3 minute read
Man Eats Boise
from FLAVOR Fall 2024
PHOTOS BY ALAN HEATHCOCK
By Alan Heathcock
One of the best aspects of being an author is that I get to follow my books out into the world, and to experience a myriad of cultures and culinary delights. Regional meats and cheeses, tradition-honed recipes and blends of spices, and unique means of preparation all provide the thrill of allowing your tastebuds to travel. I’m chuffed to report you can tap into that same joy without leaving the Treasure Valley. Here are some of my favorites.
Kibrom’s serves Ethiopian and Eritrean dishes with warm injera bread. Gather a group of friends and eat family style. For a delicious kick of spice, try the Red Tibs, with your choice of chicken, beef, or lamb sauteed in an onion and berbere sauce. Delight your vegan friends with one of the many vegan offerings, my favorite of which is the Tikel Gomen, a dish of cabbage, potatoes, and carrots cooked with onion and alicha spice. e injera is warm, the spices comforting, and Kibrom’s vibe is that of friendship and sharing.
I regularly get a craving for Himalayan momo dumplings, which inevitably sends me to the Mount Everest Momo Cafe. It’s a charming place, run by the always gracious Raj Shrestha. The menu has a variety of influences, with Indian curries and Tibetan noodles, but it’s the momo that keeps me coming back. Momo are steamed dumplings, filled with spiced chicken, pork, yak, or vegetables, and served with a tomato sauce of varying heat levels. Many of my favorite dining experiences have been in restaurants that perfect a simple dish, and these dumplings are the height of perfectly delicious simplicity.
The moment you walk into Food Land Market, you smell the warm aroma of Turkish coffee and cardamom tea. The front of the market is a light-filled bistro, the market itself featuring Arabic, European, halal and kosher products, expertly curated by owner Hana Mutlak. Mutlak’s family recipes are featured in the restaurant, with love and skill in every bite of shawarma, dolma, and baba ghanoush.
The bakery case of baklava makes for a glorious problem: which do you choose? The correct answer is that you systematically try them all, but for the sake of reasonableness, I’ll pose that the pistachio rectangles are one of the best pastries in town.
There’s a plethora of Mexican restaurants in the valley, but when one of the best restaurants is only well-known in foodie circles it deserves a shout out. Campos is a Mexican market and carniceria, with a restaurant tucked in the back. This is food from the source, made with traditional ingredients from traditional recipes. The bright salsa of the sopes, the savoriness of the al pastor gordita, chorizo, carnitas, lengua, cesina, milanoza, a taco for every taste, and the asada torta, with its marinated beef and pickled peppers, is the sandwich of my dreams.
The world is filled with culinary delicacies that fill our bellies and stoke our imaginations. We’re fortunate in Boise to have an ever-expanding roster of restaurants that gleam with the light of travel for some and home for others. Cheers to the gift of food that brings a world of influences into our fair city.
