Heaven in a Pita: Taïm

Today I fell in love. I didn't mean to, it just happened.

You'd think that after a long day of eating 48 different types of ice cream, a red velvet cake from Amy's Bread (also freaking awesome), and having a full Schezuan lunch that I might be averse to another meal.
But that's where you'd be wrong.

I stopped at Taïm on my way home from work. Granted, it was a little out of the way from my apartment but in the vicinity of Joe's Pizza on Carmine where I'd been commanded to pick up a pie for my husband, who was patiently waiting in Salt Lake City for a New York slice. Today, karma won. I did something nice for my husband so karma did something nice for me.

It took me a second to find, as they are located on the west side of 7th ave and I apparently was brain dead. (In my defense, it was a Friday after work.) Taïm is located on Waverly Place next to residential buildings. The tip off that you're walking to the right place is in the bench outside and people hovering around with satiated smiles on their faces. I walked in the small shop front and analyzed the menu. As I was only there for something portable and walking friendly (and classic) I decided to go after the Falafel sandwich.

Don't worry - I still shook things up as I happen to enjoy doing. The "Harissa" which employs Tunisian spices sounded right up my alley. It was described as mildly spicy (which I don't actually believe nor does my heartburn) which I knew would be balanced by the soft pita, Israeli salad, hummus, and white cabbage. This equated to heartburn friendly.

All I can say is, this could potentially qualify to be my last bite on earth. The impossibly creamy hummus made my heart skip a beat and the Israeli salad added just the right level of fresh crunch. My Falafel balls were perfectly crisp and brown. And the Harissa spices were so elegantly flavored in a lower level "boom" but not "bam" in your mouth kind of way.

Once again, as with many good street foods in New York, I dripped my handheld treat onto my shoes. But I didn't care. I changed my stance to free falling falafel mode and continued the impolite chow down on 7th Ave without any concern of appearances.

Yum. The End.