There may be a lot of conflict going on in the Middle East.  But I find the cuisines very similar and delicious.  I mentally group them as a single category and a great no. 2 choice for vegetarian food behind Indian cuisine.  Israeli, Lebanese, Turkish…  Mmm.  Falafel, hummus, baba ganoush, shakshouka, stuffed grape leaves, baklava, kadaif, mint tea…

I carry my own home accounting with precision and care.  I know you wouldn’t expect any less from me.  I have complete sets of balance sheets and income statements for my household since 1992.  I may not control how much we spend but I definitely know where it all goes.  And somewhere a whole lot of it goes is restaurants.  This information comes in handy sometimes.

I have gotten into the habit of tallying up my annual and lifetime expenditure by restaurant every January.  Then I show them my “league table”, where they stand and what the numbers are.  And for two years in a row now, my no. 1 restaurant by dollars spent has been…  Lola.  It’s my usual Sunday night dinner hangout.

Lola is an Israeli restaurant in Great Neck Long Island with a lot of artistry and flair, yet quite down to earth.  The owner, Michael Ginor, brings the spirit and business savvy.  But where he scored really big is with head chef, Lenny Messina.  Lenny is a genius, an artist, and also incredibly nice and approachable.  Lenny gets excited when he sees my reservation in the book because he knows he’ll get carried away to please us with something new and imaginative.  For me, it’s also an exercise in letting go, relinquishing control and being served whatever he wants rather than what my plan has prescribed.  My only job is to slow him down otherwise we’d get stuffed to the gills.

Tonight was a fabulous meal, as always, where the highlight was…  cauliflower.  Lenny loves to play games with cauliflower.  Tonight, it was a “cauliflower steak”, actually a big flattened portion for 2, grilled to perfection, smothered in the most delicious sauce with lemon, capers, pine nuts, peppers and other spices.  He came out with a big grin and said “I wanted to start you on fire tonight”.  On fire it was, not just by heat but also by sheer delight of the palate with such a delicious combination of flavors.

Then he finished us off with an “experiment” he was trying out for a big event he’s catering soon: an earl grey cake with earl grey ice-cream, toasted honey and very juicy and sweet oranges.  What a delicacy.  Not only were the flavors deliciously combined but also the array of textures, from the silky smooth ice-cream passing through moist cake and the plump oranges to crunch from the toasted honey, completed a very sensual experience.  Had never had such a dessert.  Yet, we advised him to moisten his cake a little more in his earl grey broth for the main event.  He loves the feedback because we’re like part of his culinary family.

I always leave Lola feeling uplifted, cared for, exalted and just plain happy.  I’m now ready to start my week.