Ok, there's been a lapse in my blogging. I know. I'm sorry. Moving on.
Today I had a meal so sublime, I felt the need to rush home and blog about it. It's a place I had seen on TV and always said I wanted us to check it out but we never did. Until today.
I had a boatload of errands - one of which was in Hendersonville so I figured today would be a great day to give Cafe Rakka a try. I knew it had a rep of being busy so I decided to order takeout. Walked in and sure enough, the place was packed. As I made my way to the counter to order, I was asked if I was dining in or taking out. I said taking out and was immediately handled a menu. I had persused the menu beforehand and was pretty sure I knew what I wanted but the daily specials board was trying to persuade me. But no, I decided to go with my original thoughts: chicken on the sajj which was described on the menu as
"Chicken marinated in saffron, fresh herbs and yogurt, grilled to perfection and sliced. Served with steamed saffron basmati rice, a Mediterranean salad, homemade yogurt sauce, and baked fresh daily pita bread."
I was craving some hummus, but the menu said it was $6.99 as an appetizer. The menu said they did have sampler portions available for $2.99 but they were not available for take out. Bummer. Still, I wanted some hummus by golly. I also asked for the hummus and she asked if I wanted the appetizer portion or the sampler portion. I said I'd love the sampler portion but since I was doing take out I didn't think I could get that. She just smiled and said sampler portion it is then. I also ordered a pomegranate iced tea because well, I'm a sucker for anything pomegranate related. She tallied up my order and said it would be roughly 15 minutes and that she'd bring my tea right out. And she did, promising me a refill when my order was ready.
The tea was fantastic! Not a cloyingly sweet pom taste, but that's a good thing in my book. What shocked my palate at first was the heat of the tea - spicewise, not temperature. My shock quickly morphed into delight. I'm not sure if it was cardamom or what, but there was a spice in the tea that left a lingering warmth on my tongue that I'm still craving.
I settled in and just watched the diners in the restaurant. Most were thoroughly relishing their meals. I was particularly impressed with the service an older gentleman was receiving (I know you're thinking that sounds dirty - get your minds out of the gutter already!). It was clear he wasn't 100% familiar with the cuisine and the same woman who waited on me was working with him. She was incredible patient with him and he made his decision with her help. I did overhear her say the baklava was baked fresh this morning. My ears perked up. Baklava? Baked fresh this morning? Must. Order. Some. Now.
Just as I was getting ready to place a baklava order, another staffer came out with my food. I mentioned wanting to add some baklava to the order and she said, "I think it's still warm from the oven." And it was!!! Plus, she refilled my tea. I left Cafe Rakka feeling a bit sad because I had to wait until I got home to enjoy the tasty deliciousness I was clutching.
The smells of the food intoxicated me all the way home and I'd be lying if I said I didn't put everything down and break into the food immediately. I will say this. The folks at Cafe Rakka are truly passionate about their food. It immediately showed in the presentation of the food. Ok, how many times have you gotten food to go and it's just haphazardly slopped into a container and you're sent on your way. Oh no, not Cafe Rakka's food. I opened the hummus container and was delighted to see the hummus had been artfully decorated with spices. The entree container had everything neatly packaged in such a way where the salad was not going to be tainted with the main entree. And the main entree of the chicken and rice was packaged with foil underneath so it would not be a sloppy mess. But what really got me was the baklava. Yes, it was placed in a nondescript styrofoam container but it was sitting beautifully on a happy little paper doilie and had fresh spices sprinkled on top. I know it seems silly, but I just knew if they put this kind of TLC into the presentation of the food, I could only imagine how that translated into the taste of the food.
Turns out I was dead on. The food was phenomenal. The Mediterranean salad was simple, but fresh and delicious. The chicken, which I asked for it to be spicy, was sublime. The heat was enough so it made my nose run a it, but the heat was that good, lingering heat. Not the kind of heat that makes you want to immediately grab some milk to get the taste out of your mouth. But still, a smoldering heat that left my taste buds wanting more. When things did get a little too hot, the yogurt sauce that accompanied the dish tamed the heat just a bit and also lent a freshness to the dish that made it even better.
The hummus was smooth and did not have that overwhelming taste of tahini that too often accompanies hummus. Everything felt balanced - the hummus was smooth, but not too smooth; the tahini made itself known, but didn't overwhelm; and the spices on top complemented the dish perfectly. And did I mention the pita bread is made baked fresh daily? And trust me, it shows.
I was pretty stuffed after the hummus and chicken on the sajj, but I had to have a bite of the baklava. Whoever made that baklava knew what they were doing. There was a perfect crunch to the phyllo dough and the pistachios were nicely enhanced by the honey and other spices. Too often baklava is just drenched with honey to the point where when you bite into the baklava it just spooges honey all over you and you wind up a sticky mess. Everything is perfectly encased in this baklava. And you could tell it was freshly made. Alas, it wasn't warm by the time I ate it, but it still had that vibrant "hey, somebody made me this morning and I am still super delicious" fresh taste to it.
Honestly, I'm counting the days until I find myself back in Hendersonville so I can try more of the menu. Too often I go somewhere and the food is good but the service sucks or the service is great but the food is ho-hum. Cafe Rakka was firing on all cylinders - a true feast for all the senses!
