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Review Savann Restaurant New York: Unassumingly Delicious

  • Blanca Valbuena
  • April 3, 2012

I recently received an invite to review Savann. I had no expectations when I arrived. It is located in an area I like to call a restaurant wasteland. This is the Upper West Side near 80th Street and Amsterdam. There are lots (and I mean LOTS) of restaurants here. Most are mediocre. I have noticed that this is slowly (and thankfully) changing. Recent good additions to the area are The Tangled Vine, Vai, and now Savann.

When my mother and I arrived, we were promptly seated. Visually, the restaurant is fine; nothing spectacular. It is clean, dimly lit, with some pretty Middle Eastern looking lamps. The dining room is small and comfortable. Soft Turkish music was playing. The atmosphere worked.

Once we were sat, the Chef Galip Ozbek came over to introduce himself. He immediately reminded me of my uncles. Ozbek is one of those people you like within seconds. He wore a leather jacket over his chef jacket. He proceeded to tell us a bit about the history of the restaurant as our mezes (to be clear, a meze is not a true appetizer, it is more a small bite to compliment a before dinner drink) came out. It turns out that Ozbek has been on the UWS for 15 years. He was cooking French, but he candidly told me that the costs of supplies for French food were astronomical. He was also bored of doing the same thing for so long. He listened to his regulars, who adviced him to go back to his roots.

The first dish was a meze platter ($13). It contained dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), babaganoush (smoked eggplant puree), palaki (roasted red kidney beans) and hummus.  I bit into the dolmas first. It was obvious they were homemade. The dolmas were tightly rolled (not loose like those that come from a can). They were peppered with cinnamon and all spice. It was a simple dish done well.  The babaganoush was some of the best I had this year. The eggplant was coarsely and evenly chopped resulting in a pleasant texture. The beans were slightly al dente and nicely flavored. Even the hummus (which has become a staple dish in the US) was elegant and flavorful.

Ozbek dropped by to see how we were doing. He took the time out to explain preparation, spices used. He explained that the bread he serves comes from a special bakery in NJ. He used to bake, but it was very time intensive and cut into his butchering time. Yup, he butchers. He gets his meat deliveries twice a week and butchers on premises. I was beginning to like him more and more. He told me that when he was little, he grew up in a farm in Turkey, where he learned to make cheese, yogurt, bake and butcher. It is no wonder his food was so delicious.

The next dish to come out was the cucumber salad. I ate the entire thing. The cucumber was deseeded and chopped into large pieces. The tomatoes were sweet and juicy. There were red onions, olives and dill. It was a simple, light dish that was incredibly flavorful. The chef explained that he utilizes Turkish olive oil and sumac, a Turkish spice that adds a touch of citrus. I’ve already ordered some for home.

I could not leave without trying the grilled calamari ($8). It was incredibly fresh and had a surprising sweetness that I later learned came from pomegranate.

Just so you don’t think I’m an utter pig, I was sharing all this with my mom…she enjoyed everything as much as I did. Specially the next dish: manti ($16.00). Manti is the Turkish dumpling. Unlike most dumplings, these are tiny, delicate. Ours were stuffed with lamb, boiled and served with a yogurt and garlic sauce. The sauce had a hit of citrus that woke up the tongue. This followed with a touch of mint. The dumplings were good on the teeth. They gave a bit of resistance and then gave way to the subtly spiced lamb.

The next dish may have been my favorite. It was a stuffed cabbage ($14). It was stuffed with ground lamb, rice, fresh dill and mint. I can’t tell you exactly why I liked this so much, but I did and when you visit Savann, I recommend you try them.

Chef Ozbek made up a special Kebab platter for us ($15) so that we could sample all the meats. By this time I was pretty full. I politely tasted each meat and was soon sad that I had no room to eat them. All the meats were cooked properly and spiced to perfection.

Review Savann Restaurant New York: Unassumingly DeliciousYou probably thought that was the end of my eating. Against my request, Chef Ozbek brought out two pieces of Baklava. WOW! I ended up eating the whole thing. The baklava was light and elegant. It had none of the unsophisticated stickiness I have become accustomed to. The nuts were finely chopped and densely packed together to create a perfect bite. This is some of the best baklava I had in ages.

Needless to say, I really liked Savann. It’s no Michelin starred restaurant, it’s not overtly fancy. What you get at Savann is food cooked with love and care, with great ingredients. While this meal was free…I know that Galip has made a regular out of me.

Highly Recommended

Savann is located at 414 Amsterdam Avenue, New York NY 10024 (Between 79th and 80th Streets)  212-580-0202

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