Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 9, 1995 TAG: 9508090036
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETH MACY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
And don't blame his brother, Elias, if he tends to tweak that notion literally in your face - by eating a whole clove of garlic. Raw.
For breakfast.
``It's good for you,'' the 27-year-old says.
The Azar brothers, along with their uncle, Nassib Azar, have opened Azar's Bakery and Restaurant at 717 13th St. S.W. (two blocks north of the Memorial Street bridge in the Mountain View community).
And if their garlic-based Lebanese dishes haven't exactly created a sensation among the sandwich-favoring workers in the neighborhood, that's OK. They have ham subs and pizzas and chicken sandwiches for the garlic-haters, too.
``They get real excited when anyone comes in who has actually heard of falafel,'' says their aunt, Dolores Azar, who helps out behind the counter.
Falafel ($3.25) is a vegetarian sandwich of fried chickpea (garbanzo bean) paste, garlic and spices, served with a tahini dressing on pita bread.
Other Middle Eastern favorites are baba gannoui ($3.50), baked eggplant and tahini dressing topped with olive oil and cucumbers; and hummus ($3.50), a blend of chickpeas, garlic and tahini topped with olive oil and radishes.
Garlic aficionados expecting a quick turnaround on a tabbouleh salad or any other Lebanese dish should call first - 343-2577. Since opening two months ago, the Azars have received so few requests for their native foods that nothing is made in advance.
That means if you order tabbouleh ($3.75) in person, expect to wait about 30 minutes while the brothers are in back, meticulously chopping up the parsley, onion, tomato and mint that tops the lemony cracked-wheat salad.
The upside to the delay is that it's all made fresh.
Takeout is recommended because the place is so small - five bright orange booths, holdovers from an old Stop-In gas station - that you probably wouldn't want to dine in.
(Dine-in dieters beware: A reliable art-professor source confirms that the color orange tends to make people stuff themselves silly.)
Azar's homemade baklava is made two ways - in the traditional square shape, and heavy on the sugar and nuts (65 cents); and in ricotta cheese-filled triangles, a surprisingly good low-sugar alternative (80 cents).
If you forget to call first, expect to be charmed by the brothers, who say things like: ``You can't be that old! Why, look at your smooth hands!''
And: ``Why do you want a Diet Coke?''
Order sliced garlic on your pizza - Azar's is one of the few (sigh) pizza joints in town that offers sliced garlic as a topping - and they will compliment you on your good taste.
Their meat pies ($1.25) are the middle-ground cuisine between America and Lebanon. Ground beef, spices and tomatoes baked inside a turnover-like pastry, the meat pies ``are our version of shepherd's pie,'' 25-year-old Massoud says.
Although the brothers are fairly new to the country - Massoud has been here three years, Elias four - Uncle Nassib has lived here 27 years, working mainly in the concrete business.
``Ever since my husband came into the States, he's wanted to own his own restaurant and bakery,'' his wife, Dolores, says. ``And finally it's all worked out for him.''
The Azar family has a long history of business in Roanoke. Dolores grew up in her parents' Boxley Hills Grocery in the '60s, and her grandfather had a store on Seventh and Moorman called A&A Cash Market, operated now by Dolores' brother.
It's fun watching her nephews cook, she says, especially when someone calls in an order for Lebanese food. ``They'll be in the middle of a pizza or something and they get so excited. They get right on it.''
As for the raw garlic fetish, Elias Azar insists he would quit eating it - if only he had a girlfriend. (Hint, hint.)
``At the very least, I will eat a Lifesaver,'' he says.
Azar's Bakery and Restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday. 717 13th St., S.W. 343-2577.
Conspicuous Consumption is an occasional column that spotlights food in Southwest Virginia.
by CNB