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Loading up on Lebanese delights at Kan Zaman.

Monday Mar 27, 2006.     By Zinny Fandel

Food Feed

I grabbed a bottle of Portuguese wine from Binny's Lakeview (I must say, I like the tightness of the River North shop better), and it took a lot of restraint not to buy two. That's because Steamer and I were headed to Kan Zaman, 617 N. Wells St., a BYOB Lebanese spot that we had a few memorable (and two-bottle) first dates at when it was in Andersonville. It's since relocated to River North, and we had yet to see if the magic was still there.

The space is a big improvement, with a whole wall of Arabic-style booths for the taking and a much brighter seating area dressed up with beaded lanterns and heavy-set tables. We slipped off our shoes and settled right in among the many pillows, oohing and aahing over how much the padding agreed with our we-like-it-prone bodies.

We started the meal the only way anyone should ever begin a Middle Eastern dining experience: by ordering the vegetarian combo platter to munch on while we debated heftier issues of entree and dessert.

Our waiter immediately uncorked our $9 bottle of Quinta da Alorna and set a basket of pita (thin and cold, but good for scooping) on our tin tabletop.

We did our best to wipe the plate clean, which wasn't too difficult a task. The baba ganoush was delightfully smoky (always my weakness), and the rest—hummus, dolmades, falafel, tabbouleh and feta cheese—didn't last too long.

This should have been the point at which I politely blotted my napkin against the corners of my mouth and begged off any more food. I was full, and the bites of feta I kept sneaking weren't doing much to change that. But if there's one thing Steamer and I do well together it's eat, and eat we did.

We both thought meat, so I ordered the shish taouk (marinated and grilled chicken breast) and he got the lamb shish kabobs. (Preceded, of course, by more food: lentil soup for him and salad for me.) The dishes were served identically: Big, warm hunks of meat draped across a giant bed of rice that was interrupted by a lone grilled tomato wedge, green pepper slice and onion clump. And oh was the meat good. Perfectly cooked, both were moist, tender, flavorful and gone in a jiffy, much to the shock and delight of my moaning belly.

It wasn't the only thing that disappeared too quickly. In old-Kan-Zaman-style, our vino was kaput. It was a solid accompaniment to the meal, a bold and fruity taste that called out for a plate of grilled meat...and got it.

We were practically laying down in our booth by this point, speaking at approximately the same rate as our bodies were digesting our massive meal—slowly. But better to continue the feast than bundle up and reenter the cold, right? We went with the baklava (naturally) and the cheesecake, which revealed itself to be a large chocolate and vanilla layer cake slice with fruit sandwiched between.

We were too lazy to protest the error, scraping up the last bite, exchanging an "aww, another romantic night at Kan Zaman look" (ok, maybe that was just me) and bundling up for the trip home...Or to the liquor store, for another bottle of that Quinta...

Zinny Fandel's tales of living the (mostly) BYOB life are intended to be attempted at home and in the community, preferably at BYOB restaurants.