Manousheh

Not, as it might first appear, yet another Village slice shop: This one is dedicated to the Lebanese flatbread typically eaten at breakfast. Thin disks of dough are baked to order and topped six ways (eight if you count halvah and Nutella for dessert). The simplest is drizzled with olive oil and za’atar. After a quick puffing up in the oven, the za’atar-slicked dough is folded in half like a piadina sandwich and served piping hot on a piece of parchment paper. The result is soft and tender and slightly chewy, with a hint of crispness and a toasty, herby fragrance that won’t quit. For something a little more substantial, you can get your manousheh topped with za’atar and jibneh, a soft white cheese, or a veritable salad of avocado, tomato, cucumber, mint, and za’atar all rolled up like a newspaper. A thinner cracker-crisp version served flat comes lightly spread with a paste of ground beef, tomato, and onion, not unlike the Turkish lahmacun (here it’s called lahem bi ajine). Squeeze a wedge of lemon over it, shake on some aleppo pepper, and you’re pretty much in manousheh heaven.