Cafe

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[REVIEW]

A Taste of Home

American Falafel’s Jordanian version of Middle Eastern cuisine is a revelation of flavor

Written by CHERYL BAEHR

American Falafel

6314 Delmar Boulevard, University City; 314-553-9553. Tues.-Sun. 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m. (Closed Mondays.)

To the outside observer, Mohammed Qadadeh had it all: a successful career with a multinational corporation, financial security, a life filled with international travel. Qadadeh en oyed all the key indicators of having made it and yet he still couldn’t help but feel something was missing.

He had glimmers of what that void was every time he would travel back to the iddle ast for work. ordanian native who moved to St. Louis to attend school at the age of seventeen, Qadadeh realized how much he missed the food he grew up on whenever he had the opportunity to eat it while abroad. Though he appreciated the St. Louis food scene and relished trying new places, he longed for a truly authentic taste of home and wished that someone would take a chance on bringing traditional ordanian cuisine to town.

He never considered that person might be him. However, about three years ago, he was feeling particularly filled with creative energy and in search of an outlet. Though he en oyed his ob and the professional success it brought him, Qadadeh found his entrepreneurial spirit pushing him to try something new. restaurant made sense, and when he heard that a renowned ordanian chef was now living in the United States, he encouraged him to come to St. Louis to help him reali e his culinary dream. or two years, adadeh and his chef eshed out a vision of what would become merican

You can’t go wrong with fattoush, ke a burger, Eggplant Amman, falafel sandwich, falafel bites or hummus. | MABEL SUEN

Falafel, testing out dishes, battling over whose grandmother’s recipes were better and seeking out equipment, breads and other ingredients necessary to reali e the level of authenticity adadeh was not willing to compromise. inally, on arch 1, 0 0, adadeh took the leap and signed a lease for a storefront in the Delmar Loop, with plans to open as soon as possible. Then, less than two weeks later, the dining landscape he thought he was entering ipped on its head when the full e tent of the C D-19 pandemic revealed itself in St. Louis. In far too deep to back out, adadeh forged ahead, and finally opened merican alafel in ay of last year, confident that, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, he was onto something special.

That gut feeling was right. Though St. Louis has no shortage of e cellent iddle astern restaurants, the fast-casual merican alafel stands out thanks to its focus on ordanian food shawarma, hummus, falafel and the typical dishes found on the menus at other iddle astern spots are all present, but what’s so thrilling

A Jordanian native turns his longing for the food he grew up on into a fast-casual success story.

is that this particular in ection allows diners to understand the nuances that make each country’s cuisine so unique.

Take the falafel, for instance. ike with other versions, you’ll find chickpea fritters, tahini, lettuce, tomatoes and other trimmings. However, adadeh’s makes you understand that all falafel is not created e ual. merican alafel’s version — which is made using a machine imported from ordan is breathtaking, accented with warm spices that season the ground chickpeas throughout the entire fritter. But the te ture is what makes it so special. hile others can be dry and crumbly, merican alafel’s fritters are moist and pleasantly tacky on the inside, soaking in the earthy tahini sauce and juices from the pickles and tomato garnish. ven the bread is special. Instead of the usual pita, Qadadeh uses lavash, which is like a cross between a pita and a crepe when griddled and pressed, it develops a glorious nutty avor reminiscent of brown butter. This bread, alone, is reason enough to ustify adadeh’s leap into the restaurant business. ut there are others, too. merican Falafel’s babaganoush is revelatory, a thick, creamy mash of gently smoked eggplant generously mi ed with tahini so that both avors are e ually prominent. Diced tomatoes, sprinkled with tangy sumac, break up the richness. Hummus, another ubi uitous iddle astern dip, is a thing of beauty thanks to its silken te ture that is completely devoid of any grit from the chickpea. Though so simple in terms of ingredients, he and his chef’s fastidious adherence to technique turn the ordinary into something magical.

Chicken shawarma is another

Owner Mohammed Qadadeh is doing what he is meant to do. | MABEL SUEN

AMERICAN FALAFEL

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example of how taking the time to do things right pays off. The wrap features succulent, seasoned meat dressed with lettuce, pickles and tomatoes and served with a garlic sauce that’s akin to an aioli. The combination of avors is powerful; together with the outstanding lavash wrap, it’s one of the best versions in the city. Even a simple cheese wrap is otherworldly, thanks to the rich haloumi cheese, pickles, tomatoes and pesto; griddled in lavash, it’s like a Middle Eastern caprese wrap.

Though Qadadeh adheres to tradition for most of his dishes, his kefta burger is where he shows ingenuity. Here, the Middle Eastern dish typically served as a kebab over rice or in a wrap is shaped into a burger patty, then placed atop a sesame-seed bun with lettuce, tomato and cheese. It’s a work of genius that seems so obvious when you try it.

However, American Falafel is at its most soulful when it’s serving the dishes that taste like they came out of Qadadeh’s (or his chef’s) grandmother’s kitchen. Tomatoes galaya, Qadadeh’s favorite dish on the menu, may look like simple stewed tomatoes, but the avor is otherworldly. The tomatoes are cooked down to the point where they nearly break apart completely, absorbing the gentle Middle Eastern spices, generous black pepper and slivers of garlic that season the dish. Served with warmed lavash for scooping, it’s a bowl of pure comfort. Likewise, the kidreh rice is the culinary equivalent of a warm blanket. Here, basmati is cooked with chickpeas, onions and whole garlic cloves, then spiced with cumin, cardamom, black pepper and turmeric. There are so many avors going on, yet they are so well balanced and gentle. It’s a masterful dance.

As haunting as that rice is, the Eggplant Amman is the restaurant’s unforgettable dish. Here, cubes of sautéed eggplant and pita chips are dressed with a rich tomato sauce that alone would be a worthy offering. However, the component that makes this absolutely transcendent is the thick layer of a tahini-yogurt concoction so creamy and avorful you’ll want to spread it all over everything you eat going forward. The tangy sauce combines with the tomatoes and eggplant, resulting in layers of avor that make your palate feel like it’s tasting in Technicolor.

If Qadadeh ever decides to change course, he could bottle up that sauce and start a condiment empire. Hopefully, he won’t do that anytime soon. With American Falafel, he’s shown that, in walking away from what seemed like the obvious path, he got to exactly where he was meant to be.

American Falafel

Original falafel sandwich ............................$9 Tomatoes galaya ....................................... $10 Eggplant Amman ..................................... $12