Kous Kous Cafe

September 2009

A TASTE OF MOROCCO Abdel Khila,
who was born in Morocco, can barely contain
his excitement about food. Whether
it’s traditional couscous dishes or the hearty
tajine stews from his childhood, he nearly
bubbles over while describing the food he’s
bringing to Washington Road this month.
His restaurant, Kous Kous, may be small,
with seating for about 20, but is huge on
taste, featuring authentic Moroccan and
French food. Located at 665 Washington
Road, in the space formerly occupied by
Enrico’s, Kous Kous features a bevy of authentic
Moroccan art, including tiles, dishware,
lamps and pendants.
Khila, who has an amazing kitchen pedigree,
says food is everything in Morocco.
Having someone as a guest in your home
for dinner is the ultimate way to show
appreciation and affection. People would
even borrow money to afford to purchase
quality ingredients, he says. He learned to
cook from many members of his family, including
his father, who is “a great chef.”
He moved to the United States in 1997
and worked at Walt Disney World for two
years, followed by a move to Pittsburgh and
stints in the chef’s hat at Casbah, LaForet,
Baum Vivant and Café Zinho. Three years
ago, he grew tired of the restaurant scene
and decided to capitalize on his extensive
knowledge of languages—he speaks English,
French, Arabic, Spanish, Moroccan
and Czech. He earned a master’s degree and
became a French and Arabic teacher at Upper
St. Clair High School.
But his love for food couldn’t be quieted.
“I’m not going to wait until I’m 70 years old
to do this,” he thought of opening his own
place. He considered storefronts in Squirrel
Hill or Mt. Lebanon. On his morning
commute to St. Clair from Beechview, he
decided Washington Road was for him.
He took a one-year leave of absence from
school and signed up to be owner and head
chef.
The food is fresh, using local ingredients
Khila purchases himself. “We’re planning
on the authentic.” Savory crepes will
be fresh off the grill just like in France and
experimentation and adventure will be
key. The menu, which also includes soups,
quiches and desserts, is small and takeout is
available. Kous Kous is BYOB.
Reprinted with permission from
mtl, Mt. Lebanon magazine

December 9, 2009

Kous Kous brings traditional Moroccan cuisine to Mt. Lebanon

Pittsburgh now has its first authentic Moroccan restaurant.

Kous Kous Cafe opened a couple weeks ago at 665 Washington Rd., Mt. Lebanon in the former space of Enrico Biscotti. The 500-square-foot, 28-seat eatery is helmed by Abdel Khila, a Morocco native who's been chefing in Pittsburgh for about a decade, at such venerated spots as Shadyside's go-to BYOB Cafe Zinho and the now-defunct Baum Vivant and La Foret.

A few years ago, Khila decided to get out of food, got his master's degree in education, and became a foreign language teacher in Upper St. Clair, not far from where he lives with his wife and two young children in Beechview. He's taking a break from teaching to open Kous Kous, but says he hopes to get back to his high school Arabic students after the restaurant gets on its feet. The students actually helped shaped Kous Kous Cafe's menu: Their favorite roasted vegetable hummus (thick and creamy with an earthy tang) made the cut even though Khila acknowledges that hummus is not a traditional Moroccan food.

The rest of the menu is pretty classic French-influenced Moroccan, from mint tea to start to creme brulee to save room for. A sweetly spicy eggplant "ratatouille" dip; whole grilled fresh sardines; vegetarian couscous served with homey chunks of seasonal squash and chargrilled peppers and carrots; sandwiches on house-made flatbread; briny green olives; braised beef in plum sauce with whole roasted almonds; a tagine of flaky, chermoula-marinated skate wings and saffron rice. Proteins are glass-fed and free-range, and the produce is as fresh and whenever possible, local. The flavors are complex and a lot more muted than anticipated for those who are used to Americanized Moroccan cooking that goes heavy on the cinnamon and tongue-singeing spice.

