"In New York City, Dagon, a Mediterranean restaurant that opened in early 2021, has had shish barak on the menu from the get-go. “We’ve been talking about iconic dishes from the Levantine region that we respect but want to put our stamp on, and we agreed that shish barak hit all the marks,” says chef and partner Ari Bokovza, whose father’s side of the family is from Israel. He decided the dish was too special to limit it to meat-eaters only, so in Dagon’s version, the dumplings are filled with mushrooms. Around them is warm yogurt foam spiced with cumin and coriander, and on top are crispy shallots and pine nuts. “We have one cook whose only job is to make them, and she makes them flawlessly.”" - Flora Tsapovsky
