The cuisine of the Levant is certainly well represented in NYC, though rarely does it receive the panting praise lavished on those fleeting darlings that the food media is infatuated with at any given moment, which right now seems to be Southeast Asian and Mexican.  Yet, the food of the Middle East, especially Lebanon, sails on, oblivious to trends and consistent year after year.

    Among the most practiced is Byblos, whose longtime  restaurateur/chef Sabeh Kachouh, with his charming wife Sonia, has never wavered in his dedication to providing an exceptionally wide variety of delicacies, not least a table groaning with color-bright mézès.  He is an educator, intent on teaching guests just how deep and broad the cuisine of his native country really is.
    The  90-seat restaurant has its own brightness, fronted by a 12-foot long, L-shaped marble and cherry wood bar, which has a very good selection of Lebanese wines (many by the glass).  The restaurant is an incarnation of the original premises in Murray Hill, where Byblos (named after one of the oldest cities in the world) opened in 1990.  A fire destroyed that building so the Kachouhs shifted west to the Flatiron District three years ago.  The new, long, wide and airy room is done in creamy colors, rough stone walls, dark accents, and fine lighting over generous tables with white linens.
    You need that generosity once the mezzes start coming out. We asked   Kachouh to bring out whatever and as many dishes as he liked from a menu of fifty options, and I think we were served every one, from delectably creamy varieties of hummus to the lovely baba ghannouj of charcoal grilled eggplant, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic. Then came labaneh, a thick cheese dressed with olive oil and dried mint, and there were the inevitable grape leaves, here stuffed with rice and chickpeas.  Muhammara was a spicy red pepper dip mixed with walnuts, and balila were fat chickpeas dressed with garlic, lemon, olive oil and Lebanese seasonings.  The Lebanese names for their dishes are as euphonious as they are enticing.
    We’d only just begun. Out came kibbee naye tartare mixed lightly with wheat and spices, as well as a simmered chicory called hindby.  Our appetites were roaring now, delighted with the arrival of falafel fragrant with coriander served with tahini sauce, and one of Byblos’ specialties: marinated, grilled quail and makanik lamb sausages. Batata harra were cubed potatoes with chopped cilantro, garlic, and pepper, while jawaneh were plump chicken wings sautéed with the same seasonings and herbs.
    Somehow we were not yet on the wane, so we gobbled up arayess, a dish of toasted pita filled with minced meat, and deep-fried  rikakat with halloumi cheese. Then there was a variety of flaky zaatar pies, scented with thyme, sesame, olive oil and sumac.
    Oh, and there were charcoal grilled kebabs and succulent stuffed lamb breast entrees, five seafood dishes, including the fried Sultan Ibraham fish, and much more, including delicious Lebanese desserts—flaky, honey-drenched pastries.
    Whatever the Lebanese word for “uncle” is, we cried out that we were full, washing it all down with well-rendered Lebanese coffee.
    That Byblos can turn out so many dishes—albeit with many repeated ingredients—of such obvious freshness, tenderness, juiciness, and color is testament to decades of perfecting everything while pleasing guests who may come for a few favorite dishes, then go on to find there are so many more at this ebullient and highly familial venture where too much seems just about right.

Byblos is open for lunch and dinner daily; 3-Course Prix Fixe Dinner $48,  Mezzes $6-$18, main courses $22-$32. Saturday, Lebanese music and belly dancing.

By John Mariani 

        You can tell from his enthusiasm and energy that 26-year-old Elia Pellegrini (far left) must have made a great pro soccer player in the Italian Leagues before joining the family business in Bolgheri, a region famous in the past for cheap Chianti and, more recently, for extravagantly priced “Super Tuscan wines,” a hyped name that the better wine producers of the region now disdain.
     Over dinner at NYC's Lincoln Ristorante, Elia said,  "Our family is fourth generation here and we are the only ones left who are from Bolgheri," despite there now being nearly forty members of the Bolgheri Consortium, spread over 2,650 acres. “The Consorzio Bolgheri is mainly  for the protection and the promotion of the Bolgheri DOC.”
        Indeed, so many outsiders—even from outside Tuscany—bought up land in order to capitalize on the Super Tuscan surge of the 1990s that today, according to Pellegrini, “There’s no longer any profit in building a new winery in Bolgheri. It’s become far too expensive.  Only because we have been here a long time can we afford to buy two hectares recently in which to plant cabernet franc and petit verdot. We will also have a new agrotourism villa in 2018—six rooms where people may stay and eat and drink—along with an aging cellar and vineyards.”
    Under their Aia Vecchia (“Old Barn”) label, the Pellegrinis produce four wines, three reds and one white, made from two estates comprising 118 acres, with 74 acres under the Bolgheri DOC by winemaker Nicolo Scottini.
    Tuscany is not known for its white wines, but I find Aia Vecchia’s Vermentino 2014 ($12), made from 95% vermentino and 5% viognier for its aromatic effect, is one of the most delicious made in the region.  It’s fruitedness and good acid make it fine for an aperitif, for it is very fresh, spending four months in stainless steel, none in oak barrels, and two in bottle.  It is made to be enjoyed right away, especially with a platter of Italian salumi and Prosciutto, or scampi cooked in the wine itself.
      Lagone  2013 shows far more character and depth that its modest $15 price indicates.  The blend of 60% merlot, 30% cabernet sauvignon and 10% cabernet franc ages for 12 months in oak barriques, developing wood and tannin but, because it is mostly merlot, it has a soft ripeness that makes it perfect for autumn dishes and most robust pastas like lasagne alla bolognese as well as a grilled veal chop.  Its components will remind you of a very fine wine from France’s Saint-Émilion region.
      Aia Vecchia’s top-of-the-line red, Sorugo 2010 ($35), made from 50% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot, 15% cabernet franc, and 5% petit verdot  is labeled merely as “Bolgheri Rosso Superiore,” which barely hints at its complexity and elegance.  Aged in new French oak for 18 months, then in bottle for another year, the wine’s body comes from the cabernet sauvignon, the merlot mellows the wine, the cabernet franc gives it further depth, and the petit verdot provides aroma and a nice cut of acid that knits it all together. It is as a red wine highly suited to  dishes like rack of lamb, Prime rib of beef, and winter’s game dishes.  Decant this wine in the vicinity of sliced white truffles, and you may faint from the perfume of the marriage.