Khila spent five months renovating the space himself, and transformed the former bakery into what feels like a genuine (classy) hole-in-the-wall in Casablanca. Most of the decor, including the tiles and lanterns are imported, and Khila's brother created the paintings, whose rich cultural vibrancy mirrors Kous Kous' gorgeously plated flavors.

Writer: Caralyn Green
Source: Abdel Khila, Kous Kous Cafe

January 14, 2010

Patrons take in the flavors at Kous Kous Cafe in Mt. Lebanon.
Photo by JUSTIN MERRIMAN | TRIBUNE-REVIEW

A THOUSAND YEARS OF SPICES

Waves of Moroccan flavor make Kous Kous Cafe a tasty treat for diners

BACKGROUND
Like many chefs, Abdel Khila has long dreamed of owning his own restaurant.
A native of Morocco, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management, Khila tried to ignore his dream while he worked as head chef for Cafe Zinho, chef at La Foret and Bon Vivant and a teacher of Arabic and French at Upper St. Clair High School.
“But the dream didn’t go away,” he says.
Last summer, he decided it was now or never. He took a leave of absence from his teaching job and started actively scouting possible locations.
He settled on Mt. Lebanon because it had an active business district and a diverse population. “I thought a Moroccan restaurant could be a good addition to the district,” he says.
Kous Kous Cafe opened for business on Nov. 27 and features the sort of comfort foods his mom served back home.
The 28-seat restaurant occupies the tiny, narrow space that formerly housed a branch of the Enrico Biscotti Co.
“I’m not into this to make a million dollars,” Khila says. “I wanted to share some of my culture.”

ATMOSPHERE
Kous Kous Cafe packs a lot of Moroccan decor into a tiny space. Filigreed lamps with colored glass panels hang from the ceiling. The walls are adorned with squares of colorful glazed tiles and an assortment of equally colorful paintings.
As the meal progresses, the otherwise-bare tabletops become covered with metal teapots, woven breadbaskets and the ornately decorated serving dishes called tagines.
With barely room for 30 diners, the restaurant fills up fast with couples and a few larger groups, all of whom appear to be out for an evening of socializing. Tables are close together, making it heaven for eavesdroppers but less pleasant for those hoping for a quiet dinner of whispered intimacies.
The entrance door opens directly into the narrow restaurant and brings a strong draft of cold air that, on a frigid evening, penetrates to the farthest table.
The two-person waitstaff is welcoming, friendly and knowledgeable, bustling between tables and the open kitchen, answering questions and bringing additional baskets of the warm, moist Moroccan bread.

