Byblos offers old-world Middle Eastern cuisine accompanied by live music most nights and a great lunch special each day from noon-3 p.m. It is open seven days a week for both lunch and dinner, a rare find in this mixed commercial and emerging residential neighborhood.

The service at Byblos is excellent; the wait staff and ownership are attentive and concerned that all diners have a first-class dining experience. They recently moved to the 80 Madison Ave. location (between 28th and 29th streets, next to the upscale Carlton Hotel). The owner and his wife (Saba and Sonia Kachouh) are at the restaurant most days, ensuring top-notch service and overseeing the live entertainment.

And then, of course, there’s the food—a wide variety of Middle Eastern dishes ranging from Lebanese staples like tabbouleh and hummus to more exotic fare like kafta khoush kash, a seasoned ground meat with parsley and onions and an added spicy sauce. There is a large range of salads and hot appetizers: Some of our favorites include the fattoush salad (Byblos special), a chopped Middle Eastern salad with toasted pita on top; the jawaneh, chicken wings sauteed with cilantro, garlic and lemon (a tangy and tasty mix); and falafel (small, round deep-fried patties made of chickpeas and coriander served with a tasty tahini sauce).

On the cold-appetizer menu are many delicious varieties of hummus (pine nuts, tahini and meat are a few of the optional ingredients), other favorites like batinjan makdous (pickled baby eggplant with walnuts and garlic), and one of their specialties: garlic labne with walnuts (thick creamy cheese with an added flare of garlic).

The meat staples at Byblos are grilled and made delicious by the Lebanese seasonings and the added rice and vegetables. Our favorites include the delicious grilled lamb chops and the mixed grill (one skewer each of shish kebab, shish taouk and kafta kebab). There are also great seafood dishes liked grilled striped bass and grilled tilapia (fresh fish filet dressed with lemon and garlic); my dining partner said the latter was very good, but I can’t personally attest to it due to my fish allergy.

The Byblos bakery is chock-full of great pastries and pies such as Byblos kallage (pita bread stuffed with goat’s milk cheese and grilled) and meat pies (dough filled with seasoned meat and pine nuts).
Byblos has a very affordable $16.50 lunch special each day, which includes a soup or salad, one entree and coffee or tea. The Byblos Deluxe Dinner is a smorgasbord of delectable appetizers, choice of an entree and coffee and dessert, all for $42.95 per person.

Byblos is a great find for all midtown diners searching for authentic Lebanese food and ambiance.
Byblos Restaurant, 80 Madison Ave. (between 28th and 29th streets), open daily for lunch and dinner, with brunch on Sundays. They also do corporate catering and private events. Call 212-687-0808 or visit www.byblosny.com.

New York Family’s highlight reel of what to do this weekend

By Meghan Gearino

You may already be slicing and dicing the avocado and tomatoes for Cinco de Mayo this Saturday (here’s a great recipe in case you need one!). In case your calendar reveals itself empty (we want your life), the way-more-fun-than-laundry list below will keep you and kids plenty busy.  

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

Taikoza Live!, a percussion-based performance, lets families march to the beat of their own drum at the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center. But we bet you’ll love the bamboo flutes and costumes, too.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY

Propelled 20 feet in the air, the high-flying dance moves and acrobatics of the New Victory Theater’s 8cho Ariel Tango are sure to astound. Recommended for ages eight and up.

Madison Square Park’s latest interactive installation is the quirky work of Charles Long entitledPet Sounds. The funky and colorful railings let kids produce various vibrations and sounds.

To read the full list visit New York Family by clicking here.

LOWER EAST SIDE

SILVER PROPOSES GUN BUY-BACKS AT RUTGERS HOUSE

In response to increased gun violence in the Lower East Side over recent months, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver wrote a letter to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly recently, asking for their support in a plan to reduce gun violence.

Silver’s plan is to rally the DA’s office and NYPD to sponsor a gun buy-back program
on the Lower East Side. “Gun buy-backs have proven to be a very effective way to remove guns from our streets,” he said. Silver has also suggested a location for the program, offering the community room at Rutgers Houses on Pike Street, which he said would be a perfect location, noting that the tenants have already agreed to host the venue, should the DA’s office and the NYPD agree to the program.

CITYWIDE
CITY OFFICIALS RENAME MADISON SQUARE PARK IN HONOR OF FALLEN 9/11 RESPONDER

Earlier this month, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, New York City
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and New York City Parks Manhattan Borough Commissioner William Castro gathered at Madison Square Park, which spans from
23rd to 26th Street, to celebrate the life and courage of NYPD officer Moira Smith by renaming the park in her honor.

Smith, who is survived by her husband and daughter, is credited with saving hundreds of lives on Sept. 11, 2001. “People who survived the World Trade Center attacks will tell you they remember Moira, a beacon of calm in the chaos, leading the injured to care,” said Kelly.

SQUADRON OUTRAGED OVER REDISTRICTING

In the wake of a state Senate vote in favor of controversial redistricting lines and a constitutional amendment that would form a 10-member commission (with eight of the members chosen by the Legislature) responsible for redistricting, State Sen. Daniel Squadron spoke March 15 about his opposition to the vote, which he called a “doubly broken promise.”

“The only way to change this poisonous process once and for all is to get the
Legislature out of the business of drawing its own districts. One more year based on this process, much less a decade of its gerrymandered and political results, is unacceptable,” he said.

As a next step, Squadron has proposed that the governor veto the proposed
amendment; however, his opinion is in direct odds with other city politicians,
including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who in a statement after the vote, said, “This agreement will permanently reform the redistricting process in New York to once and for all end self-interested and partisan gerrymandering.”

CHIN SEEKS TRANSPARENCY FOR METHADONE CLINICS

Last week, City Council Member Margaret Chin introduced a law that would mandate community board notification of proposed methadone clinics. Currently, the New York State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) is only required to notify the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) of plans to establish a methadone clinic, satisfying its obligation to inform the community.

Chin’s plan, however, would obligate DOHMH to notify the local community board and the City Council when they are first contacted by OASAS.
This measure of transparency, Chin believes, will aid in informing the general public of the potential presence of methadone clinics.

“Given the strong feelings that many communities have regarding clinics that dispense methadone within their neighborhoods, there is little incentive for applicants to inform the public that they are intending to open a clinic,” said Chin. “Local governments know their community best and they should have an opportunity to comment on whether the proposed siting is appropriate or needed.”

A PROPOSED END TO FINGERS FOR FOOD THROUGHOUT NYC
With the support of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Council Speaker Christine
Quinn, State Sen. Daniel Squadron has introduced a bill that would effectively ban the fingerprinting of individuals eligible for food stamps, believed to be directly responsible for nearly 6,000 food stamp denials between 2009-2010, according to an analysis by the Empire Justice Center.

Advocates claim that fingerprinting deters families from applying because of embarrassment and places an unnecessary financial burden on the state.
“Finger imaging is so ineffective, such a waste of money and such an impediment to food stamp access that even Governor Rick Perry eliminated it in Texas, and now only Arizona and New York City still cling to this discredited process,” said Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger.