the barocai

Last night, a very small group of us Eat Squad-ers made plans to meet for dinner at Imperial Fez in Peachtree Hills.  Frequently, I’ve driven past Imperial’s black awning and have been curious about what the deal is with this restaurant that never appears to be too busy, but seems unfazed by the economic downturn…and by time, generally.

I was the first of the four of us to arrive, and was pleasantly surprised with the authenticity of the restaurant.  Albeit a bit weirded out about how empty and quiet it was, which resulted in a panicked call to Cari, “WHERE the (insert: expletive) am I – and WHERE are y’all?!?!”

Cari informed me that they were on their way, and that I should watch the TV look at the wall covered with photos of noteworthy restaurant patrons until they arrived.  The wall was pretty outstanding - including photos of Imperial’s chef with Governor Schwarzenegger, Teddybear Turner and Reba McEntire, herself!  Reebs!!

Good thing I wore my fancy 4-inch heels to dinner…

The host walked us into a cozy Oriental-rug-covered room, and sat us all down on what looked like a plush, but pretty worn out couch.  This is where all the people were!  Surprisingly, too, there were a sizeable amount of people there – many more than I’d guessed.  Our server asked us to place our hands into a silver bowl, and he washed them for us with water.  Then, he handed each of us a towel to throw over our left shoulder for the meal, and he instructed us to only eat with our right hand.  Yes, hand – not fork. Hand.  So fun!

We selected the 5-course dinner, which runs $45 per person.  We all agreed that that was a pretty solid deal.  We started off with the Harrira Moroccan Lentil Soup with Moroccan Bread (Whole Wheat & Honey) + Moroccan Crackers (Fekkas). Slick said that this was his favorite part of the meal.

Next up was Moroccan Salads with a Side of Red Harissa and the chef’s signature hot sauce.  Our table was not well lit, but I remember eating eggplant, spinach, dill + cucumber and something with rose water, which tasted like perfume to me.  We used the Moroccan crackers to shovel the salads into our mouths.

By this point, Cari and I tired of the towels on our shoulders and put them on our laps.  We appreciated the idea of keeping with the tradition, but we didn’t trust ourselves not to be messy.  Our server brought us an appetizer called B’stella to share, which was my favorite part of the meal, and was super delicious!  Cari told us that it was made with sweet spices, chicken and eggs.  (We used forks to eat this one…)

As soon as the forks appeared, they were used throughout the rest of the meal.  We each ordered an entree, and they were devoured in a flash!  So quick, in fact, that most of the pictures I took are of half-eaten dishes.  Our entrees are ranked below in order of what I liked best to least*:

1 – Cornish-hen Tajine baked with apricots, ginger, saffron + honey.  Garnished with roasted almonds + sesame seeds.

2 – Chef Rafih’s Special Beef Ribs marinated with Moroccan herbs, spices + dried sweet chili (not pictured b/c we ate it too fast…)

3 – Lamb Tajine Morozola baked with Rass El Hannut (32 aromatic spices prepared by the chef) + garnished with onions, raisins + roasted almonds

4 – Roasted Lamb Shank M’Choul baked with cumin, garlic, paprika, fresh cilantro + herbs.  Garnished with exotic wild mushrooms.

*Note: I’m pretty sure that I don’t care for lamb, generally, because everyone at the table liked the lamb dishes the best.  Slick did not care for the chicken because he said it was too sweet for him.

Dessert was yummy, but I’m not sure what it was and I can’t find it described anywhere on their menu.  There was powdered sugar and chocolate sauce on the outside, and the inside tasted like baklava – but not quite as sweet – with apples and nuts.  We also had fruit skewers with strawberry sauce.

We ended the evening with sweet Moroccan Hot Mint Tea.  Before he brought us the bill, our server had us put our hands back into the silver bowl he used to wash them at the beginning of the meal, and he brushed rose water onto them.

Throughout the meal, the skinniest belly dancer I’ve ever seen preformed for us.  At first she just danced, but then she got all crazy with swords and fire. I was v. impressed.

These were the cutest kids EVER!

The meal was almost three hours long, but it was totally + completely enjoyable in every way. It was very easy to forget that the restaurant is situated on Peachtree Street not far from the hustle + bustle of Midtown.  I strongly recommend Imperial Fez for a birthday party, a fifth or sixth date, or for a big group of people since almost everything is family style.

P.S. You can get a hookah for the table at the restaurant for $25.

Check out Imperial’s daily specials on the second page of the menu here: HOOKAH TIME!

xx, L

Imperial Fez
2285 Peachtree Road NE
Atlanta, GA  30309
404.351.0870
www.imperialfez.com