dining out
Updating A Classic
MishMish has a new menu and more sophisticated look
WRITTEN BY ESTHER DAVIDOWITZ PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANIELLE PARHIZKARAN
Montclair
SLOW BRAISED OXTAIL
HUMMUS BOWL
MISHMISH
215 GLENRIDGE AVE, (973) 337-5648
MISHMISHCAFE.COM
B
een to MishMish lately?
Chef Meny Vaknin’s
Mediterranean boite in Montclair
made food critics and food lovers
alike sit up and take notice when
it opened five years ago.
The Israeli-born chef’s first restaurant —
he has since opened charming Marcel Bakery
& Kitchen and grab-and-go Luisa, both in
Montclair as well — now has a new menu and
a more mature, sophisticated look.
The originally 20 — currently 40 — seat
restaurant recently unveiled a new “all-star”
menu consisting of the restaurant’s most
popular dishes over the past half-decade plus
a few new dishes (Turkish cigars, anyone?).
And the orange walls and open kitchen have
been replaced by charcoal black walls, a long
banquette, a semi-open kitchen and a sunny
window counter.
Have the changes made MishMish (the
word for apricot in Hebrew and Arabic) even
better than it was when New Jersey Monthly
called its food “fantastic” (Jan. 2015), NJ.com
gushed that Vaknin’s dishes were “distinctive”
(Feb. 2015) and The New York Times gave
the restaurant its second best rating — a
“Very Good” (May 2015)?
Decor-wise, certainly: It has a more
spacious, airier feel. Food-wise, it’s as
good as ever.
Vaknin is not a chef out to perform high
jinks with his creations. He does not tuck
a pair of tweezers inside his chef’s coat pocket.
His menu does not require an advanced
degree in gastronomy to decipher. His food is
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HOLIDAY 2019 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
OWNERS DOMINIQUE
PAULIN AND OLIVIER
MULLER