You won't find any white knights at Al Cavaliere Ristorante

Al Cavaliere Ristorante in Clifton promises "Italian Gastronomy," but you might get a big helping of agita instead.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I had my heart set on hearing the Heath Brothers Quintet at William Paterson University on Friday night.

And on the way to Wayne, dinner at a fine-dining Italian restaurant sounded like the perfect appetizer for a jazz concert.

In June, I had purchased an Amazon Local voucher for $15 that entitled me to spend $30 on food and drink at Al Cavaliere Ristorante on Piaget Avenue in Clifton ("The Knight" in English).

Sorry, Charlie

But when I arrived at the restaurant on Friday evening, I got an argument instead of the house salad and grilled fish I had planned to order. 

The waiter who greeted me saw the voucher in my hand, and when I said, "One for dinner," he quickly informed me that to use the discount, I would have to order "two entrees."

He said that was "restaurant policy," even though it isn't one of the conditions listed on the voucher.

When I asked to speak to the manager -- a potential white knight-- the waiter said he was on vacation, and a second server backed him up.

Only two of the tables in the dining room, which seats 65, were occupied.

I call Amazon Local

I sat down in the waiting area and called Amazon Local Customer Service, where Kim said that if she couldn't talk to the manager, she could offer me a refund, which I accepted.

I called back this morning, and Fez, another Customer Service representative, said merchants approach Amazon and voluntarily issue vouchers in an effort to increase their business.

Merchants are "vetted" to see if they are appropriate to advertise on Amazon Local.

He added Al Cavaliere Ristorante won't be "allowed to get away" with how I was treated.

On Friday evening, when I was turned away, I asked the waiters at Al Cavaliere if there was another restaurant nearby, and one of them suggested a White Castle.

The simple but filling meal I was served at Aleppo Restaurant in Paterson, above and below, after I was turned away by Al Cavaliere Ristorante in Clifton. The salad dressing included dried mint.

South Paterson

Instead, I took Main Avenue in Clifton to the South Paterson section of Paterson, where I stopped at Fattal's (975-77 Main St.) for 18 cans of Moroccan sardines at 99 cents each and a 3-liter bottle of extra-virgin olive oil for $13.99.

A couple of blocks away, I found owner Mohamed K. Jello in the dining room of Aleppo Restaurant at Main and Thomas streets, where he was fasting for the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.

He served me hummus, salad, water and strong Turkish coffee while we caught up.

Summer Jazz Room

I got to the WPU jazz concert in plenty of time, and bought a ticket for $8 (with a senior discount).

Tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath led his group with a guest trumpet player in his own compositions as well as on "'Round Midnight" and other classics.

It was a rousing concert, and the group got a standing ovation. 

So the evening wasn't a total loss despite the rude and inconsiderate behavior of the staff at Al Cavaliere Ristorante.

Warming up with hot mint tea in South Paterson

A photo of the 13th century Citadel of Aleppo in the dining room of Aleppo Restaurant in Paterson, above and below.

The restaurant is at 939 Main St. in Paterson.

Editor's note: We've had some depressingly chilly and sunless days in North Jersey this January, and I'll take comfort wherever I can find it -- with a glass of hot mint tea or home-cooked favorites.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

It's an especially quiet January for the owners of Middle Eastern stores, restaurants and bakeries in the South Paterson section of Silk City.

On Tuesday, when I had an errand in Paterson -- known for its Great Falls and its glorious silk-industry past -- I immediately thought of stopping at Aleppo Restaurant and Fattal's Bakery on Main Street.

At the Syrian restaurant, the owner emerged from the kitchen and offered me a glass of hot mint tea, made with fresh mint leaves, or his justifiably famous lentil soup to warm up from the chilly, rainy weather.

I love the pureed soup, which reminds me so much of the one my mother prepared, but I chose the tea, adding a half teaspoon of sugar as we caught up, seated in the empty dining room.

When I got home, I rummaged in the cupboard and found a pouch of Basak-brand Lentil Soup from Turkey, reconstituted it with water and heated it up on the stove until it boiled and thickened.

It didn't approach the versions prepared by my mother or Aleppo Restaurant, but I enjoyed it nevertheless, squeezing fresh lime juice over it and adding a generous pinch of ground cumin. 

