Sticks promotes itself as a source of Mediterranean and Greek food.
Well, if kebabs, hummus,baba gannoush and falafel qualify, it is a source, but what passes for these foods at Sticks is mysterious and unsettling. I lived for 26 years in the Middle East and few there would recognize these local concoctions.
No standard recipe for making kebabs exists, but normally one marinates the chicken or meat pieces for a half hour or so to infuse them with the flavor of the marinade. Marinade recipes are readily available. Alas, the kebabs at Sticks lack any discernible flavor but the chicken. That a choice of one of four sauces is offered for each kebab order is a tacit admission that the kebabs can't stand on their own. In the Middle East, they do.
Here's a hint for a way to make flavorful kebabs Iranian style: grate onion and mix with lemon juice and salt (vary ratios according to taste). Add a little turmeric if color is desired. This simple marinade will give the chicken amazing flavor to which no one would think of adding a sauce. It is simply not needed. Maybe the chefs think it takes too long to marinate the chicken.
Hummus is made of mashed chickpeas, tahini (sesame seed paste), lemon juice and garlic and a dash of salt. The hummus served at Sticks seems little more than mashed chickpeas overwhelmed by cumin. And I do mean overwhelmed. The other typical ingredients of hummus
( tahini, lemon juice and garlic) seem not to be present at all, or in such minor amounts as to be unnoticeable. Could it be that tahini and lemons cost more than chickpeas, ounce per ounce?
Baba gannoush differs from hummus primarily in that its main ingredient is mashed eggplant roasted to impart a smoky flavor. Like hummus, it is normally creamy to pale yellow in color. What Sticks serves up looks more like purple-gray, gelatinous sludge with no identifiable flavor. An unwitting diner might infer that instead of scooping out the creamy, roasted eggplant, the chefs just puree the whole plant, skin and all.
The result is a visual disaster, and minus the flavor of the other typical ingredients, a culinary disaster.
The stuffed grape leaves are in the same league as the dips: virtually tasteless.
The falafel, as a number of yelpers have pointed out, lacks a soft interior. to contrast with the crisp outer shell and, like so much at Sticks, simply lacks discernible flavor. A hint of coriander does wonders for the flavor of the interior. Some diners have speculated that these are not fresh fried, but done in advance, then microwaved. I have no proof of this but am inclined to agree.
These problems are so easily fixed. I am not a professional chef but I could fix them in a matter of hours. Are the chefs not given a free hand to do so? Why don't the good citizens of Charlottesville demand that they be fixed? read more