Friends and Family rest review

Put A Fork In It
“Friends and Family”
By Wally Nichols
Jan 6, 2010
Friends and Family Restaurant’s well chosen name immediately makes sense when you walk in and see the warm, homey stylings. It is cozy, yet the lofty ceilings create an uncrowded feel in the ample dining areas. I love places that are able to do this so well. Part of the familiar intimacy of the restaurant (besides the Christmas tree with presents under it for MEEEEEEE!?) is the rich, dark wood detail which feels nicely elite and mountain-lodgey. While many hauling around the big rt 209 speedway bend entering Accord are familiar with the location’s longtime existence as a restaurant, it’s only in the last six years that the cuisine has been kicked up to what I am comfortable classifying as truly elegant in a clean, multi-continental way.
Well you can’t put catsup on a description like that so what then does this mean? I’ll explain by way of the chef’s story, which always is a critical, if not fascinating component of an establishment’s success: Salah Alygad (who is also a part owner along with house front tender and co-owners Denise McCarroll and daughter Brianne) started his culinary journey in Egypt clinging to grandma’s skirt and fetching cocoa for her from the coffee shop as the secret, unlikely, ingredient for her oxtail soup. Later, in America, he worked up the ranks to cook for the United Nations. This has to be one of the most educational experiences for any chef anywhere. The obviously culinary cultural experiences aside, imagine the tips, tricks and techniques that are gathered and shared and perfected and reassembled by everyone fortunate enough to be in such a renowned international kitchen, so to speak.
So fast forward to now when Salah opens his third restaurant and finds in the town of Accord, kind, curious people who welcome the business with open arms. Denise and Salah almost burst with pride when they tell me that now 90% of their customers are weekly regulars-- locals and city folk alike. So regular in fact that they frequently come in through the kitchen door just to make sure they can say hi to the small team working so hard. Like it says, friends and family.
Salah plates a seafood bouillabaisse ($29) and sets the dish down on the bar for me. He stands back and smiles and it’s clear this is a passionate man. It is a masterful creation of mussels, shrimp , lobster and scallops steeped in a garlic, saffron broth that just screams of old world authenticity. You can almost hear the fishing punts creaking in the surf. It’s one of his favorites and it seems a shame to deconstruct it with my fork. Denise warns me, “He cooks with a lot of wine…a lot!” The dish is superb and he tells me that he must travel far to get the kind of seafood he demands for his restaurant. He leans in and tells me that the food vendors know he’s a real pain in the you-know-where. But that’s what we want in a chef, right?
The selected produce is all local and seasonal. Gill’s farm stand, right up the road, is a regular summer destination as they sift through the bins and winnow down the choices to the truly pristine farm offerings.
The handwritten specials are where Salah’s international gravitas shines. There are usually four and they change every week as he draws inspiration and daring from the depths of his life experience as well as welcome suggestions from customers. Macadamia nut encrusted goat cheese with port wine poached figs ($8). Chicken Schnitzel with Spatzel ($21)
The printed menu stays mostly the same because so many of the options are best sellers on their way to becoming area classics. I’m routinely smitten with the penne pasta in a light vodka sauce ($13) and French onion soup ($5). My wife likes the grilled salmon fillet with citrus tarragon butter sauce ($19). Even the kid’s sesame chicken fingers and steamed broccoli ($9) is innovative.
I take aside one of the wait staff and quietly ask her what’s best. She tells me the lamb is not to be missed- her favorite hands down. “He cooks red meat so perfectly,” she confesses dreamily. (A note on the wait staff- they are exceptionally tuned in, professional and attentive- like best around-- is it the lamb they feed them? Hmmmmm.)
“What did your grandma teach you as a kid, besides how to pinch cocoa and skirts?” I ask Salah.
“She said ‘the eye eats before the stomach,” he answers solidly. Now, one thing I notice every time is that the presentation here is consistently artful. Even the steak fries that come with the grilled vegetable sandwich are stacked like a Japanese steam house. (The open-faced veggie sandwich has a delicate veneer of cheese that coats perfectly grilled portabellas, asparagus, red peppers, eggplant all coquettishly laid upon a willing mattress of wholegrain bread. ($10).
I’ve got a lot more to say about this excellent place but I’m running out of space. As if running a top notch restaurant 6 nights a week wasn’t hard enough for just 3 folks, they try to blunt our dreary, extruded winters by having special theme nights once a month. Coming up on Jan 21 at 7pm is French ethnic buffet (about $35). Holy Jumping Frog Legs! (In butter and garlic!).
They will only do one sitting and will only serve a limited number of people on this night. Again I feel the excitement and passion stir deep in Salah and Denise as they describe the treats that await the select few: The centerpiece will be a steamship leg of veal roasted and presented at a carving table. The bouillabaisse will make a showing in a mammoth vessel and there will be lobster soufflé to name a few dishes.
Then in February there will be an Italian buffet. In March, an expansive, Moroccan-flared banquet will be fleshed out with live belly dancer.
It’s passion for food and for the dining experience that drives Friends and Family to work so hard and produce so well. Swing by and see for yourself. The kitchen entrance is in the back!

(845) 626-7777
4809 Rt 209
Accord NY
http://www.friendsandfamily2.com