'True Mediterranean' Olive Leaf Bistro Now Open

"This is our first official weekend wide-open," said Olive Leaf Bistro General Manager Veronica Shipman, who informed Eater the restaurant had a soft open on May 21, with seatings ramping up during the Memorial Day weekend. Shipman says initial response to the restaurant has been positive, though some diners and servers still need some adjustment to what she called Chef/owner Jimmy Shraby's "true Mediterranean" style of cooking. "There's nothing that's fast," Shipman said, adding: "We don't have sauces sitting in containers. When you order it, we're back there building it ... There's a little more of a stretch on the time it takes to get your meal." Shraby, a French-trained chef who gained recognition with his Summit, New Jersey restaurant Soufflé, only has one soufflé on a menu that rambles through "every single place that butts up to the Mediterranean Sea," says Shipman. "We're talking North Africa, France, Tuscany.That's all on the menu."
· Olive Leaf Bistro [Official Site]
· "The Romance of Souffle" 1996 New York Times Review of Shraby's Soufflé [~NYT~]