MENU
Like many Mediterranean rim cuisines, Moroccan food is a pleasant blend of North African, Arabic and European cooking traditions.
“People think it’s Middle Eastern cuisine. But it’s not,” Khila says. “We share a language and a culture but not the food.”
Located on the northwest tip of Africa and directly across the easily crossed Straits of Gibraltar from Spain, Morocco has experienced waves of French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arab and Jewish settlers and invaders, each of whom left their marks on the cuisine.
“We’ve had thousands of years of influence,” Khila says. “We’ve been invaded and conquered by every civilization out there.”
When possible, Khila prefers to buy locally grown produce and meats. He buys grass-fed beef from an Amish farmer and free-range chickens from
Entrees at Kous Kous are prepared after they are ordered.
That could mean a wait of as long as 20 minutes for your food to arrive. The good thing is that some accommodation can be made for spiciness preferences and the substitution for some ingredients. While you wait, you could enjoy a cup of the Harira soup ($4.95 bowl, $2.95 cup), or you may want to bring a bottle of wine to sip with appetizers such as the Moroccan Platter ($8.50), a sampler of the ratatouille-like Eggplant Zaalouk, roasted peppers and tomatoes in olive oil and hummus served with pita wedges.
Mint tea ($3 for a small pot) makes an excellent and fragrant handwarmer on a cold night. It’s a nice companion to the Moroccan Bastilla ($9.50) appetizer, which turned out to be a large round of phyllo-like pastry encasing a cinnamon-scented mixture of ground chicken, raisins, crunchy almonds and bits of egg covered with a cream sauce. Hot out of the oven, the bottom was solidly blackened, which made it difficult to divide, but a warm and just-right comfort food.
We’re looking forward to a return visit to indulge in either the Moroccan Roasted Tak- Tooka ($7.50), a generous serving of shiny red peppers, tomatoes and ripe olives roasted in oil, garlic and spices, or the Moroccan Eggplant Zaalouk ($5.95), an attractive pile of roasted eggplant and other vegetables similar to the French ratatouille. Both come with an abundance of pita chips.
Given the restaurant’s name, it seemed foolhardy not to try the couscous.
Couscous Tfaya ($22.95) did not disappoint. Steamy lamb stew mixed with onions, raisins and almonds offered a subtle mixture of sweet and hearty pleasures atop a mound of the softly steamed signature grain and accompanied by mild, cream-colored Tfaya sauce. The lamb was a bit fatty, but moist and tender.
Lemon Salmon in Sharmoula ($18.95) was presented straight from the oven in a tagine—the traditional round, glazed terra-cotta dish with the smokestack lid from which wafted appetizing aromas. Lifting the lid, we discovered a generous piece of salmon surrounded by wheels of grilled zucchini and eggplant and saffron-colored rice.
The salmon was slightly overcooked and the two thin slices of lemon hidden beneath it failed to deliver the promised punch. But the vegetables were nicely cooked and browned.
The influence of French occupation comes through on the dessert menu, which offers both Chocolate Mousse and Creme Brulee ($4.50 for either). We figured we could get those at lots of restaurants but were unlikely to get Moroccan Cookies ($4.50 for 3) anywhere else.
The trio was uniformly dense, chewy and moist with hints of Moroccan spices and — in one case — flakes of coconut.
This tiny restaurant has already proven popular with diners and tends to fill up fast, especially on weekend evenings. To avoid disappointment, call ahead for a reservation or check the restaurant’s Web site and order takeout.

— Alice T. Carter

KOUS KOUS CAFE
Cuisine: Moroccan
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays; 5:30-10 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays
Entree price range: Lunch $8.95-$11.95, dinner $15.95- $22.95
Notes: Daily specials. Reservations for 5 or more people accepted; BYOB policy with $5 corkage fee; most credit cards accepted but not American Express. Handicap-accessible. Highchairs. Trans-fat-free oils. Takeout orders accepted.
Location: 665 Washington Blvd., Mt. Lebanon
Details: 412-563-5687 or www.kouskouscafe.com

 

January 31, 2010

Chef and owner Abdel Khila of Kous Kous Cafe in Mt. Lebanon was born in Morocco and was taught to cook by his mother.

Red Snapper with Moroccan Sharmoula Marinade is cooked in and served from a tagine at Kous Kous Cafe in Mt. Lebanon.
PHOTOS: PHILIP G. PAVELY | TRIBUNE-REVIEW

