Chef Einat Admony Incarnates Balaboosta

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Parent Category: Travel Info

Category: Places To Eat

Published on Thursday, 09 August 2012 11:51

Written by Laura Blum

Einat Admony is as cheerful and welcoming as her Manhattan trattoria, Balaboosta. The name means "perfect housewife" or "gracious hostess" in Yiddish.

You'd think she'd have agitas. With Taïm Nolita soon opening next door (Corner of Mulberry and Spring Streets) and a tapas restaurant in the works, the Israeli-born chef, restauranteur and adoring mother of two should indeed be dining on her nails. Ask her the reason for her zen and she'll introduce you to her husband, co-chef and co-restauranteur, Stefan Nafziger. 

Admony has added reasons to be chill. Taïm Falafel & Smoothie Bar is among them.The couple's original West Village watering hole (and accompanying truck) draws long lines no less for its gluten-free chickpea and pita staple than for its tantalizing fruit drinks. With flavors like strawberry/raspberry/basil and a non-alcoholic version of piña colada among the repertoire, how patrons quench their thirst can pose quite a dilemma.

The twinkly-eyed brunette developed her passion for feeding legions of guests in her Iranian mother's kitchen. Admony's youthful and seasoned culinary adventures will spice up her debut cookbook, The Balaboosta Way, due out in Fall 2013.

How she has time to write remains a mystery, but one recent summer day -- before the lunch crowd filled Balaboosta -- she also managed to squeeze in a leisurely interview. Read on below, but you’ll have to visit her Mediterranean eatery for an appreciation
of the treats that followed our chat.

Q: How did you get started in New York?

EA: I came in 1999 with my first husband and stayed for three and a half years. I worked at Tabla and Danube and other restaurants, and was always going around to Indian and Spanish and all kinds of places -- anything other than strict French cuisine. Then we went back to Israel and got married and divorced.

I came back here and got married to Stefan pretty fast. We had met when we were both working at Bouley during my first stay and right away had a very spiritual connection. Still I married my first husband but my he left me after two months in Israel. Good stuff. (Laughs.)

Q: Great stuff!

EA: Really...You know, some women would moan, "Ooooh!" But it's the best thing that's ever happened to me, because otherwise I would probably be stuck in Israel, in the shadow of some big chef and have five kids, be miserable and have a husband who cheated on me all the time.

Q: "Ha-kol le-tova." (Hebrew for "Everything works out for the best.")

EA: Ha-kol le-tova. It's amazing. After three days Stef and I knew we were going to be together forever. It's been ten years. We have a real love story. We opened Taïm seven years ago. It's become an institution in New York City. The first year nobody knew
about us and we almost closed. Then one day the editor of New York magazine passed by and she was fascinated by the food. Then it was article after article.

We've been in probably every newspaper and magazine as the best falafel in the City. Then we went to The Food Network and "Throwdown with Bobby Flay." So it's nice. And two years ago I had the opportunity to open [Balaboosta].

Q: How do you do it with two kids?

EA: You do it. I actually think they're my biggest achievement. Years ago I used to meet a lot of women around their 30s who'd say they'd never have kids because "they're going to ruin my career."

Today I look around and I don't see them in the industry. They've disappeared. I'm still here with two kids and businesses. I come from a country where there's a lot of pressure to have a family. Besides the pressure I like kids and I have an amazing family. After my oldest child was five I was ready for something new. I no longer had a challenge at Taïm. There were recipes and people who could implement them. I need to cook, do specials every day, be creative. So I opened this one.

Q: And the concept here is...

EA: The concept is like the name. It's a chef-driven place with atmosphere and service like a Balaboosta. And we get write-ups like that: "It seems like she invited you to her house and told her family to treat you really nice and kind."

It's really important to me that the atmosphere isn't that of a screaming chef who everybody's scared of. And with the food -- I don't say everything is organic and crazy; it's not that there's no fried food -- but it's very healthy and balanced.

Q: You're a world traveler. Which countries and cultures have inspired the menu?

EA: For lunch I wanted to do a little bit more authentic ethnic food, because it's hard to present that in an amazing way, and in theevening I want more presentation and more refined food. 

For example, for lunch I make khamusta, which is meatballs that have some molina, and a sour soup that's made with fava bean, celery and Swiss chard -- it's really good.

Q: Is that what you'd recommend for lunch?

EA: Yeah, but my favorite is between schnitzel (chicken cutlet) and Moroccan fish. I make schnitzel with cornflakes and it's very crunchy. Delicious.

Q: And for dinner, what shouldn't one miss?

EA: Cauliflower, fried olives, if you like fish, branzino, which is grilled Israeli style with a marinade of parsley, garlic, thyme. The cauliflower is mixed with four different kinds of peppercorn -- Szechuan, pink, white and black -- and a little bit of flour, and it's very crispy. It comes with a dressing of currants and pine nuts and parsley. People love it. No tahini. I try to take it in a little different direction. I use a lot of tahini and yogurt, obviously, but I think the food here is unique.

I have so much experience with different cultures that you can feel it. This is not strictly Israeli -- oh, babaghanush -- no, no! Yesterday I did a pasta from fava beans, served with short rib and fresh chickpeas and fava bean inside. It's Middle Eastern fetuccini. My pasta on the menu right now is made with fresh beets -- it's red, red, red -- cut by hand in long pieces and sauteed with spinach, shallots, capers and ricotta and parmesan herb bread crumbs on top. So the food is not typical.

Q: What's your favorite dessert here?

EA: The kanafeh (Arab pastry flavored with rose water). I put sugar, honey and berries and mix them all. Then I cook it with a little bit of orange peel and rose water and a piece of cinnamon stick and cardamon, and I put b

erries to give the sauce some color.

Then I put pistachio ice cream and shredded halva. People go crazy. I love this dessert. It's sweet but it's not overwhelming since the cake itself is like a cheese cake. It's with ricotta and a little bit of semolina with milk.

Q: Sounds like something kids would also like. Are your kids sophisticated eaters?

EA: My son Liam is my taster. Both of my kids always cook with me.

Q: What keeps you up at night; what are your worries?

EA: I don't have worries. I have a husband. He's worried!

Balaboosta
14 Mulberry Street
New York, NY 10012
212-966-7366
http://balaboostanyc.com/

Taïm Falafel & Smoothie Bar
222 Waverly Place
New York, NY 10014
212-691-1287
http://www.taimfalafel.com/