Fattal's at 975-77 Main St. in Paterson is expanding its parking lot.

99-cents sardines

I purchased the lentil-soup mix on a previous visit to Fattal's, the Syrian bakery, grocery, butcher shop and cafe less than two blocks away from Aleppo Restaurant.

On Tuesday, I picked up 21 cans of Al-Shark Sardines in Tomato Sauce, which has less sodium than the same Moroccan sardines in oil, for 99 cents a can.

These sardines are wonderful in canned fish salad, heated up and eaten with rice, added to pasta sauce and eaten right out of the can with salad.

I also purchased a 28-ounce jar of Salloum Bros. Marmalade from Figs for $5.99, even though I saw a less expensive brand.

Sugar was listed second on the ingredients label of the cheaper brand; Salloum lists it fourth after figs, sesame and anise. Both are from Lebanon.

A favorite snack is a spoonful of fig marmalade followed by a spoonful of Kirkland Signature Natural Peanut Butter from Costco Wholesale, but I also eat the thick fig spread with cheese, almonds and fruit.

I also picked up Fattal's own 6-inch Meat Pies ($8.99), a comfort food that is terrific heated up in the oven, if you eat meat. They can be frozen, too.

My mother sometimes added pine nuts to her chopped meat after spreading it on the oiled dough.

For a sweet-and-savory breakfast, I added Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco Wholesale to an egg-white omelet and a leftover baked sweet potato.

Besto pesto

I love having a jar of Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco Wholesale in my refrigerator to use at any meal -- whether to spread on a sandwich, add to egg and fish dishes or mix with hot pasta, including whole-wheat shells or imported egg-noodle tagliatelle. 

Ingredients include 100% Italian basil from the province of Genoa, extra-virgin olive oil, sheep's milk and cow's milk cheeses, sea salt, pine nuts, garlic and black pepper.

The pesto doesn't have to be heated up before you mix it with hot pasta, and it's best to add it to fish and egg dishes after you take them out of the oven or off of the stove.

A 22-ounce plastic jar of Basil Pesto is $7.99.

The North Jersey 'ethnic-food run' is alive and well

The takeout counter at Pollos El Chevere, where the menu of Peruvian specialties goes far beyond its signature rotisserie chicken.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss some of the great ethnic food available in North Jersey, and shop with a coupon booklet from H Mart, a Korean supermarket chain. The H Mart in Englewood was closed in 2018.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

North Jersey's increasing diversity pays big dividends: Great ethnic food at nearly every turn.

I often did my "ethnic-food runs" on Saturdays, starting in the city of Passaic with a snack of tacos, stopping in Paterson for a takeout soul-food dinner, and ending with food shopping and a meal in South Paterson's Middle Eastern bazaar.

The soul-food restaurant closed, and three and a half years ago, I stopped eating meat. But I can still do a food run.

Last Saturday, my wife wanted to shop some of Passaic's cheap clothing stores.

That set up a visit to Pollos El Chevere, an inexpensive Japanese-Peruvian-owned restaurant that is one of the nicest and cleanest in that poor city.

We ordered takeout for the meat eaters in the family:

Pollo Entero Solo, a whole rotisserie chicken with a side of white rice, french fries, green or sweet plantains or yuca ($10); an order of Tostones or fried green plantains ($2.75); and two Empanadas with ground meat and boiled egg ($2.50 each).

We also ordered an extra container of a pale green, spicy chili-cheese sauce ($3) that can be poured over the chicken, green plantains or just about anything else.

Plenty of seafood

I fondly recall meals at Pollos El Chevere, especially enjoying my favorite dish, Ceviche de Pescado ($12), a Japanese-Peruvian twist on sashimi, served with  sweet potato and popped corn kernels.

Another great dish is called Tallerin Verde, a green or pesto-like pasta dish available with shrimp, fish or steak ($12.50 to $14).

The menu also offers many seafood dishes, including stews, fried fillets and steamed fish.

Pollos El Chevere, 228 Washington Place, Passaic; 1-973-249-6330. 

Web site: www.cheverechicken.com

Al-Shark Moroccan Sardines in tomato sauce or spicy oil are still only 99 cents a can in the grocery section of Fattal's Bakery in Paterson. We use them in pasta sauce and salads.

