Steller Mezes at Troya in Upper Fillmore

Troya Mediterranean Kitchen, serves up mouthwatering mezes from a light filled storefront on Upper Fillmore. It's a wonderful combination of Turkish, Kurdish, and Persian cuisine; and not a stretch to say it's the best we've had in the Bay Area. According to their website, Troya Fillmore brings a different, more modern approach to the Turkish-inspired Mediterranean kitchen, offering local and organic ingredients as often as possible. Over 4th of July weekend, with baby in tow, we met family there for an early dinner and were not disappointed. 

Troya's space in bright and modern, yet rustic; it almost feels like a SOMA loft space. Walls are painted white with accents of red brick. Mid-century light fixtures and Edison bulbs are neatly distributed above the cherry wood tables. Upon arrival, we were promptly seated at a large table across from the open bar space. Our only complaint about the space is that it gets noisy (not enough sound attenuation) and stuffy (not enough power on the ceiling fans). After perusing the menu for several minutes, we decided to order a bunch of sharing mezes for the table. Across the eight of us, we ordered 12 items, including dessert. For the purposes of this blog, I'll highlight the key eight. 

Hummus, Haydari, Muhammara with House Made Turkish Bread ($16) - Three dips of hummus (mashed chickpeas with tahini and olive oil), haydari (strained yogurt with garlic and mint) and muhammara (roasted red pepper with walnuts) served with warm airy leavened bread. Each dip has it's own distinct flavor - hummus was earthy and buttery smooth, haydari was fresh and citric, the muhammara was spicy and intense. My favorite was the muhammara paired with some haydari, the balance between the two was perfect, especially over the fluffy bread. 

Summer Watermelon Salad with fennel, feta and fresh mint ($9) - A bright flavorful appetizer portion salad of refreshing watermelon cubes, salty feta, and crunchy licorice-flavor fennel. I am generally not a fan of salads that include fruit, this one worked because it was the opposite - fruit paired with savory elements. Each ingredient had a purpose and the feta was not pungent or overpowering. All in all, a great pallet cleansing dish. 

Roasted eggplant salad with tomatoes, pine nuts and feta ($10) - Served warm, this dish was a pleasant surprise for me. The roasted and slightly charred eggplant was layered perfectly with juicy tomatoes, earthy pine nuts, and fresh feta. Combined as one, it was a perfect blend of the Mediterranean. My only feedback was to cut the eggplant thinner, so that each bite has equal balance. 

Crispy Brussel Sprouts with aleppo aioli ($9) - We liked the concept of the dish and the aioli, but the sprouts were inconsistent with some sprouts soggy and some over crisp. The aioli by itself had a nice kick but was a bit too eggy for my taste. From a great stable of mezes, this was a miss in our books. 

Grilled Halloumi Cheese with fresh figs almonds and grapes ($11) - We're aficionados of this Cyprus cheese having tasted in at many establishments throughout London. Troya does halloumi justice, each cube covered in Turkish spices was perfectly grilled and topped a fresh sweet fig jam - a really nice savory sweet dish. We were surprised at how large the portion was especially each halloumi cube. All of us end up cutting them in half. That being said, it's a staple we'll order again. 

Wild arugula salad with avocado, walnuts, and farmers cheese  ($9) - Another palate cleansing dish for the table. The bitter arugula was complemented by the buttery avocado, while the walnuts added a much needed crunch. There was lemon vinaigrette drizzled on top which added a hint of tartness. 

Pesto, Tomato, and Farmers Cheese Flatbread ($12) - This was a throw in dish, not needed given the amount of food we had ordered. There was nothing memorable about it, but you could definite taste the fresh ingredients. The pesto was a bit under-seasoned and the dish could have used some salt. That being said, I can't really turn down pizza, so needless to say it was finished. 

Turkish Coffee Chocolate Pot de Creme with house-made whipped cream ($8) - A dense, bittersweet chocolate pudding served cold. On first bite everyone felt the same way, too rich, too thick, too chocolately. Over time, we were able to taste the depthness and balance of flavors. There was only a hint of coffee and this flavor was certainly masked by the chocolate. However as a dessert it was too large and we left at least 1/4 of it uneaten. 

Baklava hand rolled with walnuts and pistachios, served with ice cream ($8) - A really solid dessert with thin phylo layers, crushed walnuts and pistachios, and drizzled honey. It was not overly sweet either which was good thing given the nice portion of vanilla ice cream that accompanied the two pieces of baklava. Troya's baklava had a great texture as the phylo was slightly crumbly and crispy. We would definitely order this again. 

Troya has a wonderful stable of well balanced mezes that are great to share with large groups. When ordering I would focus in on the truly authentic Turkish dishes rather than those that have Italian influence. We will definitely go back and give Troya a strong 8 out of 10. 

Expected more from Brassica in St Helena...

During a day trip up to Napa Valley, Sheila and I decided to try Cindy Pawlcyn's re-invented Brassica in St Helena. It used to be a seafood joint and is now a Mediterranean Kitchen. Inspired by the flavors of Northern Africa, Morocco, and Turkey, Brassica serves a healthy selection of mezzes, small plates, entrees, and a hugh variety of Napa Valley wines.

Located in the heart of St Helena, Brassica is warm and inviting with several distinct eating areas. The decor is French country, shabby chic with a subtle wine country references. The host and wait service was rather friendly and efficient; a pleasant surprise given that Sheila and I often get the "minority" treatment. This evening, we opted for sampling of mezzes, rather than a large meal - baba ghanoush, sheared haloumi, eggplant fries, and the dessert sampler ("five easy pieces").

The baba ghanoush (oven roasted pureed eggplant) was served cold with crispy pita chips and sesame seeds. It was a standard dish, but nothing spectacular. The eggplant was fresh and earthy, the sesame seeds added a nice crunch, and the pita chips were drizzled with sea salt and spice powder. I preferred to eat it with the table bread, which was a soft and warm than the chips, which tasted over-crisped.

The seared haloumi (salty goat and sheep's milk cheese from Cyprus) was served sizzling hot in small skillet. It was seasoned with red chili flakes, oregano, and garlic - and in our estimation over seasoned. All you could taste were the spices - which was a shame because haloumi has such a salty flavor and distinctive layered texture - it could have been mozzarella for all we knew.

The eggplant fries were served with a zatar yoghurt, which was underwhelming. The fries were under-seasoned, needed both salt and pepper to wake it up. Sheila felt like the zatar yoghurt tasted like pine sol, perhaps because of the added mint and spices. The fries themselves did not hold up their crispiness and basically tasted liked lightly breaded eggplant sticks.

The dessert sampler was by far the best dish of the evening. The five small taster included chocolate pot de creme, baklava, honey fig ice cream, hard nougat candy, and ricotta tart. Each bite had distinct taste - the baklava had a traditional earthy flavor (the most Middle Eastern tasting bite of the evening); the pot de creme was cool and bittersweet (a great French influenced bite); the ice cream was sweet and super creamy (a California fresh figs and honey definitely came through); the tart had a crunchy crust and soft (not overly sweet but surprisingly light) custard; and the nougat candy (chunky walnuts gave a depth of textures).

Neither Sheila and I were fond of the meal. This is of course because of high water mark for Mediterranean food is Gem Restaurant in Islington, North London. Perhaps because this was a Middle Eastern inspired California restaurant and not a traditional one. However more so than that each dish was an extreme; some were under-seasoned and others were over-seasoned. If in the area again, unfortunately I would pass on Brassica.