Middle Eastern food with strong flavors

An eggplant dish at Ichabod's, which boasts the cuisine of Lebanon. (Maureen costello for the boston globe)

Ichabod's Café
166 Great Road (Routes 2A/119), Acton
978-635-9269
Breakfast: Weekdays 7:30 to 11 a.m.; weekends 8 a.m. to noon
Lunch: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Dinner: Monday-Saturday 4:30 to 10 p.m.
Major credit cards accepted
Accessible to the handicapped

Tabouli is to the Lebanese as tomato sauce is to Italians. Everyone argues that their family's recipe is the greatest. No one is right, and no one is wrong. But whether you're squashing tomatoes with basil and oregano or crushing bulgur wheat with parsley and mint, your ancestors' reputations hinge on your end result.

This test is why Randa Zahr, a native of Lebanon, takes special care while serving the flavors of Beirut at Ichabod's Café, the restaurant she and husband, Sal, opened 13 months ago in Acton.

"As I make it in my house for my family, I make it here," said Randa Zahr.

The Acton residents bought out a breakfast and sandwich shop and decided to keep its name. They did major renovations, changing the decor to calming earth tones, leather couches, black-and-white prints, and black dining tables. Recorded jazz ballads swirl softly through the air. Starting this month, acoustic musicians have been added to weekend nights.

Sal, who retired as a pharmaceutical chemist two years ago, said he needed something to take his mind off fruitless attempts to improve his golf game. Randa is always up for a new adventure. Her résumé includes work as a makeup artist, flower arranger, and personal trainer.

"As a young person, I never thought I would be a person who would cook," said Randa, but it was in her blood. "My father was a chef and my mother was a gourmet."

Randa brought out her late father's recipes, the very ones she prepares for family and friends in their Acton home, while Sal busied himself with the business details, such as acquiring a liquor license and securing vendors. Dinner was added to the menu in May, when the liquor license was approved.

The menu includes a fine assortment of competitively priced French, Italian, Chilean, and domestic wines, and trendy and traditional cocktails.

The Zahrs bill Ichabod's as Mediterranean fare. That is a very big sea, boasting an even larger range of cuisine. I would classify the restaurant, with its dinner menu filled with appetizers of feta spinach pie ($3.25) and baba ghanooj ($5.95) and main courses of falafel plate ($9.95) and kibeh - ground beef mixed with crushed bulgur wheat, onions, and Mediterranean spices ($17.95) - as Middle Eastern with heavy hints of Lebanon.

Garlic, extra virgin olive oil, butter, rosewater, and parsley make regular appearances in most dishes, as do pomegranates.

The menu items, particularly the traditional Lebanese choices, boast strong flavors that you may not be accustomed to. This was my experience with the kafta, which is featured for dinner in the kebab combo ($19.95) and as its own dish ($15.95). Kafta is ground beef mixed with parsley, allspice, cinnamon, salt, and onion before being shaped and grilled. It is served on pita bread topped with onion and sumac with a side of hummus.

The uninitiated (i.e., me, two weeks ago) slice up the meat for a bite only to discover a mouthful of sour-tasting beef that prevented me from taking another bite. I met with the Zahrs later to talk to them about it.

"You didn't like the kafta?" Randa asked, a little surprised yet very concerned. "Tell me, how did you eat it?" She appeared relieved after I relayed my experience. I did it all wrong, she said, explaining: "The onion and sumac give it a sour taste. But you wrap the pita bread around it and the bread absorbs the juices. Then you dip it in the hummus. If you don't put the hummus around it, it's not kafta."

I took her advice during my second attempt, and she was right. The pita and creamy homemade hummus make all the difference. I finished the meal. Again, this is authentic Middle Eastern food, not watered down for American taste buds.

The Zahrs didn't toy much with the existing breakfast and lunch menus. A fresh double-egg sandwich served on a choice of bagel or English muffin costs $2.89. A lunch wrap of pesto chicken panini ($7.99) with melted provolone, baby spinach, and tomato remains popular with the busy lunch crowd. Dairy, produce, meats, and fish are delivered fresh from Boston-area vendors. Bread is delivered daily from Nashoba Brook Bakery in Concord.

Sal added traditional local favorites to the menu, such as the lobster ravioli in a mild cream sauce ($17.95) and bourbon steak tips ($14.95), to satisfy more dining palates. "I know this happens a lot," he said. "People go out as a group and someone says, 'Let's go Chinese,' and then someone else says no. Then they go someplace else. That was our intention from the start, having something for everyone."

As for the tabouli, that texture-rich red and green staple of bulgur wheat, chopped parsley, mint, tomatoes, and green onions mixed with olive oil and fresh lemon juice ($7.95) - I found Randa's recipe very tasty, alone or mixed in with a bit of labneh, a creamy yogurt cheese topped with olive oil ($4.95).

Whatever you choose for dinner, I recommend Randa's rich and gooey baklava ($3.25) with a cup of espresso for dessert.

MAUREEN COSTELLO