Meesh Meesh

Something very interesting and delicious is going on at Wiltshire on Market. Chef Noam Bilitzer is producing outstanding Middle Eastern food Thursdays through Sundays under the name Meesh Meesh (Hebrew for apricot). Chef Noam is a graduate of the Proof on Main and Red Hog kitchens. He also took home a win on Chopped in 2018. The food is authentic while being very creative (can you say Nutella Babka?). The entrees are accompanied in the Israeli style with 9 or 10 salatim. Laura and I celebrated our anniversary (yes, 40 years thank you!!) there and were delighted. I had the great luck to eat at Michael Solomonov's "Zahav" in Philadelphia when it first opened in 2008 and before Chef Solomonov won Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic in 2011, Cookbook of the Year in 2016, and Outstanding Chef in 2017 from the James Beard Foundation. IMO Chef Bilitzer can hang with Chef Solomonov. It's a little hard to tell if this is a prolonged pop-up or if the plan is to change Wiltshire entirely. Either way it's a smart move by Susan Hershberg who I think is our city's smartest restauranteur.

[Robin Garr]

Jon, thanks for the report, and by the way ...

Happy anniversary!

Have dined here twice. Both times excellent service, food and cocktails. Well curated wine list too. Food is really good. I guess generically it would be "middle eastern", but I would say more Israeli cuisine. This is high-end cuisine, not a kabob shack (although I like those too). Reminds me a lot of the restaurant Saba in New Orleans. Everything we tried was made from incredible ingredients and had tremendous flavor. Labneh with lava beans, hummus tehine, hummus with lamb, merguez sausage, chicken thigh shawarma. Highly recommend.

Agree with the similarities to Saba and Safta (Alon Shaya's outposts in New Orleans and Denver, respectively). Not quite at Zahav's level but has the potential to get there. Real attention to detail. Would like him to put in a pita oven like Shaya does, but space considerations probably won't allow that. Definitely worth a visit.

https://foodanddine.com/wiltshire-on-ma ... 9-sRCuA5d4

Hershberg owns the more than 3,600 square foot East Market Street building. She said Noam Bilitzer, the former chef at Wiltshire on Market, will lease the space for a new restaurant. The five employees from Wiltshire on Market will continue to work for Bilitzer.

“They’ve been working with Noam, already” Hershberg said. “Basically, I’ve been incubating, cultivating since November. It’s been Noam’s chefs, Noam’s recipes, Noam’s new front of the house management team. All of that, but under Wiltshire’s tutelage, if you will.