Mid-City Mecca
JERUSALEM'S authentic, affordable Middle Eastern fare draws diners
from far and wide.
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JERUSALEM owner Dirar Monsa shows off his restaurant's wide array of Middle Eastern delicacies.
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WHAT: Jerusalem Restaurant & Grocery
CUISINE: Middle Eastern
WHEN: Lunch and dinner daily
WHERE: 4641 S. Carrollton Ave., 488-1450
CARDS: Visa, MasterCard, Diner's Club
Entering Jerusalem Restaurant & Grocery is a little like
stepping out of the United States for a moment and into a Palestinian deli --
except for the decidedly American television on the counter, entertaining the
handful of customers that have begun to arrive 15 minutes after the restaurant
opens for lunch.
Lining the walls near the counter are plain shelves packed with
Middle Eastern groceries: sacks of rice and assorted beans, jars of olives and
peppers, and ethnic foods like couscous, halvah and falafel. It's hard not to
notice that, for a relatively cheap price, Jerusalem sells hefty bottles of
spices, quarts of olive oil and other foods in large quantities. "It's all
fresh," comments the owner, Dirar Monsa, briefly turning his attention from a
customer. "They have a company here that imports it from overseas."
Monsa, 38, opened the Middle Eastern eatery in 1988 and named it in
honor of the city five miles south of his Palestinian hometown. He had grown up
in the Jerusalem suburb of Elbirh, but came to the United States in 1979 to
join his five brothers and two sisters, some of whom initially had located in
Detroit but found few job possibilities there. "We moved [to New Orleans]
because it had good business opportunities," he says.
"I used to work as a cashier, you know, with my brothers at a
supermarket, and I decided I didn't like that," Monsa says. "I wanted to open
my own business. ... At that time, there was no Middle Eastern food in the
city. We were the first one to open a Middle Eastern restaurant. At first,
business was slow, and then people started telling each other about the
food."
Middle Eastern sensibilities reign at Jerusalem, starting with the
sparsely decorated walls hung with an occasional piece of regional art,
clothing and a black-and-white primer entitled "A Brief Introduction to Islam."
Plain Formica tables and diner-style chairs can seat about 60 customers at a
time, while stark ceiling fans stir under fluorescent lights.
The restaurant's dynamism comes from its food: piquant, intensely
flavorful and purely Palestinian -- no Americanized dishes here. "This is the
same type of meals we eat in our country. Exactly what we eat," Monsa says.
"Nothing added." The menu items follow the family's Muslim leanings: "There's
no pork -- we cook what God says we can eat" -- with meats limited to chicken,
beef and lamb.
Appetizers include baba ghanoush, a sharp eggplant dip, or hummus,
a chick pea and sesame dip, both served with pita and pickled vegetables;
lentil soup, tabouleh salad, or green salads with tahini (sesame seed) or
yogurt dressing.
Most of Jerusalem's customers are vegetarians, Monsa says, but he
recommends that meat-eaters try the shawarma, which is shaved beef or chicken
marinated and topped with onions and sesame seed dressing; or a shish kebab
sandwich with either beef, chicken, regular lamb or ground lamb. Vegetarians
usually opt for the falafel, coarsely ground deep-fried chick-pea patties;
foule, a fava bean dip; or meatless stuffed grape leaves.
Monsa and his wife, Wafa, keep business thriving mainly on word of
mouth from loyal customers such as Sherry Guidry of River Ridge, who found
Jerusalem when she used to live in Mid-City. "We don't have places like this in
River Ridge, not that I've found," she says, waiting for her take-out order of
chicken shish kebab. "It's so flavorful and all the ingredients are really
fresh, and the prices are really good, too."
Indeed, the most expensive dinner item on Jerusalem's menu is $9.95
for the shish kebab plate served over rice or hummus. Appetizers range from 35
cents per falafel patty to a $5.99 combination plate that includes
baba-ghanoush, hummus, two falafel patties, pita and pickled vegetables.
Jerusalem's sandwiches (all served in pita pockets) include a $2.75 falafel
sandwich, a $3.25 falafel and hummus sandwich, and beef/chicken shawarma or
shish kebab sandwiches, for $3.75. Desserts such as baklava or sweet fingers
top off at $1 per serving.
Monsa says the menu has evolved over the years according to what
his customers dictate. "We take our customers' word. When it's good, we keep
it; they tell us when it's bad, and we change it," he says.
The Monsas -- who moved to Metairie with their five children after
spending 16 years in Mid-City -- brought their culture to New Orleans at a time
when few Middle Easterners lived here. The burgeoning Middle Eastern community
initially supported their restaurant. "We had Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinians
who lived here before us, and they started coming here. Now, most of my
customers are American, maybe 75 percent."
Mohamad Hamad, a Metairie cab driver, shows up at Jerusalem every
day. "It's very nice food, if you don't like to eat a heavy meal, at a cheap
price. And he'll cook it in a minute. When you go to most restaurants, you
don't see the guy cook. I can see what he does," he says, indicating Monsa. "I
come here every day, summer and winter."
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