It is refreshing to see American palates expanding beyond the usual international fare. It wasn’t long ago that Mexican was hard to find, Italian meant pizza, and Greece and Lebanon were represented only by Hector’s in Crabtree (which is still outstanding).

One of Raleigh’s best-kept secrets has been the Neomonde bakery. Located behind the Waffle House across from Meredith, Neomonde is part middle-eastern grocery, part bakery, and part deli. The food is excellent, but it is perfect for lunch and doesn’t quite satisfy people’s idea of a good supper. Thankfully the Saleh family has teamed up with Downtown Raleigh revivalist Greg Hatem to bring us Sitti.

While there is quite a buzz about Sitti, don’t be fooled into thinking the restaurant is trying to explore new realms of chic or our wallet. Translated as “grandmother”, Sitti merely wants to bring the best of Lebanon at a reasonable price, and does this well.

The restaurant is in space that for decades held a furniture store. The understated renovation preserved much of that feel, keeping the elevated window showcase areas, wood flooring, and tin ceiling all intact. The decor is a bit on the plain side. Walls are white with small, old portraits from the middle east. The wall containing the kitchen’s service window has tile mosaic coverage, but doesn’t make a huge statement. Music? I never even noticed if they play music because the hard walls, ceiling, and flooring make for a fairly loud environment.

I decided to keep things simple at lunch (.pdf) by ordering an appetizer of hummos, which was good, but (like my long-held complaint with Neomonde’s food) was overly garlicky. The chicken kabob was excellent, and swam in a marinade extremely similar to that found in The Grecian Plate cookbook. What was really interesting and lovable was the Sitti rice; tan with a nutty, aromatic flavor. Finally, the onion and tomato on the kabob were good, however I’d prefer the onion to be cooked a little more; a familiar problem with kabobs.

Sitti’s Dinner menu (.pdf) is largely the same as the lunch menu, but the portions and prices are a little bigger. We started with Baba Ghanouj which, admittedly, has never been one of my favorites. Sitti’s was no exception as one inedible bite was all I could stand. I moved on to my Sitti salad which was a bit bland. Personally I think the Greek version of this salad, which adds feta cheese and olives, is more interesting. Far more interesting is the Goat Cheese and Orange Salad. In this salad, the understated dressing has something to support; the oranges and goat cheese. I moved on to the Mixed Grill which is a sampler of chicken, lamb, and kafta. The chicken was overcooked and the lamb was tough, however the kafta was fantastic. For this I highly recommend the $11 Kafta Kabob as a full entree instead of the mixed grill. One weakness of the menu is the presence of only one seafood entree. We had the Samkeh Harra (baked salmon) which did not disappoint. The only other food I have heard about is the shrimp appetizer, which got glowing reviews from a trusted friend.

Sitti is a fantastic addition to downtown. It is nice to see the chain of more and more expensive restaurants being broken. Also, the decision to not overpower the food with spices will suit the restaurant well. However, the restaurant is low on wow-factor that we frequently experience at Durham’s Taverna Nikos and once got at Sadak’s (on Hillsborough St.). While the Nikos is a slightly different fare, the two are similar enough for comparison. The Saleh family has always worked really hard and I’ll continue to root for them. Hopefully some kitchen refinements will elevate Sitti to being a no-brainer for out-of-town guests.