We celebrated Mothers Day by touring the historic houses in Monrovia. Monrovia is a very pretty part of the world. It was developed at the turn of the 20th century and so you have the old Victorians–or some the homes have been updated to look Colonial Revival (which is also old fashioned, but probably seemed up-do-date once upon a time). Every Mothers Day you can tour these houses and imagine how people used to live, which is easy because all the men take their souped-up 1920s roadsters out of the garage and drive them up and down the boulevard as if that were perfectly normal.
And when you are ready for lunch, you should go down the road to Dogwoods Market. This is an upscale Middle Eastern specialty market. They have all the wonderful spices, vegetables and fruits, and it smells wonderful. But even better than the groceries is Harry’s Deli, at the back of the market. They serve wonderful Middle Eastern foods, and it is very exclusive: only one table!
I liked it right away because it’s called Harry’s, the name of my sweet husband. If I opened a restaurant, I’d call it Harry’s, too.
It is important to let your children order because they know just what will make you happy. And it turns out they didn’t even choose, they left it up to the very sweet woman who was working at the counter. She wasn’t even supposed to be there because Sunday is her day off, but she saw me and she liked me. I think it was because I told her I was from Egypt that she made us a special Mothers Day lunch.
She brought out tabouli, hummus, babaganoush, Turkish pizza, falafel, stuffed grape leaves, and for me especially one of my childhood favorite dishes, Foul madamas.
Continue reading “Restaurant Review: Harry’s Healthy Mediterranean Cuisine (Monrovia)”