I purchased this on a whim in my local bookstore about six months ago because it not only had a pretty cover (that gets me every time), but the recipes inside looked very appealing to me. I generally love a book that favors things like salads, vegetable dishes, and sauces and condiments, and this book looked to have all that and more.I started making my way through, trying out a few salads, and then a few mains. At some point, I realized that I was really excited about this book's approach, and decided to read the intro and anecdotes more fully. I then realized, this is a real restaurant in LA. Thankfully, I had a trip out there for a wedding, and I decided to stop by for brunch. That meal introduced me to their malawach, schnitzel, chopped salad, labneh, marinated feta, and perhaps my favorite, the red zhoug. I could NOT get any of these dishes out of my head, and it was nothing short of a spiritual experience. Sadly, I live very far away from this wonderful place, and when I got back home, I ran to my Kismet cookbook and found that everything that I fell in love with was in the book.I have since dedicated time and love into really diving in, and have made 22 of the recipes so far, with plans to make at least 30 more. It would be hard to pick favorites, but some immediate standouts are the Persian-style rice, which I feel accomplished having built some confidence in making a version of one of my favorite dishes, and the malawach, which was laborious and somewhat challenging at first, but now, I feel I could pull off easily with the right amount of time--and butter!I have thrown three dinner parties showcasing many of the dishes here and it's been a hugely rewarding experience. I would say that one of the brilliant aspects to this book is that they are great at always noting what holds up in the refrigerator or freezer, and for about how long. I make things ahead regularly, which makes cooking and baking from a book like this really approachable. The other thing that I think this book really succeeds at so well is getting the right balance between restaurant-level recipes while cutting out some of the more challenging aspects that aren't necessary for a really spectacular meal.Special shoutout to the green tahini, which they recommend making with a cup of basil and a cup of parsley. It's so good that I make sure to have a batch of it every week, and use it as a dip for using up any vegetables I have around, or putting on sandwiches, pita, bread, chicken, fish, and even tried it on cold pasta as a (vegan) pesto alternative. It's so good that I urge you to make this.