Falafels

The best falafel I've found in Washington is at the Ali Baba's Falafel stand in Bethesda, on the corner of the Women's Cooperative Market. The owner is Egyptian and makes his falafels with fava beans instead of chickpeas. The main thing is that they are fresh, with flavorful spices, fried fresh and accompanied with enough salad and goop to really make a meal (stick with the small size, the big one is too big).

On a second trip, I tried the beef gyro and that was terrific. The beef was marinated, grilled and matching anything from Moby Dick or any of the other gyro purveyors in town.

I'm told there is a great falafel at the place on P Street, at about 22nd, but I haven't gotten down there to try it yet. I'm always searching for a falafel to match my memory of the Sunday falafels on Rue des Rosieres when I lived in Paris. There was one stand in particular that took the little croquettes fresh out of the fryer, still sizzling with grease, and put it in the pita bread with red cabbage and a couple of great sauces. Divine.

Someone who visited Rue des Rosieres recently said it had lost much of its character, which is inevitable, I suppose. And the falafels probably were never as good as they remain in my memory. But I will continue my search.