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Taste and Beauty at The Phoenician

For decades it seemed that Richmond restaurants had two styles of décor: Fan "chic" and understated upscale. Two steps inside any restaurant and you knew what you were in for. Linen tablecloths meant pricey Continental cuisine; aging booths and overcrowded wall art meant burgers and bar food.

Thankfully, Richmond's dining scene has changed a lot in recent years. It's become more creative and adventurous in both its cuisine and décor.

Restaurateurs have finally gotten the message that Richmonders want more than just great food when they dine out. They want an experience. And the decoration and ambiance of a restaurant are an essential part of that experience.

So when word got out that La Casita owner Naji Kadi was converting his West Broad Street Mexican spot into a Lebanese restaurant, foodies were excited about the addition of Middle Eastern flavor to Richmond dining, but curious to see if the "casita" could be transformed.

The Phoenician has been open just more than two months now, but the verdict was in almost immediately. In place of the bold colors and fiesta feel of La Casita is a true Middle Eastern dining oasis unlike anything else in Richmond.

The impact of the revamped interior is felt as soon as you walk through the door: swaths of silken fabric in reds and golds billow over the ceiling, Moroccan lanterns glow throughout the warm, the crimson dining room, Arabic music hums over the sound system and two banquettes, one in a private dining room and the other in the waiting area, are covered in so many rich fabrics, pillows and cushions that you want to sink down into them and never get up.

The overall impression is a simple, resounding, "Wow."

But décor will only get you so far with fickle Richmond diners and The Phoenician has the substance to back up the beauty.

As a Mediterranean country, much of Lebanese food is recognizable to diners who may be skeptical about venturing into the category of Middle Eastern food. Humus, falafel, kabobs, grape leaves and baba ghannouge are all on the menu, as are, perhaps less familiar, Lebanese salads, tabouli and fettoosh, and shawarma (like a gyro, though chicken or beef, served as a sandwich at lunch and entrée at dinner).

The dinner menu is simple, but affordable: six versions of kabobs, two of shawarma and one lamb chop, with most entrees around $16. But with three pages of exotic, familiar and delicious sounding dishes, the appetizer menu is where all the action is: soujok (mildly hot sausages), makanek (spiced sausages), haloumi (grilled cheese), musaka, fatayer, hummus and falafel, all for around $5 or $6 each. And it all builds up to the mezza.

Mezza is Lebanon's version of tapas, a platter of finger food that's meant to share. At The Phoenician it's $49 and comes with hummus, baba ghannouge, falafel, fatayer (baked pastries filled with ground beef, onions, tomatoes and pine nuts), grape leaves, kebbe (seasoned ground beef and crushed wheat shells), tabouli, shankleesh (aged cheese), haloumi, makanek and loubie bi-zeit (stewed green beans).

Mezza is meant to be enjoyed with alcohol and The Phoenician has a decent wine list ($19 to $62) for pairing. There are plenty of Lebanese wines, available by the glass or bottle, and most of the list is reasonably priced in the $20 to $30 range.

The Phoenician's mezza can feed an army; we learned when we ordered it. Thankfully, our attentive, knowledge waiter steered up toward the mini-mezza. It's not on the menu, but at $25 it's half the price for half the serving of the same spread of food.

Some dishes were a hit, the hummus was garlicky and delicious, the tabouli was fresh and finely chopped and blended, as it should be, the makanek was nicely spiced and the baba ghannouge was the best I'd ever had. Others, like the falafel and the fatayer, were a little over-cooked. But for a restaurant that's still getting its legs, and a staff that had so little time to transition from Mexican to Lebanese that they're still slipping into Spanish, a few less than stellar dishes is worth over-looking. Especially in the face of so much beauty.