I regretted the closing of Montana Grill (not to be confused with the Ted’s Montana Grill outlets) located on White Street across from Western Connecticut’s Fairfield Hall in Danbury. My friend, Thiago Almeida, introduced me to the Brazilian joint’s namesake burger sandwich, two huge patties of beef topped with ham, bacon, a fried egg, corn kernels, potato sticks, and God knows what else. I absolutely loved it. I’d wash the monstrosity down with a fruit shake of uncertain tropical origin. Usually, I’d begin by trying to get my mouth (metaphorically big but physically small) around the huge sandwich, but eventually give up and switch to a knife and fork.
Most of the time, no good comes of losing a favorite meal spot, but on this occasion, the replacement is Baba Ghannouj, by my count now the fourth place one can get a falafel sandwich in the Hat City. From Brazilian to Syrian, we’re certainly doing some globe hopping these days.
And it turns out it’s a small world. Because the owner of Baba Ghannouj is Omar Tork, who not only had Wrap & Roll, a restaurant that preceded Montana Grill in that space, but also owned the Snack Plus delicatessens on Putnam and Dixwell Avenues in Hamden. I have found there to be a tremendous variety of styles in Middle Eastern dishes, with interpretations of a well-known dish sometimes seeming like a different dish entirely. In this case, I spotted the similarity of Baba Ghannouj’s huge, tightly wrapped falafels to ones I’d scored for lunch numerous times back in Hamden.
The “small world” coincidences kept piling up. Omar’s a former professional soccer player, joining restaurateurs Roy Ip of Le Petit Café and Roger Martin of Bon Appétit Café. He also runs a Stratford soccer league where he has played with several Portuguese and Spanish friends of mine. When Omar and I eyeballed each other a bit, we realized we know each other from somewhere, probably from several somewheres.
But there’s a serious story behind all of the happy coincidences. A few years ago, Omar and his wife, Crystal, closed Wrap & Roll to concentrate on their son, Jacob, when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. Jacob has battled bravely against that terrible diagnosis and is in remission. When I saw him, he was wheeling his cheerful, one-year-old brother, Noah, around the restaurant in a baby stroller. And now that Omar has taken the restaurant back, it’s just one big happy family, with Omar and his wife Crystal working the counter while Omar’s capable sister, Muzayen, is the chef.
Omar describes himself as a Syrian Palestinian. Peering into the glass display cases, I could see some dishes that I would call Turkish. Indeed, Omar describes the food as Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian and Turkish, and apparently, the name Tork is Turkish. Makes sense. Tork couldn’t be nicer or more eager to please. An ambassador for these cuisines, he gives away tastes of food to the curious. I began by trying a spinach pocket and a crunchy falafel ball with some tahini sauce.
I ordered a falafel platter, choosing for my two sides some baba ghanoush (spellings vary, but this is the one I use) and stuffed grape leaves. Rounding out the platter were rice and pita chips that balanced the creamy sourness of the baba ghanoush.
Finally, I finished with a pastry I had never tried called maroota. It was a crusty pastry topped with powdered sugar and filled with spice date.
There were all kinds of goodies, savory and sweet, in the display cases, some of which were unfamiliar to me. I figure I’ll just have to make a few return trips to Baba Ghannouj as part of my never-ending culinary education.
Baba Ghannouj, 172 White Street, Danbury, 203-205-0540
Good News! Although Baba Ghannouj is no longer open anymore in its replacement is Westside Cafe! With free WIFI, couches, bar seating, outdoor tables and a very reasonable priced menu (including falafel!) to me this replacement is a step in the right direction to become a hot spot for the Westconn crowed!
Sadly, there is now a sign up that a new restaurant is going in there. I don’t know what happened. They seemed to be doing very well toward the end. What a loss.
Yes, they have been closed for some time now. I hope they will re-open. I have also tried calling to see if they are open yet, and have not gotten an answer. I just tried a moment ago again, and got a busy signal, so perhaps they have re-opened! This is such a fabulous restaurant–my husband and I are missing it greatly!…
I hope so, too. Thanks for the update. Let me know if you learn anything further.
OK, they are still not back-they changed the sign from the 2nd to the 9th, but it’s the 11th and they’re still not back
Hope everything is OK.
Baba Ghannouj is the greatest thing that’s happened to Danbury! Omar is wonderful-a hard-working man with a great family and his happy disposition is always great to walk into! The food is ALWAYS fresh and definitely beats out any of the other “middle eastern” places around town.
As for why they were closed-they were on vacation last week-there was a sign on the door! Back now.
Anyone know what happened to this place? It hasn’t been opened since at least this past friday night…. ?? I would be SO crushed if it went out of business!
My family just had dinner at Baba Ghannouj. Everything we had was fresh, homemade, and terrific. I got a chicken kebab sandwich, husband got a veggie platter with falafel, hummus, baba ghannouj, stuffed grape leaves, tabbouli, and both pita bread and pita chips to go with it all. Hummus was probably the best I have had in a very long time, with a silky texture that was lovely. The falafel was crunchy on the outside and very tasty, with a good zing from the tahini. Children got a hummus sandwich and an americana wrap (a cheeseburger in a wrap – I’m still working on refining her tastebuds). The baklava we got to finish was very fresh as well – not saturated and soggy like so many you get. I had never had maroota before, but it was really good, with a very buttery dough and a sweet date filling. A nice change-up from the baklava, just in case you might want something different. The whole meal was under $30, and we had extra to take home. My only concern was that the place was almost empty. I hope you try it; what a bargain!
From the Editor: How fortunate Danbury is to have at least four places offering falafel, each undoubtedly in a different style! Besides at Baba Ghannouj (172 White St.), falafel can be found at Sesame Seed (68 W. Wooster St.), Hanna’s (72 Lake Ave.), and Vivianne’s Middle Eastern Food (36 Tamarack Ave.).
What are the other three places for falafel?
I tried the falafel here on Wednesday. The spices and veggies were just about right, although I don’t remember any tahini flavor coming through; and the falafel balls themselves weren’t quite as crispy as I’m used to, but that just might be because I didn’t eat the sandwich right away. But I’ll be going back for sure.