A shawarma joint in New York named Spice Brothers, owned by former kibbutznik Lior Lev Sercarz, received an impressive and exceptional rating this week from Pete Wells, the esteemed restaurant critic of The New York Times. Wells dedicated his column to the restaurant and awarded it two stars. The choice of Lev's shawarma joint is surprising for two reasons.
First, given that New York has thousands of restaurants, it's notable that the food section of the most influential newspaper chose to dedicate its weekly restaurant review to street food – specifically shawarma. 3 View gallery Spice Brothers ( Photo: Dan Peretz ) The second reason is that a two-star rating is typically reserved for only a handful of restaurants considered to be excellent. The New York Times restaurant review section is highly prestigious and influential in the culinary world.
and Wells' opinion carries significant weight. "I'm shocked," Lev told Ynet. "As a loyal reader of The New York Times and its food and restaurant review section, I know this isn't easy.
There are so many restaurants in New York, and I can't fathom how I even got on someone's radar. Shawarma isn't the first thing people think of when it comes to culinary discussions here. In the two-star category of The New York Times, there are restaurants I personally admire, so it's a great honor for me to be part of that," he said.
"A week ago, I received an email from Wells asking to speak with me. He said he had been to the shawarma place and .
