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The Bay Area s unsung but prolific Middle Eastern food scene is packed with gems.
By Soleil Ho |
Updated: April 28, 2021 1:20 PM
When I started dreaming up this list, I quickly realized that Middle Eastern food exists in the Bay Area in numerous guises under euphemisms, like Mediterranean, that obscure its origins. Politically, it s a broad geographic category, encompassing a huge amount of diversity in cultures, religions and beloved dishes that tends to get glossed over in this country. I learned so much about the nuances of Middle Eastern food while sampling kebabs at family-run halal markets, swiping fresh pita through hot and cold hummus plates, and asking Arab friends for recommendations for shawarma places that really do it right. Even something as seemingly simple as hummus looks vastly different from place to place. At the three Yafa Hummus restaurants in the East Bay, the chickpea dip, based on the founders’ grandfather’s recipe, com