THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Farida

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Farida Restaurant Review:

Restaurateur George Abou-Daoud's Farida is a hip, modernist Middle Eastern affair on Sunset Boulevard. Conveniently located near the Hollywood Arclight, the airy storefront (formerly Magnolia) is strikingly handsome with brightly colored Arabic tiles, vintage Egyptian movie posters, and jars of spices and preserved fruits. A sleek marble bar serves up wine, beer and unique cocktails such as the Arak Sazerac and Fig Bourbon Fizz, incorporating Mideast flavors like rosewater, orange blossom, peppercorn and saffron syrup, and sumac infused vodka. Look for contemporary and traditional interpretations of regional Middle Eastern cuisines that range from Lebanon, Turkey and Syria to Tunisia, Morocco, Cyprus and Jordan. A dozen vegetable-based mezze make this a fine spot for vegetarians, with dishes like baby golden beets with freekah, mint and pine nuts; roasted squash with grape molasses and dandelion greens; and airy lavender baghrir crêpes with honey and brown butter. Larger plates include mussels in Aleppo-turmeric cream and the restaurant’s signature dish, Mountain Prep Lamb Awarma, which follows a mountainside preparation process; we found it a tad salty and stingy on the lamb chunks, but admired the pretty presentation alongside a wonderful olive oil-cured baby eggplant stuffed with walnuts and garlic, hummus bi tahini, a nut and fig medley, lamb cracklings and a soft egg. For dessert, there’s basbousa, a lovely warm cake topped with tangy sumac syrup.