Corrado's

Our next stop was Corrado's Family Affair, a big, ethnic supermarket on the Clifton-Paterson border where I used to go for salted cod from Canada in 1-pound plastic bags.

After two earlier visits to Corrado's, only to find they were out of those bags of salted cod, I called ahead and was told by a fish counter worker the cod had finally come in.

But what the employee called cod turned out to be salted Alaskan pollock, a cheaper substitute I buy at Costco Wholesale, and I left empty handed.

We drove less than a mile to Fattal's Bakery on Main Street in Paterson, where I picked up 21 cans of Al-Shark Moroccan Sardines in tomato sauce or spicy oil (99 cents each).

Aleppo Restaurant offers a great Syrian meal in a pleasant setting, above and below, free of the annoying hookah smoke so prevalent in other restaurants in South Paterson or over the border in Clifton.

If you like spicy food, Aleppo Restaurant's Muhammara is a must.

Aleppo Restaurant

We finished our "ethnic-food run" with another great meal of soup, salad, fish and kebabs at Aleppo Restaurant in Paterson.

See a previous post: 

My heart goes out to the city of Aleppo, Syria 

Details

Aleppo Restaurant, 939 Main St., Paterson; 1-973-977-2244.

Fattal's Bakery, 975-77 Main St., Paterson; 1-973-742-7125.

Corrado's Family Affair, 1578 Main Ave., Clifton; 1-973-340-0628.

One of the coupons in a book sent to some H Mart shoppers offers 20% off on big seedless watermelons, but that's just $2 off the price of $9.99.

The best coupon for me gave a $1 discount on 2 pounds of wild mussels harvested in Massachusetts just a week before I bought them. The discounted price was $1.99.

Whole whiting, here swimming in a sake-organic diced tomato sauce, were $3.99 a pound. There is no coupon for fresh fish.

H Mart 'savings'

H Mart has sent a "summer savings" coupon booklet to holders of the Korean supermarket chain's Smart Card, which gives a 1% rebate on purchases of $1,000.

On Wednesday, at the Englewood H Mart, I used coupons to get 20% off the price of green peppers ($1.59 a pound), and to buy 2 pounds of wild mussels for only $1.99.

I steamed opened the mussels in a little inexpensive sake, and they were deliciously tender and grit-free.

Non-coupon items I bought included a box of 20 intensely sweet Champagne or Ataulfo Mangoes for $8.99, a dollar less than before.

The store was having an even better special -- 2 boxes or 40 mangoes for $14.99. The regular price is $15.99 a box.

Jinga's Cheese Kimbap -- a seaweed, rice and vegetable roll -- were half price after 4 p.m. or just $2.49.

Fresh collard greens were 99 cents a pound.

H Mart has other stores in Fort Lee, Ridgefield and Little Ferry.  Coupons are good through July 14, 2013.

See its Web site: 

http://www.hmart.com/

My heart goes out to the city of Aleppo, Syria

Grilled whiting fillets at Aleppo Restaurant, whose owner is from the northern Syrian city that is reportedly bracing for an assault by government troops. After an early dinner at the Paterson restaurant on Saturday, we drove over to the Great Falls, which was swollen by recent heavy rains, below.

Paterson's Great Falls.

A photo I took in 1978 shows a Star of David motif on Bab Al Faraj, a clock tower in Aleppo, Syria.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

News of a planned Syrian-government assault on rebel-held Aleppo flooded me with memories of my 1978 visit to the city where my Sephardic Jewish parents were born.

Growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y., I was constantly reminded of Aleppo -- from the Arabic records my mother played to the wonderful meals of Syrian specialties she prepared every day.

My parents, who spoke Syrian at home, often discussed Aleppo and such landmarks as Bab Al Faraj, a clock tower at one of the entrances to the old city.

Since the battle for Syria began more than 2 years ago, I've often wondered whether the clock tower and the other buildings I saw on my visit 35 years ago are still standing.

Now, my heart breaks at the thought of more death and destruction in Aleppo.

The city -- 186 miles north of Damascus -- was big in my parents' day. In 2005, it had a population of 2.3 million and was the largest city in Syria.

