Washington Post

Weekly Dish by Tom Sietsema

Wednesday March 2nd, 2005

 

CLUB MED(ITERRANEAN): Just when you think every decent location
downtown has been gobbled up by a Starbucks, a Cosi or a Potbelly,
along comes a place like Couscous Cafe & Catering (1195 20th St. NW;
202-689-1233) to prove you wrong -- and make your lunch hour a little
sunnier. A cup of tomato soup thick with cracked wheat, chickpeas and
lamb, and phyllo-wrapped chicken with crushed almonds are the sort of
dishes co-owner Aziz Benassou says he was raised on back in his
native Algeria. Now he now offers them in the 30-seat eatery he runs
with the help of his mother and sister, Hadda and Ranu Benassou.
" Couscous is to us what pasta is for Italians," says the restaurateur,
who features the processed wheat (semolina) in a stew of root
vegetables and as an accompaniment to broiled salmon. North African
music and walls painted in soothing yellow, green and burnt orange
offer patrons a welcome break from the same old, same old at noon.
Sandwiches $4.99-$6.99, entrees $6.99-$7.99.

 

Tom Sietsema "Weekly Dish"