ABOUT
KUBEH THE RESTAURANT
Kubeh is the product of Chef Melanie Shurka and husband David Ort; a restaurant dedicated to lesser known cuisines of the Middle East. Chef Melanie is a home trained chef, with a deep passion for the cuisine she grew up with and all the regional variations she discovered in her travels. Kubeh is named after a dish with widespread tradition across the Middle East and the restaurant is a tribute to that origin of warmth and care put into creating a meal for loved ones . The kind of meal where you may spend days in the kitchen, creating myriad dishes for everyone to have a bit of this, a taste of that. Flavors melding together and creating a new bite every time. The kind of food that sings of comfort and is bursting with flavors that will make you feel a whiff of nostalgia, whether you grew up with them or not. We hope that when sitting down to a meal at Kubeh you will feel that familial comfort, while perhaps introducing you to some exciting new flavors. For the best experience, we encourage you to order many dishes for the table, so you can see the beauty of sharing and creating a new story with each bite. We invite you to dine with us, to gather together and share a meal, to bring together new memories and old, to catch a taste of the love and history that we put into every dish. We welcome you with open arms and hope you leave with full bellies and perhaps a new memory or two of your own to share along the way of your journey.
KUBEH THE DISH
Kubeh itself comes in many forms, sometimes there’s an outer dough-like shell and an inner filling, sometimes the ingredients are ground together into a ball; and sometimes it’s prepared in layers like a pie. It can be fried, boiled, baked or served raw. In any shape, Kubeh, or any dish we serve at Kubeh is comfort bundled in freshness and is a labor of love. We specialize in the boiled version served in a broth, its origins in Kurdish, Iraqi and Syrian cuisine. In the 1940s and 50s Kurdish, Iraqi and Syrian Jews migrated to Israel and brought Kubeh with them, a few opened up Kubeh restaurants and today, Kubeh is a staple of Israeli cuisine. At our Middle Eastern restaurant in Greenwich Village, we hand roll each Kubeh with great care and with only the finest and freshest ingredients. Our meats come from small family farms in the US that practice humane treatment of their animals and are 100% antibiotic and hormone free. We also have many gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options. In addition, we have prepared for you a wide variety of delectable middle eastern mezes, spreads, and main dishes.
Enjoy!
EXECUTIVE CHEF
Melanie Shurka is a native New Yorker of Israeli-Iranian and Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Melanie opened Kubeh to share the Middle Eastern dishes of her childhood with New York City. When living in Israel to study law at Tel Aviv University, Melanie explored the myriad of Kubeh variations. Quickly, Melanie realized that her love for Kubeh and all things Middle Eastern surpassed her desire to be a lawyer. She returned to New York and worked at Balthazar and Laduree while teaching herself how to cook. Eventually she began cooking Middle Eastern food for others as a private chef. Melanie went on to host several pop-ups focused on Kubeh. Their success led her and her husband, David Ort to open Kubeh in July 2017. In developing the recipes for Kubeh, she spent time in homes and restaurants in Israel cooking with women from Iraq, Kurdistan and Syria. There she learned the tips, tricks, and nuances in each of the traditions that have been passed generation to generation of women. In 2020, Melanie won Food Network’s Chopped (Season 46, Episode 15, Skilfish Coping Skills) and donated her $10,000 prize to refugees and children via UNICEF. To Melanie, community, ritual and warm hospitality are as important as the food. During Covid-19 pandemic, Melanie and Kubeh team, with the support of the local community donated over 1500 meals to Hospital healthcare workers. On the Jewish holidays you can find her pouring wine in a kiddush fountain. During regular service, you can find her reading Turkish coffee fortunes as her Persian ancestors taught her.