On Saturday, I planned a day of food shopping and sightseeing in and around Paterson, a city whose silk mills drew thousands of Syrian immigrants in the early 1900s.

Along with my wife and mother-in-law, I stopped for an early dinner at Aleppo Restaurant on Main Street, trying to recapture the flavors of my mother's dishes, as I have for the many years I've lived in northern New Jersey.

The food always brings me back to Brooklyn and to my brief visit to Aleppo, where the kebab restaurant cooks chopped meat with long, sharp knives, and the bakeries were filled with baklava and other familiar pastries. 

My mother's passport photo. She was about 12 when she arrived in the United States.

Aleppo and Brooklyn

My father, Abood Sasson, was the son of a pastry maker in Aleppo who worked in his father's bakery and, after he married, taught his wife how to make Syrian sweets. 

My mother, who took the name Grace after she came to the United States, said her mother came from Alexandria, Egypt.

Her father, Selim Ashkenazi, was a shochet, a person officially certified as competent to kill cattle, sheep and poultry in the manner prescribed by Jewish kosher laws.

I remember returning home from school one day and finding a live turkey in a cage in our finished basement in Brooklyn.

My grandfather killed that bird and my mother served it for Thanksgiving.

Abood Sasson and Grace Ashkenazi met on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, married in the early 1930s and moved to Brooklyn. 

My father said the wedding, reception and a honeymoon voyage to Cuba on the Morro Castle cost about $400.

My father spent most of his working life running a dry goods store, A. Sasson, on Grand Street in Manhattan, competing against dozens of others who also sold sheets, pillowcases, curtains and lace tablecloths.

An appetizer of Muhammara, the spiciest dish on the menu at Aleppo Restaurant, is made with sweet red peppers and ground dried Aleppo peppers ($4).

Aleppo Mixed Grill, served with rice, salad or french fries ($15).

Another appetizer, Labaneh Extra, is a thick yogurt with ground walnuts and garlic ($5).

Three of the four fillets in the Grilled Whiting entree, which I ordered with salad ($10).The fish was dusted with the same delicious spices used for kebabs.

Arabic Salad is dressed with oil, lemon, parsley and dried mint ($4).

Service problems

On Saturday, as we were finishing up our meal at Aleppo Restaurant, I asked the waitress if Mohamed K. Jello, the genial chef and owner, could leave the kitchen for a few minutes so I could say hello and ask about family members in Syria.

Everyone in Aleppo was safe, Jello said before hurrying back to work.

The food we had eaten was as good as always, but I didn't have the heart to complain about the waitress, who seemed uninterested in serving us, even though only two other tables were occupied.

The restaurant has switched from a thin, chewy bread to a thicker pocket bread from Nouri's, a nearby bakery, and the waitress brought several loaves in the plastic bag, as is the custom in Middle Eastern places in Paterson.

But this bread didn't seem that fresh and hadn't been heated in the bag, as it is elsewhere, and on top of that, Nouri's isn't my favorite Syrian bakery.

I asked her to heat up the bread, and she refused, so I just handed her the tray and asked her to take the bread away.

There were other problems, and my smaller-than-usual tip reflected my dissatisfaction with the service.

A perfect way to end a Syrian meal is Turkish Coffee, but our waitress at Aleppo Restaurant didn't make it "mazboot" (medium sweet), as I requested.

Al Jeezera reported that Egypt had broken off diplomatic relations with Syria.

The restaurant has an old photo of the citadel in Aleppo,Syria. Aleppo is at 939 Main Street in Paterson; 1-973-977-2244. No alcohol allowed.

Aleppo then

My 1978 visit to Aleppo, Syria, lasted only 36 hours, but I remember sleeping in a hotel room shared by other travelers, and eating in a kebab restaurant where the chefs used long, sharp knives to chop meat.

In a pastry shop, I was able to order baklava and other sweets by name, because I grew up eating them.

I visited a yeshiva and a Jewish family in the Jameliah neighborhood, but found that both the citadel of Aleppo and the national museum were closed on the day I stopped by.

I flew to Syria from Egypt, where I had toured for about 3 weeks, and took a group taxi to Aleppo from Damascus.

Here are some of the photos I took on June 19, 20 and 21, 1978:

A man selling tea on the street.

