly bitter;
the outside crisp, and when the center oozes into the vanilla
ice cream, it becomes gooey like the topping on a hot fudge sundae.
The restaurant’s co-owner and front-of-the-house man, Barry Friedberg,
looked at my credit card and said, "We share a name."
Before I could answer, Tamara took his hand and said, "Thanks,
Tina. It’s been a wonderful evening."
Le Dakar Restaurant & Cafe (285
Grand Ave. between Lafayette Avenue and Clifton Place in Clinton
Hill) accepts American Express, Diner’s Club, Discover, MasterCard
and Visa. Entrees: $10-$15. The restaurant serves dinner daily.
For more information, call (718) 398-8900 or visit www.dakarcafe.net.
