Knafeh Cafe

"Longtime IT engineer Asem Abusir grew up in Nablus on the West Bank and now serves his city’s signature dessert in Little Arabia. His family has been making knafeh since 1918 and still runs shops in Jerusalem and Jordan. At his tiny Anaheim cafe, Abusir spins lacy shredded phyllo strands on a giant wheel in the kitchen, baking and cutting them to form crispy kataifi he features in knafeh. He makes vivid orange slabs — soft and crispy — with two different doughs for contrasting textures. Both versions feature stretchy white cow’s milk cheese, a generous simple syrup drizzle, and crushed pistachios. Other sweet highlights include hareeseh; warm Syrian-style semolina cake soaked in honey and simple syrup, topped with pistachios; and mamool, crumbly semolina cookies stuffed with fillings like date paste and walnuts. — Joshua Lurie" - Joshua Lurie, Anne Marie Panoringan

"Longtime IT engineer Asem Abusir grew up in Nablus on the West Bank and now serves his city’s signature dessert in Little Arabia. His family has been making knafeh since 1918 and still runs shops in Jerusalem and Jordan. At his tiny Anaheim cafe, Abusir spins lacy shredded phyllo strands on a giant wheel in the kitchen, baking and cutting them to form crispy kataifi he features in knafeh. He makes vivid orange slabs — soft and crispy — with two different doughs for contrasting textures. Both versions feature stretchy white cow’s milk cheese, a generous simple syrup drizzle, and crushed pistachios. Other sweet highlights include hareeseh; warm Syrian-style semolina cake soaked in honey and simple syrup, topped with pistachios; and mamool, crumbly semolina cookies stuffed with fillings like date paste and walnuts." - Joshua Lurie

"Knafeh Café in Anaheim’s Little Arabia offers a unique taste of Middle Eastern pastries. The café specializes in knafeh, a pastry that comes in both soft and crispy forms, made using century-old family recipes. The crispy version includes stretchy white cow’s milk cheese, house-made simple syrup, and crushed pistachios. The café also serves other Middle Eastern baked goods like baklava, hareeseh, helbeh, and balourieh. The shop is decorated with photos of Nablus and contains a fridge with cold Lebanese desserts." - Joshua Lurie