TEACHER KNOWS BEST

Moroccan native duplicates the food back home for his cafe

BY PAM STARR FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Abdel Khila, the owner of Kous Kous Cafe in Mt. Lebanon, says Moroccan food is culled from “generations of creativity.”
“We have a lot of influences from all over,” says Khila, 34, who lives in Beechview with his wife, Lida, and their two children. “Moroccan food uses a lot of spices, but not a lot of hot flavor. It’s extremely unique.”
The same can be said about Khila, who was born in Marrakesh, Morocco, and received a degree in hotel and restaurant management before coming to America. His mother, Habiba Echargi, taught him how to cook at an early age even though cooking is considered a woman’s domain in Moroccan culture.
“Most guys in Morocco are not interested in cooking because women do it,” he says. “One of the prized qualities in a woman in Morocco is knowing how to cook.”
Khila, who stands an imposing 6 foot, 8 inches, worked for Disney in Florida before moving to Pittsburgh 13 years ago. He was the head chef at Cafe Zinho and worked at La Foret and Baum Vivant.
“In 2005, I had enough of working for others,” Khila says. “I taught French and Arabic at Upper St. Clair High School, but once you have the passion for cooking, it doesn’t go away easily. I took a one-year leave of absence last year to open Kous Kous.
“I love teaching, but this was always the plan—to open my own business.”
The lack of authentic Moroccan cuisine in Pittsburgh gave Khila the push to create Kous Kous Cafe, which opened in November. Large, colorful squares of mosaic tiles hang on the mustard-yellow walls, and the 28 tables are jammed together in a narrow space.
“Moroccan cuisine in general is not very common,” Khila says. “I was disappointed in the Moroccan restaurants I ate at in Atlanta and Florida. It really was not authentic Moroccan food, and it gave a bad name to Moroccan culture. I wanted to share my cultural background. I try to duplicate the food back home with dishes that I grew up with.”
His menu, which his mom helped formulate, is a little intimidating for those diners who have no knowledge of Moroccan cuisine. Khila serves Harira, the national soup of Morocco, which is made with lamb, chickpeas, lentils and noodles. His appetizers include roasted vegetable hummus, eggplant ratatouille and roasted pepper Tak-Tooka. He has a few sandwiches, but focuses on entrees such as several kinds of couscouses, braised beef with whole plums, lemony salmon in a sharmoula marinade and grilled fresh sardines. Many of his dishes are cooked in tagines and served right from the tagines at the tables.
“I use only local, grass-fed lamb and beef, and free-range chicken from an Amish farmer,” Khila says. “All of our spices are imported from Morocco and ground here. We get our seafood from Restaurant Depot. Everything is prepared fresh when it’s ordered.”
His wife, Lida, who hails from the Czech Republic and is 6 feet tall, says she never tried Moroccan cuisine until she met her husband in Orlando, Fla. They’ve been married for 10 years.
“I love it,” she says.
Lida helps Khila in the restaurant as much as she can, while taking care of Maria, 2, and Adam, who is 9 months.
“Our weekends are very busy,” she says. “We turn the tables two or three times.”
Khila is the only chef at Kous Kous Cafe, which suits him just fine. His mother is visiting from Morocco for two months and loves helping her son in the kitchen.
“Moroccan food is one of the best cuisines in the world,” he says. “Cooking is not very complicated. If you have good ingredients, it’ll be fine.”

Red Snapper with Moroccan Sharmoula Marinade:

Abdel Khila, the owner of Kous Kous Cafe in Mt. Lebanon, chose to share his popular Red Snapper with Moroccan Sharmoula Marinade with Cooking Class.
It’s a summer dish, he says, but can be used any time.
Layering the ingredients blends all the flavors as they cook, making for a delicious casserole-type of meal. Freshly brewed mint tea would be ideal to serve with this dish.

For the sharmoula marinade:
4 cloves garlic
Pinch of salt
Small bunch cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon paprika
‰ teaspoon cumin
1 pinch crushed red pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon tomato paste

For the fish and vegetables:
Medium-size red snapper, gutted
whole (substitute swordfish or salmon, if desired)
1 tomato, sliced
1 carrot, blanched and sliced
1 potato, sliced
1 sweet green bell pepper, sliced
1 sweet red bell pepper, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
Chopped parsley, for garnish
Chopped cilantro, for garnish

To prepare the marinade:
In a mortar, food processor or blender, grind the garlic, salt and chopped cilantro.
Place the mixture in a bowl and add the rest of the spices, lemon juice (see Photo 1), oil and tomato paste.
Mix well, using a whisk or wooden spoon.
To prepare the fish and vegetables:
Cut the fish into 4 pieces. Marinate the fish (Photo 2) and vegetables in the sharmoula marinade for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Layer the tomato slices in a tagine or baking pan and add, layering in order, the carrots, the snapper, the potato slices, the peppers and the sliced lemon.
Cook on a burner on medium heat, or in a 400-degree oven, until the vegetables and fish are cooked through, for 20 to 25 minutes.
Top with chopped parsley and cilantro and serve with Moroccan flatbread.
Makes 2 servings.

