An African Introduction
Patisserie des Ambassades 161 W. 22nd Street, 212-255-5106
There are scant offerings for African food south of 96th Street in Manhattan, but in the past year the cuisine has finally shown local signs of life. Marcus Samuelsons Merkato 55 in the Meatpacking District provides pan-African offerings of the glitzy variety; but from the get-go, the restaurant served as a more effective showcase for downtown chic than authentic African fare. For a more authentic experience, its worth a visit to Patisserie des Ambassades, which opened a downtown branch in Chelsea this winter.
Together with its Harlem-based twin, Patisserie des Ambassades is a restaurant and catering business specializing in Senegalese fare. Senegalese cuisine is the product of several cultural influences, including the native Wolof people of Senegal and Gambia and the French, who ruled Senegal as a colony until 1960. Local staples include fish, peanuts, white rice and couscous. Notably absent is pork, owing to the countrys majority Muslim population.
I met a friend at Patisserie des Ambassades on a recent August evening. Just east of Seventh Avenue and adjacent to a bike shop, the restaurant has a refreshingly unassuming feel. Swinging doors expose the dining room to the street, and orange walls add a touch of warmth to the interior. Chairs and tablecloths are in neutral earthy colors, accented by a single mosaic-encrusted column set into one wall.
Patisserie des Ambassades is BYOB (whether this is due to Muslim influence or a lack of liquor license is uncleareither way, it keeps the tab down), so my friend and I started with a bottle of bissap. Made from the leaves of roselle, a species of hibiscus native to the African tropics, the drink has a fruity flavor with a hint of mint.
The dinner menu includes a mix of traditional French specialties, like braised lamb shank and steak au poivre, and more traditional Senegalese fare: like grilled tilapia, vegetable Casamance (named for the southern region of Senegal near the Casamance River), and generous sides of couscous and plantains.
My friend and I started with the falaya, an empanada-like fish turnover. The pastry shell was unremarkable, but the fish meat inside was tender and pleasantly sweet. For main courses, we opted for the more traditional Senegalese offerings. My friend had the chicken kebab, two long skewers of chicken with sides of couscous and a sweet onion garnish. The chicken, large chunks of clean white meat, had hints of a peanut sauce marinade. I chose the international mafe, a crowded amalgam of vegetables, including broccoli, potatoes, green beans and corn, cooked in a mild tomato and peanut-based sauce and served with white rice. By the time we finished these, dessert was out of the question. But for those so inclined, a wide selection of pastries is showcased in a lit display near the back.
An evening at Patisserie des Ambassades is a relaxed one. The service, if not exactly efficient, is friendly, and our gorgeous waitress with waist-length braids and a seductive French accent was patient with our rapid-fire questions. It will take far more than Patisserie des Ambassades to sufficiently introduce Manhattanites to African cuisineif its even fair to speak in such generalities, and its probably notbut the restaurant is a peek at least into the rich gastronomic palate of the continents tropical west coast.