Rustic L.E.S. Menu

Rustic L.E.S. Restaurant Review:

On a largely residential street on the otherwise hopping Lower East Side, Yassir Z. Raouli, who rose to fame with his Moroccan-Mediterranean gourmet "bistro truck," has opened a tiny twenty-or-so seat restaurant offering the same no-frills cuisine that garnered him a devoted following when he cooked on four wheels. The philosophy is intact: recipes from Raouli’s native Morocco are prepared with quality ingredients and given creative tweaks. The seasonal menu includes a flaky, buttery seafood b’stilla, a Moroccan hybrid of Greek spanakopita and American potpie; it comprises a seafood vermicelli medley smothered in melted cheeses and delicate spices, and baked in a flaky layered crust. (There is a chicken variety, too.) A tagine of tender short rib with pungent spices is also available, along with seared foie gras. In keeping with Raouli’s roots, the wines of Ouled Thaleb, Morocco's oldest and most prominent vineyard, are among the choices on the wine list. Pair the rosé with the b’stilla or complement the tagine with the Cabernet Sauvignon-Syrah blend.