 

January 17, 2010

Harira: a taste of Morocco right here

Photos by Michael Henninger/Post-Gazette
A bowl of soup, which he says is the national dish of Morocco. His mother says the name of the soup comes from the word for silk, as the soup is supposed to be just as smooth and light as the fabric.

The menu at Kous Kous Cafe calls it "the staple Moroccan soup," but it's so much more than that, as apple pie to America is more than just a pastry.

"It's the national soup," says Abdel Khila, who grew up eating it in Morocco and had to have it at the restaurant he opened in Mt. Lebanon at the end of November.

My first taste of harira there, on a snowy December Saturday, was an epiphany beyond the described ingredients of chick peas, lentils, pasta and lamb.

I tasted the tomatoes ... definitely ginger ... and cilantro? that gave this creamy yellow soup a brightness of flavor and color that were extraordinary.

I had to make it myself.

At home that afternoon, I was surprised to find harira in several cookbooks, though the recipes varied widely. They also do online, where many call it "the best soup in the world."

So began my research on harira, which is most famously made and consumed in Morocco during Ramadan, the holy month when Muslims fast during daylight. After sunset, they eat harira, night after night.

I learned the most about this dish this week sitting down with Chef Khila and his mother, Habiba Echargi, who is visiting from Morocco.

Of course it's her recipe that is served at the restaurant.

She informed us both -- in Arabic, with him translating -- that the name of the soup comes from the word for silk, as it's supposed to be as smooth and light.

Especially in hers and previous generations, a Moroccan woman had to know how to make it well (as well as other classic dishes such as couscous). While families might make harira their own way -- chicken instead of lamb, or rice instead of pasta -- Chef Khila says it should always have tomatoes, lentils, chick peas (dried, not canned), cilantro, and a less-dear type of saffron for color. His version has just a little lamb, for flavor, and his mom adds flour to thicken it up. At home she might add other ingredients such as an indigenous clarified butter.

"There is an extremely important ingredient that most Americans aren't familiar with," he says. It's a type of celery you can find here in Asian markets as "Chinese celery" -- a thinner-stemmed version more like an herb than a vegetable.

I showed him the two recipes I've tried -- one vegetarian and one very meaty, neither of which contains any celery.

He dismissed them both as not authentic, and the veg version as "too creative." He smiles: "We don't use cannellini beans!"

But Mr. Khila is a purist, who orders his spices from his native country and himself grinds his dried ginger for the soup.

A father of two who lives in Beechview, he's currently on leave as a (very popular) language teacher at Upper St. Clair High School. He loves that job, but felt destined to open his own restaurant having worked in several around Pittsburgh, including Cafe Zinho, where he made harira as a special. (He moved to the states 13 years ago to work at Disney World in Orlando.)

I'm looking forward to going back to the drawing board and trying to cook up a harira more like his and his mom's.

Meanwhile, I'm happy I can buy harira at Kous Kous -- for $2.95 a cup or $4.95 bowl, maybe with some of the house flat bread (the round loaves of which they plan to sell separately soon).

There isn't much Moroccan food to be found around Pittsburgh, but I found another place that sometimes has harira: K&T's Fish & Chicken, on Centre Avenue in Oakland, where the soup of "tomatoes, chick peas, onions and Moroccan spices" is $3.75. I can't wait to try it. (K&T's also has some Moroccan tagines and couscous specials.)

However authentic they may be, the two soups I made were both very flavorful, and did give me an idea for how creative and versatile harira can be.

The veggie one was so spicy that I cut it with the leftover meaty version, creating another very delicious winter soup.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harira (spicy bean soup)

PG tested

During Ramadan, "there are lots of substantial vegetarian dishes, such as this bean soup, that are sold at the food stalls and in the night markets after the sun has set," writes author Tom Kine.

