Levantine cuisine

And we stood next to the quail master and we watched him fanning the smoke on the quail.

We saw them rubbing them with this very special marinade that originated with the Levantine original owners, and which is actually a celebration of both Greek and Levantine flavors, which in and of themselves are connected.

Greece, Lebanon, Syria, they have connections flavors-wise.

These appear with the birds in Alexandria.

I would have hummus and baba ghanoush and great, um, bread, great kielbasa and, um, and kebabs, of course.

And those great, you know, Levantine pickles and Um, and then for dessert, um, I would have to make sticky toffee pudding.

Um, although I would be very nervous to make that fit in my jello.

That would be a tough critic, I'm sure.

The pastry counter at Kensington's Manna Bakery is lined with lemon orange blossom Basque cheesecake, pistachio cookies, and savory batata buns.

These are Palestinian and Levantine-inspired pastries that connect owner Saif Manna with his culture.

But the one specialty Manna feels closest to, the one that brings him back to his grandmother's home in Jordan, where he spent his summers as a kid, is the za'atar manoushe.

The herbaceous scent of the za'atar and fermented dough of the pillowy flatbread is one of Manna's fondest memories.

But I was really taken with the food at Morrow.

And my mind kept on going to Spanish food or Levantine food.

Levantine,

yeah.

But then I'd stop myself and be like, I trained with these people.