Frena

"The best part of a meal at Frena in Hell’s Kitchen comes right at the beginning, when their hummus—which has the texture of ice cream that’s been out of the freezer for exactly 23 minutes—arrives at your table alongside a hot slab of bread, fresh from the wood-burning oven. The fluffy bread, all gussied up with olive oil and flakey salt, is too hot to tear. But burned fingers be damned, because dunking this volcanic bread into their tahini-rich hummus is about as necessary an experience as brushing your teeth twice a day. The meal never quite hits that high again. The main courses are good, if a bit small for the price, but we’d recommend making a meal of the bread, a few dips, and a couple of smaller plates. Frena is best for covering a glass of Turkish pet nat or Moroccan syrah with olive oil fingerprints, grabbing some apps, and getting out in time to make your 7:30pm curtain. If you’re seated in the area by the kitchen, you’ll get treated to a little pre-theater show yourself, watching the cooks work. Most of the menu passes through a big oven (which was the centerpiece of Frena’s previous life as Taboon), and the light-drenched room is filled with vines that spread over the ceiling. photo credit: Armondo Rafael photo credit: Armondo Rafael photo credit: Will Hartman Food Rundown photo credit: Will Hartman Frena Bread Anywhere else, this bread would be the hero of its own story. But next to Frena's hummus, it plays the dutiful sidekick. It's hot and dappled with dimples, crunchy salt, and olive oil—get one for every two people at your table. photo credit: Will Hartman Dips We don’t need to say more about this hummus—it’s one of the best we’ve ever had. As for the other dips, the labne, spicy feta, and matbucha are priorities. If you’re more than two people, get a dip hamsa, which gets you five choices and one bread. photo credit: Will Hartman Crab Shawarma Toast This dish is dense with butter, which can bog down the sweetness and subtlety of the shawarma spices on the crab. It’s not charred like you might expect when you read the word shawarma, but it is a nice dish to share, with the acidic tomato sauce fighting for supremacy against the buttery toast. photo credit: Will Hartman Grilled Spanish Octopus If you need a larger dish, this should be on the list. While the Arabian bravas it's served with lack crunch, the octopus is cooked perfectly. photo credit: Will Hartman Wagyu Beefcheek Tagine A good main, but at this point in the meal, you’ll likely be so full of bread and dips that the thought of fatty wagyu might make you want to melt. photo credit: Will Hartman Lamb Terra Cotta Baked in a terracotta pot with a bit of flatbread, this includes four lamb meatballs baked in a very fresh tomato and tahini sauce. But at $44, it feels a little steep." - Will Hartman