He notes that you can use any combination of dried legumes and different spices in this soup, the flavors of which improve the next day. This recipe is really spicy. I wound up wishing I'd heeded the first part of his suggestion: "Serve with a spoon of cooling yogurt in the center of each bowl and lots of fresh crusty bread."

-- Bob Batz Jr.

•1/2 cup dried chickpeas
•1/2 cup dried cannellini beans or fava beans or butter beans
•1/2 cup dried split green peas
•1 teaspoon baking soda
•1 tablespoon coriander seeds
•1 tablespoon cumin seeds
•2 small dried chilies
•1 teaspoon ground cloves
•1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
•2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
•3 garlic cloves
•Oil for cooking
•1 cinnamon stick
•3 onions, finely chopped
•8 ripe tomatoes, coarsely grated
•1/2 cup red or yellow lentils, picked and rinsed
•Juice of 1 lemon plus a little extra to finish
•1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro, leaves coarsely chopped
•Salt and fresh ground black pepper

Soak the chickpeas and cannellini beans overnight in plenty of cold water. The split green peas need only be soaked for 2 hours. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and beans. Put in a large pan, cover with lots of cold water, and add the baking soda. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 40 to 60 minutes until the beans are cooked, but not mushy. As they are simmering, skim off any scum that rises to the top. Drain and rinse.

Meanwhile, using a pestle and mortar, grind the coriander seeds, cumin seeds and dried chilies into a fine powder. Add the cloves, cayenne pepper, ginger, and garlic, and work into a paste. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add the spice mixture and cinnamon stick. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onion and cook for about 10 minutes until the onion starts to brown. Add the tomato pulp; cook until any excess liquid has evaporated. Rinse the split green peas, mix into the tomato mixture with the lentils. Next add 7 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the rinsed chickpeas and beans. Mix together. Season well and add the lemon juice. Add half the cilantro. Let the soup sit off the heat for 5 minutes, then check the seasoning.

To serve, garnish with the remaining cilantro and a little extra squeeze of lemon juice.

Harira

PG tested

This is a very meaty, very easy, and very tasty, version of the Moroccan soup. It's also very customizable; I used lamb precut for kabobs and some smoked Spanish paprika as well.

-- Bob Batz Jr.

•1 pound, 2 ounces lamb shoulder steaks
•2 tablespoons olive oil
•2 small onions, chopped
•2 large garlic cloves, crushed
•1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
•2 teaspoons hot Spanish paprika
•1 bay leaf
•2 tablespoons tomato paste
•4 cups beef stock
•2 10 1/2-ounce cans chickpeas
•2 14-ounce cans chopped tomatoes
•2 large handfuls cilantro leaves, finely chopped, plus extra to garnish
•2 large handfuls Italian parsley, finely chopped

Trim the lamb steaks of excess fat and sinew. Cut the lamb into small chunks. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the onion and garlic, and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft. Add the meat, increase the heat to medium, and stir until the meat changes color.

Add the cumin, paprika, and bay leaf to the pan and cook until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the beef stock to the pan, stir well, and bring to a boil.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add to the pan, along with the tomatoes, chopped cilantro, and parsley. Stir, then bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 hours, or until the meat is tender. Stir occasionally. Season, to taste. Garnish with the extra cilantro and serve with flatbread.

 

 

March 11, 2010

Moroccan Magic: Former Teacher transforms Kous Kous Cafe in Mt.Lebanon into a delicious destination

Photo by Michael Henninger/Post-Gazette
Couscous tfaya, a lamb dish, is on the menu at Kous Kous Cafe in Mt. Lebanon

May 19, 2010

Dining Review

Photo by Heather Mull
Roasted salmon with couscous and vegetables

Location: 665 Washington Road, Mount Lebanon. 412-563-5687. www.kouskouscafe.com
Hours: Tue.-Sat. lunch 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.: dinner 5:30-10 p.m.
Prices: Soups, salads and starters: $3-9; entrees: $16-23
Fare: Moroccan
Atmosphere: Intricately intimate
Liquor: BYOB

First of all, the name of this eatery is fun to say. Second, the venue is a jewel box of a restaurant, the kind that takes your senses on an hour-long vacation to the country whose cuisine it serves. Which, third of all, is Moroccan. Owner and chef Abdel Khila has created not just an ethnic restaurant, but an excellent restaurant that specializes in northern African cuisine.

