March 13, 2023 Issue

Hannah Goldfield’s “Tables For Two: Eyval," in this week’s issue,” begins, 

I’ll start with the cocktails at Eyval, a Persian restaurant that opened last year—and so should you. Gin tends not to agree with me, and yet I couldn’t help but steal sips of a friend’s orange-blossom Negroni, a cold and viscous concoction that lingered on my tongue and in my memory (I can taste it now!), the intoxicating, floral perfume of the orange-blossom water achieving thrilling alchemy with the herbal gin, bitter Aperol, and sweet vermouth.

Mm, instant seduction! I read that and just kept going, devouring the whole mouth-watering piece in one ravenous gulp. Goldfield writes crazy good sentences, e.g., “Plucking out a puckered leathery lime and eating it whole, sticky and sour, left me feeling as lucky as if I’d found the baby in a king cake.” Her “Eyval” is a feast. I enjoyed it immensely.