We went to A La Turca for the first time in a long time. My husband used to work around the corner from this little Turkish restaurant in the Tenderloin and we went a lot. A real lot. When I was pregnant I developed serious A La Turca cravings and would demand piyaz (a white bean salad) and meat pides on a regular basis.
The waitress jokingly chided us for our long absence and claimed to hardly recognize our son anymore. We met my cousin and his girlfriend, who were up from Monterey for the day. They came armed with ordering recommendations from their Turkish friend and about 13 feet of human height between them. (You know what? That’s not even an exaggeration. Seriously, you’ve never seen a couple this tall. And blond. And striking. I generally feel like a dark little troll person anyway, but being around these two confirmed my self-assessment.)
Me? I fell into my typical restaurant conundrum: try something new at the place you know you like and where you’ve liked everything you’ve ever had or order the dish you crave, that’s the reason you go back again and again. True to form, I ordered a meat pide. It had been too long. I missed it. They bake their own bread at A La Turca, and they use the same soft, flavorful, sesame seed sprinkled dough to make the various pies, which come with an under-salted side salad for which I have an odd and mis-placed fondness. Last night I garnished the pide with cadik, a spiced yogurt dish I always mean to order but don’t because my husband doesn’t tend to eat savory yogurt.
It was when my counsin’s girlfriend ordered the cadik that I knew I liked her despite her towering beauty. It was when I took the first bite of Turkish meat pie I’d had in months that I knew I’d ordered the right thing despite independent Turkish recommendations.
The Dinner Files :: If it ain’t broke don’t fix it | 21-Mar-08 at 10:21 am | Permalink
[...] Dinner last night: take out from A La Turca. [...]