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Restaurant Review: Aziza Is as Good as Advertised By James Ho My wife and I were excited to try out Aziza as it was listed in the Top 100 restaurants in the Bay Area by the Chronicle, and its chef, Mourad Lahlou, is heralded as über-dedicated to the quality of the ingredients and the marriage of their tastes in the dishes he creates. We were also particularly amused by two lines in his bio: “…after receiving his master’s degree in economics… Lahlou had intended to continue his work towards a Ph.D. However, recognizing his potential … was not to be taken lightly, Lahlou postponed his academic career.” Famous Ph.D. dropouts litter Silicon Valley, but what about in the restaurant arena? Should he have quit his day job? The answer is a resounding yes. Aziza is listed as Moroccan cuisine. For those of you unfamiliar with what that entails, it is a mixture of Middle Eastern, Arabic, African and Jewish cuisines. Wikipedia calls it one of the most diversified cuisines in the world. There are certainly some “traditional” Moroccan dishes such as an appetizer of Mediterranean flatbread with spreads of spicy eggplant, almond-pomegranate, and yogurt/cucumber/dill ($9), or wild mushrooms (shiitake and oyster) in phyllo w/cheese ($10) that are done solidly and leaving you excited for the main entrée. But Lahlou also takes Aziza beyond Moroccan and into Californian, creating wonderful seafood dishes such as seared Hokkaido sea scallops with saffron risotto and a beet reduction ($23), and the signature couscous aziza ($20), with handmade couscous served with grilled chicken, prawns, stewed lamb and spicy lamb sausage. Going to a restaurant is sometimes more than just about the food. The noise, lighting, service attentiveness all factor into the enjoyment of a “night on the town.” At Aziza, the ambience is gratifyingly low key. We were seated on lush, plump velvet couches in a cozy room that could have been found in a Moroccan manse, and dined in candlelight without being oppressively dark. In the neighboring room, the livelier bar area could be heard (they supposedly serve some of the best cocktails in the city), but its strategic placement on the far side of restaurant minimized the din and was not an issue. In fact, the soft, soothing music in our room could be heard quite clearly. Although the ambience was casual, the service was impeccable, and attention to even the dining ware (hot water is served in a stylish clear glass kettle) reflects the passion of the chef for the careful presentation of everything as he desires. Our food was served quickly and at the right temperature: certainly not too cold, and not too hot as to ruin the sensation of the first bite. Although I did not try the wine or cocktail list, their selection of beers is wide ranged and well-informed. For lightweight drinkers, I admonish you to pay attention to bottle sizes, as they are quite large. For those designated drivers, they have a fine selection of teas as well. Dessert is not something we typically order, but we were so impressed with the quality of the appetizers and main entrees, we decided to go for it. The caramel apple parfait ($9.50) was simply a delight to consume: the cinnamon streusel, thick as breakfast granola, is layered expertly within a mound of vanilla crème custard over a bed of shortcake. Considering the many excellent choices available to gourmets, one may opt to go for the Aziza tasting menu, which is $49 per guest for five courses. Unfortunately, the entire table must select this option. For us, that was a little pricy for a first visit, but we may consider this on our return trip, which we will most certainly make happen. For dinners, drinks, or dates, Aziza is a fine restaurant selection. James Ho is a second-year medical student.
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