Tara Kitchen Tribeca

Review: Tara Kitchen Restaurant in Tribeca | Eater NY

"At 253 Church Street in Tribeca, Tara Kitchen — opened by Chef Aneesa Waheed, who was born in Mumbai, fell in love with Moroccan food in Marrakesh, has appeared on Guy Fieri’s Grocery Games and Beat Bobby Flay (she lost), and sells a line of jarred sauces and a cookbook — feels like the best Moroccan restaurant to hit NYC in a long time. The recipes, honed at her earlier branches, have a lived-in, Mom’s-home-cooking quality that favors flavor over appearance. The menu largely ignores couscous and concentrates on 26 tagines: start with chicken m’chermel ($29), a half chicken and potatoes flavored with green olives and preserved lemons that resolve into a thick tart sauce, and don’t miss Mechoui, a monster lamb shank braised with honey and harissa and served on a bed of buttery mashed potatoes; other lamb tagines feature dried apricots, toasted almonds, eggplant, and chermoula. Equally notable is r’fissa ($29) — chicken seasoned with fenugreek and saffron and bathed in smen with lentils and currents atop shredded flatbread that soaks up the juices like a savory bread pudding — and the Essaouira plate, a choice assortment of seafood (scallops, shrimp, and fish) with a light spice mix that enhances oceanic flavors. Warm salads are a delight: the best ($9) is tender fava beans with artichoke hearts in a sharp dressing, while the fig salad (with white beans and almonds) was less harmonious; also try the warm Marrakesh green olives tasting of garlic and red chiles. Tagines may be mopped with pitas or eaten with rice. The Tribeca outpost opened just before last Christmas and only recently received its wine and beer license, so you can now enjoy Moroccan wines with your meal — and linger afterward with an order of baklava." - Robert Sietsema