Lev - Review - Bedford-Stuyvesant - New York - The Infatuation

"New Yorkers love a pop-up. The harder to get into and the more impossible to track down, the better. Lev—a pop-up with impressive tomato displays, and general air of mysteriousness around dates, times, and locations—is one of the best. Two alums of Miznon and HaSalon do “site-specific cooking,” which mostly means that their menu and meal format is different at every event. But you can expect a slew of seasonal vegetables and meats prepared with theatrical flourish—rolled, bound, wrapped around a shawarma spit—right in front of you. And natural wine, of course. A meal at Lev is edible performance art. photo credit: Willa Moore photo credit: Willa Moore photo credit: Willa Moore Pause Unmute If you attend an open event (free entry, and you pay for food and wine once inside), you may need to do some genuine detective work to figure out where it’ll be. Many of Lev’s events take place inside, or in the yard of The Hancock, a multidisciplinary artists space in Bed-Stuy. You might have to wait in line—the kind of line that people will skip because they know someone who knows someone who dates that person at the salad station. If that sounds exhausting, Lev hosts ticketed dinners too, especially during the winter, with menus announced beforehand. You can follow their Instagram for details. Lev can be insidery, sceney, and heavily photographed by Brooklyn micro-influencers. But it’s also pretty magical. Where else can you warm yourself by a fire with some Pink Lady apple pudding, or feel your skin tingle with an end-of-summer sunburn while eating artisanal cotton candy on an outdoor rug? Food Rundown The menu changes with each pop-up, but you can expect beautiful seasonal food with Middle Eastern influences, all cooked right in front of you. Here are some of the dishes we've tried: The Shawarma Station Eating this shawarma is fun, but watching it get made is even better. Someone cooks the pita, watching it balloon and then sink, another person tends to the meat, shaving off paper-thin slices. A few others stuff the pita with the shawarma, lettuce, tomato, and red onion, then add a tahini drizzle, and a few pickles on the side. This is a shawarma show, and you’re lucky to have witnessed it. The Salad Station In a giant bowl, someone uses their hands to toss cubes of veg in a tart dressing. It’s mesmerizing to watch, and refreshing to eat, especially on a day that’s so sticky it’s hard to walk one block. It will inspire at least 17 people in line to have an outdoor cookout of their own. In reality, your vegetables will never taste as good as their vegetables, but watching it makes anything seem possible. Smoked Lamb Lev knows bread. Big chunks of fatty lamb with sumac onions are served on a donut-like pita that all pita should be very jealous of. Squid and Chile The perfect summer dish of squid, expertly grilled and still bouncy, with a hint of heat from the chile, and bright with lots of lemon." - Willa Moore