The 4600 to 4900 blocks of North Kedzie–one of most wonderful food stretches in the city–suffered a terrible loss late last year with the sudden death of Azzam Tbakhi and the closing of his superlative restaurant, the Shawerma King. Unlike the outrageously popular Noon-O-Kabab, many of the Middle Eastern restaurants, groceries, and bakeries on this strip do most of their business with Middle Eastern customers and lucky neighbors of other extractions. The Shawerma King never did a booming business, despite doing a few simple things very well–basically chicken and beef shawirma sandwiches. But what made Tbakhi’s tiny storefront such a special place was his dignified but friendly manner and the care with which he toasted individual disks of pita before shaving delicately seasoned meat onto them and dusting them with sumac. Like the cooks at Salam across the street, who scoop your crispy falafel from bubbling oil, or the bakers at Al-Khaymeih, who pull hot zatar bread from the oven in full view, Tbakhi and his sandwiches defied the affront of recently arrived ethnic cleansers like McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Subway.
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Molukhia follows a similar template: a large piece of tender meat rests on a turmeric-flecked pile of rice, accompanied by a bowl of green stew made from the leaf that gives the dish its name. Also known as Jew’s mallow, it has thickening properties similar to those of okra; the stew’s meant to be spooned over the rice. Most of the specials are generous: hearty plates of stuffed cabbages and grape leaves, meaty white bean or okra stews, piles of rice with nuts and meats. Every day City Noor offers grilled lamb, beef, and goat steaks, plus stronger stuff like hearts and kidneys.