Morocco is a true cultural crossroads, its distinctive culture inflected by European, Mediterranean and subcontinental traditions. So while there may be hummus, couscous and lamb on the menu, there are also western Mediterranean staples such as sardines, ratatouille and duck.

The dinner menu mostly eschews clichés like kebab and falafel (there's one kebab on each of the lunch and dinner menus), instead offering sophisticated preparations such as lamb osso bucco and salmon in sharmoula. The effect isn't quite fusion -- presumably proximity, trade and colonialism have all influenced Moroccan cuisine -- but it certainly feels like fine dining.

The space itself is tiny, with mirrors on one wall reflecting the sparkling decor on the other: colored glass lanterns, wall panels of exquisite geometrical tile, a wooden frieze painted with an arch motif, and distinctive paintings that show individual vision, not just cultural clichés. The effect is so pretty, you might not mind how tightly packed the 28 seats are -- to one another, and to the open kitchen in the rear.

Our small table struggled to hold the many starters we couldn't resist. After a basket of wonderful crusty, chewy bread, we relished a perfectly composed spinach salad, punctuated with the usual strawberries, gorgonzola and candied walnuts. But the dish was made truly brilliant with hot-off-the-grill white asparagus, providing a not-quite-savory counterpoint to the other, slightly sweet ingredients. A cup of harira, "the staple Moroccan soup," was a revelation. Poised somewhere between a meat stew and lentil soup, the harira was richly flavored with lamb and pureed lentils, hearty but not quite thick. This is a recipe we can definitely envision enlivening the home-cooking rotation.

The Moroccan platter featured a triple play of a by-the-book hummus, eggplant zaalouk (similar to ratatouille) and tak-tooka, a roasted-pepper relish. The platter was served with not enough crisp toasted pita chips. But we loved the vegetal focus of the earthy zaalouk and the garlicky-sweet tak-tooka, as well as the small green salad served alongside. Combined with a little cheese and a stack of pitas, this platter would make for a great sandwich board.

Our final starter was a dish that's ubiquitous on the Mediterranean coast, yet so rare as to be a delicacy here: grilled sardines -- large, fresh ones, not the little things unpacked from a can. The fish were served whole with a bit of char from the grill still clinging to their skins, succulent meat within, and just enough fresh, bright flavor added by the lemon brown-butter and rosemary-caper sauce. The large capers were a nice touch, but we could have used more than one grilled slice of lemon for three whole fish.

The menu promises "crispy oven-roasted duck" for the duck in apricots, and the kitchen delivered. Jason was impressed by how the skin held up beneath a thick, pureed sauce of apricots and onions. Two whole legs were beautifully cooked, and the onion cut the fruity sweetness of the apricots without adding sharpness.

Angelique's couscous tfaya played a similar theme. In this dish, a leg of lamb so tender the meat practically gamboled off the bone was served in a sweet-spicy sauce studded with caramelized onions, plump and juicy golden raisins, and whole roasted almonds, accompanied by couscous. Notes of clove and nutmeg danced with more piquant seasonings and the sweetness of fruit and sugar in this excellent dish.

We were disappointed only with the cooked -- or, more accurately, undercooked -- vegetables that came with both our dinners. Primarily gourds and tubers cut in large chunks, they were beyond firm, and one piece of potato was effectively raw. It was an odd misstep from an otherwise confident kitchen.

But don't let this keep you from Kous Kous Café. We're already planning to go back to partake of the "café" aspect of this fine establishment, which features beverages such as French-press coffee and Moroccan mint tea. For lunch, dinner or an out-of-the-ordinary café break, Kous Kous welcomes you with the delicious flavors and gorgeous colors of Morocco.