Suraya

Fishtown
1528 Frankford Avenue
(215) 302-1900
surayaphilly.com

© BREANNE FURLONG FOR 646 COMMUNICATIONS

Philly diners weren’t exactly clamoring for a Lebanese market and cafe when Suraya was announced in 2017. But the partners behind the place, Greg Root and chef Nick Kennedy of Root, Cafe La Maude’s Nathalie Richan, and her brother, prolific Fishtown developer Roland Kassis, knew something we didn’t. “It was a big vision, but we saw how unique and special Suraya could be,” says Root.

When Suraya opened on Frankford Avenue, the city was instantly smitten with its good looks. Restaurants just don’t look like this in Philadelphia: sprawling and lofty, with three separate seating venues, from the bustling cafe/grocery up front to the open kitchen-anchored dining room to the tranquil rear garden that resembles something out of a Relais & Chateaux riad in Marrakech. (The benefits to having a real estate kingpin as partner…) Says Root, “You get a lot on one space.”

Suraya’s appeal is skin-deep as well, thanks to Kennedy’s able handling of Richan and Kassis’ family recipes. His kitchen fires all day, from labneh-slicked manoushe and omelets so loaded with herbs they’re green in the morning to cinnamon-spiced lamb sausage and grilled black bass over turmeric rice at night. Many people think of the cooking here as Zahav (page 89) Lite––the restaurants share a Levantine pantry and passion for grilling over smoldering coals––but Suraya is so thrilling in its own right it’s become nearly as hard to land a dinner reservation here.

ROSE & PISTACHIO CRULLER

“It was new and it was challenging,” Suraya pastry chef James Matty says of getting thrown into the deep end of Middle Eastern desserts. “Nathalie and her mother did a ton of cooking for us to show us the ropes,” ropes he now handles like an Olympic gymnast. Step into Suraya, and the riot of confections behind glass at the pastry counter will throw you into paradox of choice: Do you get the jalouise, with date-and-apple filling peeking through its latticed top, or the cardamom kouign aman? The seven-spice coffee cake or the tahina-mulberry Linzer? In an ideal world, you get them all, but if your pastry budget limits you to just one, make it the peerless cruller lacquered in rose-and-pistachio glaze. Matty says this donut is the MVP of pastry roster.

(MAKES 6−8 DONUTS)

For the dough

½ cup water

½ cup whole milk

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

13/4 cups bread flour, sifted

5 large eggs

Vegetable oil, for frying

For the glaze

1 (16-ounce) box confectioners’ sugar

½ cup whole milk

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

½ teaspoon rose water

Chopped shelled pistachios, for topping

Make the dough by combining the water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt to a boil in a large saucepot. When boiling, add the flour and continue to cook, continuously stirring until the mixture forms into a ball and a thin film forms on the bottom of the pan, approximately 30 seconds.

Transfer to the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping between each addition until a smooth and thick batter forms.

Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch star tip. Line a cutting board or work surface with parchment paper and liberally brush it with vegetable oil. Pipe 6−8 four-inch circles onto the parchment. Cut the parchment to separate the crullers and allow them to rest for 15 minutes.

While the crullers are resting, heat a large pot of vegetable oil to 375°F. While the oil is coming to temperature, make the glaze. Add the confectioners’ sugar to a mixing bowl. Bring the milk, butter, and honey to a boil in a saucepot over medium-high heat. (If the mixture looks slightly curdled, don’t worry; that’s normal.). Slowly add the milk mixture to the sugar, stirring until a thick glaze forms.

Cover the surface of the glaze with plastic wrap and reserve at room temperature.

Fry the crullers by lowering them into the hot oil batter side-down and peeling off the paper. (A 10-inch pot will accommodate about three crullers at a time.) Cook for 5 minutes and carefully flip. Cook on the opposite sides for 5 minutes. Carefully flip again and cook 1 additional minute on the first sides. Remove the crullers from the oil and drain for a moment on a cooling rack. Dip both sides of each cruller in the rose glaze while hot and transfer back to the cooling rack. Top each cruller with crushed pistachios and serve once the glaze sets, about 5 minutes.