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April 20, 2003 I HAVE nothing against Italian food; some of my best meals have been Italian. But in central New Jersey, I'm always looking for different places. New American has made considerable inroads; Thai has brought us spicy beef salad, chicken-coconut soup and sticky rice with mango. But not a lot of Middle Eastern food is available that is not takeout. That is why I was delighted to find Seven Hills of Istanbul, where the tables are clothed, the chef turns out beautifully roasted halal-prescribed meats and the Turkish coffee is so seductive that when you get home after dinner, you will have plenty of time to plan your next visit because you can't sleep anyway. Sure, you can get a cup of wimpy regular decaf. But why bother when the real thing is available, made to order in a jezve, a special long-handled coffeepot, the old-fashioned way: boil the water, add the roasted and powdered coffee and sugar, stir and heat to a frothing simmer (about three minutes). Then pour from the spout into an itty-bitty espresso-style cup and sip it hot, while the grounds settle to the bottom and you linger. But I get ahead of myself. This 110-seat restaurant opened just four years ago, the creation of Hasan Gedelec and his wife, Nilgun, says Erkan Gorgululer, who is now fulfilling roles as manager, consultant and translator for the owners. Mr. Gedelec says they initially came to the United States to obtain medical care for their daughter, now a healthy 11-year-old. They closed their two-decade-old restaurant of the same name in Istanbul, shipped their chef, Mustafa Karali, and decorations here, and opened in a light, bright corner spot across the street from a kitchen supply store. The menu is sumptuously exotic, dotted with creative spelling and dishes familiar and new. Unfortunately, there is no seafood: no stuffed mussels, no skewered swordfish, no sardines in grape leaves. The red lentil soup (ezogelin corba), flavored with mint, cayenne pepper and sometimes cumin, arrives in a wide, shallow bowl that seems, at first, a serving too generous. But one bite leads to another and another, and soon you're wondering about tipping the bowl up ever so slightly to capture that last spoonful. Then it's on to the appetizers and welcome dilemmas: Hot or cold? Vegetable or meat? Light or substantive? At Seven Hills, you might want many companions so you can order more -- and taste it all. Fortunately for those of us with smaller parties, Mr. Karali offers a beautifully assembled sampler plate of cold appetizers: mild, crisp green beans in olive oil (taze fasulye); white beans in olive oil (pilaki); smoky grilled eggplant salad (patlican salatasi) sweetened with grilled red and green peppers, then sparked with garlic and lemon juice; a classic hummus; flirty crisp filo cigars filled with feta cheese and parsley (sigara boregi) sometimes served in Turkey with tomatoes, cucumbers and feta cheese for breakfast; and, like a crown in the center, a sautéed fresh artichoke (enginar). This is typical Mediterranean presentation that brings to mind leisurely entertaining. Textures play against and with one another; flavors contrast and complement. Of the hot appetizers, I especially liked both the lamb liver (kuzu cigeri) and calf liver (arnavut cigeri), each fried with sweet onions and fork-tender and mild. One bite might make a vegetarian waver. The best main courses generally are simple and succulent roasted meats over rice. Lamb is served as kebabs (kuzu sis), chops (kuzu pirzola) or marinated, pressed and grilled (doner kebab), but the chops are the superb example of alignment -- the right meat, the right grill and the right cooking time. In another category, a base of ground beef and lamb with cumin, cloves and onion juice becomes, with a mozzarella-like cheese called kashkaval, a juicy meatloaf (kasar kofte). Without cheese but with breadcrumbs, it is a Turkish-style hamburger (izgara kofte), or, plain, it is shaped into fat sausages (inegol kofte). All are worthy, but the French-Turkish house specialty, a juicy, flavorful grilled filet with a portobello cream sauce over pita bread and rice, is a table favorite. Mr. Gedelec says the secret is a dusting of oregano, cumin and salt. All the chicken dishes are close second favorites, so you may as well order the chicken combination. It includes expertly grilled chicken kebab (tavuk sis), surprisingly moist and tender skewered chicken meat (tavuk adana), a fried breaded chicken breast (tavuk sinitsel) and a chicken chop (tavuk pirzola) that turns out to be a half-boned chicken thigh, pounded slightly and spiced with cayenne, oregano and salt. Even pure vegetarians have options here. The mixed vegetables over couscous is a satisfying choice. Its pretty pearls of shaped pasta stud the mix of sautéed eggplant, peppers, mushrooms, squash, broccoli and cauliflower dressed with a bit of garlicky tomato sauce. Desserts stay in character. The kazandibi, a bottom-of-the-pot pudding roll, is sturdy vanilla pudding poured into buttered and sugared trays and grilled; it would be better if it was removed from the grill when the sugar coating turns gold and before it turns dark brown. Also comforting is the baked rice pudding (firin sutlac), a simple and creamy mix of boiled rice with milk, sugar, heavy cream and cornstarch. But it's the coffee that lifts your spirits. This brew, espresso's older, weathered cousin, needs nothing more than a pot, a stick and a fire -- and good company. And maybe more of those appetizers. Seven Hills of Istanbul 441 Raritan Avenue, Highland Park VERY GOOD ATMOSPHERE -- Warm and welcoming. RATINGS -- Poor, Fair, Satisfactory, Good, Very Good, Excellent, Extraordinary. Ratings reflect the reviewer's reaction to food, ambience and service, with price taken into consideration. Menu listings and prices are subject to change. |
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