DINING OUT: Grapevine Mediterranean Kitchen

Although it has only been open for just two weeks, Grapevine Mediterranean Kitchen is already growing on the neighborhood with its homemade Lebanese delights.

Chef Marie Aflak is a native Ridgeite, whose father has owned Mid-East Bakery for 37 years. She is also a graduate of New York Restaurant School.

“They taught me the technique and my mom gave me the passion,” Aflak said.

The chef and mother of one was a caterer in Antigua for nine years and recently moved back to Bay Ridge. “I found this spot and decided that it was time to go big,” she explained of her cozy and beautifully decorated Third Avenue storefront.

Grapevine does catering, take-out and has some tables for dine-in customers. She said that the response so far has been warm. “Bay Ridge is multi-cultural and the clientele is mostly American. Everyone loves hummus!” Aflak said.

All of the food is fresh and most of the hot meals are made to order, but totally worth the wait.

For starters, we tried the fresh baked pita, from Mid-East Bakery, with Hummos ($6 for small, $11 for large), Babagnoush ($7 for small, $15 for large) and Taboule ($6.50 for small, $13 for large). The Hummos was creamy perfection and the Babagnoush was delightfully smooth and smoky. The Taboule was a refreshing mix of parsley, basil, garlic, tomato and scallions with cracked wheat that had more greens than grains.

Next we enjoyed the Kibbie Balls ($14 for a dozen) in both meat and vegetarian varieties. The Beef Kibbie was very crispy and was stuffed with savory meat and pine nuts. There was definitely more meat than cracked wheat. The Vegetarian Kibbie was made with pumpkin instead of wheat and was filled with spinach and chick peas. It was surprisingly hearty and rich.

The Roasted Chicken Sandwich ($6.50 for the sandwich, $8.25 with two sides) was made with roasted red pepper dip, mixed greens and feta cheese. The chicken was especially succulent thanks to the red pepper spread, which is infused with sweet-tart pomegranate molasses that adds a tantalizing note to the chameleon-like poultry.

A Middle Eastern classic, the Falafel Sandwich ($4.50 for the sandwich, $6 with two sides) was filled with crispy falafel, mixed greens and tahini. The falafel was crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, the greens provided a satisfying crunch and the tahini provided the perfect finishing touch.

For dessert, we had a Nutella Roll ($8.50 per pound), Baklawa ($12.50 per pound with walnuts) and an Apricot Roll ($2 each).

The Nutella Roll was sinful, served warm and featuring the creamy chocolate spread with walnuts rolled within filo dough. The Baklawa, made Lebanese style, had minced walnuts, filo dough and just a bit of honey so it was not saturated with sweetness. The Apricot Roll featured almonds, apricots and raisins with no sugar added. It was sweet but slightly tart and the almonds provided a nice crunch.

We walked out feeling satisfied but not overindulged and contemplating out next trip to Grapevine.

Grapevine Mediterranean Kitchen

8303 Third Avenue

718-238-VINE (8463)

Free delivery

Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Sunday closed