The old city of Aleppo reminded me of old Jerusalem.

The Star of David motif on a door.

Parts of old Aleppo were being cleared to make way for new apartment buildings.

Fresh Syrian bread from an oven visible in the rear.

A World War II-era Citroen parked in the old city.

A man balances a tray on his head.

An entrance to the covered souk or market that Aleppo is known for.

A man and his sons offered old suits for sale.

The exterior, left, and interior of an ancient synagogue that had been restored with money from the Sephardic community in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Costco Wholesale's stuffed grape leaves need a little heat

Refrigerated stuffed grape leaves from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack look a lot better on the package, above, than they do on the plate, below. Frankly Fresh Foods, the maker, says they are handmade and "ready to eat," but they're not very good cold.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I was raised in Brooklyn eating grape leaves my mother grew in our garden, and stuffed with a mixture of rice and chopped meat.

She cooked them in a covered pot in water flavored with a thick tamarind sauce.

Aleppo Restaurant in Paterson makes a tasty version of stuffed grape leaves, but the ones I've eaten in Greek restaurants have been just OK.

The other day, my wife brought home Frankly Fresh Vegetarian Stuffed Grape Leaves from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

A 2-pound package was $10.59, which seems a little high to me.

The package says they are "handmade with seasoned rice, tomatoes, onions and red peppers," and "ready to eat."

On Wednesday night, I added the stuffed grape leaves to a dinner salad of greens, beans and beets, and was underwhelmed.

They were dense and a little dry, and they reminded me of the bland vegetarian falafel I once bought at Costco.

But this morning, I plated stuffed grape leaves with Korean-style stewed pollock and organic quinoa with tomatoes, and heated the food in the microwave for 2 minutes.

I drizzled extra-virgin olive oil on the quinoa and stuffed grape leaves, as well as fresh lime juice (the stuffed grape leaves package shows a half slice of lemon).

The stuffed grape leaves came alive. They were moist and delicious, and I'm glad my wife brought them home. 

  
      

Chewy, whole-grain organic quinoa with tomatoes is a great side dish for a frittata.

Stewed, wild-caught pollock from H Mart in Englewood with collaloo, center; and ackee and salt fish.

Spicy Syrian food -- and all that jazz

Image via Wikipedia

The Christian Quarter in Aleppo, Syria.

I haven't been to Aleppo Restaurant in Paterson's bustling Middle Eastern bazaar for several months, but our meal late Saturday afternoon couldn't have been better.

We started with pureed lentil soup scented with cumin, served with a lemon wedge and crunchy bits of toasted pocket bread; and muhammara, a dip of sweet red peppers and walnuts, made spicy with dried and ground Aleppo red peppers the owner gets from Syria.

Another appetizer is my son's favorite, meat arayes or seasoned beef inside toasted pocket bread, served in wedges.

Our whole, grilled red snapper was rubbed with more Aleppo red pepper and hot sauce. My son chose the Aleppo kebab, four skewers of ground meat. Both entrees were served with rice.

We cooled down the fire of the muhammara and fish with a refreshing dish of yogurt and cucumbers, and I finished the meal with a cup of thick Arabic coffee. My son couldn't finish his food.

This meal was both delicious and reasonably priced: $2 for a bowl of soup, $4 for the muhammara or yogurt, $6 for the arayes, $10 for the kebabs and $14 for the whole fish.

Image via Wikipedia

Baron Hotel in Aleppo.

During our meal, a group of nine men and women sat at a table, discussing and debating the meaning of the Koran, as Arabic music played in the background. 

I noticed that a Turkish place called Hummus, just across Main Street, had gone out of business. 

We could have gone food shopping at Fattal's Syrian Bakery, on the next block, or at Brothers Produce in the Paterson Farmers' Market near the Clifton border.

But we had tickets to a concert in The Jazz Room of William Paterson University in neighboring Wayne.

Drummer Roy Haynes, who is 86 years young, led a quartet in a half-dozen standards, bouncing around the stage, attacking his drums and playing just about everything in sight, including the mike stand and the edge of his cymbals. 

Aleppo Restaurant, 939 Main St., Paterson; 973-977-2244. No liquor allowed.