January 3 – Some people evaluate their year by tallying up their professional achievements, taking stock of their resolutions, and measuring their personal growth. I rely on a simpler metric: how much delicious food did I eat? Viewed through this lens, 2024 was a very good year.
Here are my favorite snacks of 2024 (in no particular order).
My Shawarma House (lamb shawarma wrap, $13)
If you haven’t heard of this humble eatery that serves African and Middle Eastern cuisine, then you’re part of a rapidly shrinking demographic. The fan base of this fast food restaurant, which just celebrated its first anniversary, is fervent and growing. And with good reason. Every dish I’ve eaten from their surprisingly extensive menu has been a winner, including a variety of house-cured rotisserie meats and their fragrant, savory beef sambusas encased in a perfectly flaky golden crust. But my absolute favorite menu item is their Lamb Shawarma Wrap ($13). A generous portion of sweet, earthy lamb, thinly sliced from the spit, is placed on a warm, flaky naan wrap, along with lettuce, onions, peppers and bright, salty pickles, with a garlicky, creamy white sauce based on yogurt. It’s perfectly put together so that every bite is perfection. Extra credit for the friendliest service in town.
Jens’ Restaurant (frikadel with rokal, $17.50)
After an inexplicably long break, my husband and I found our way back to the dining room of Jens’ Restaurant and it was like getting together with an old friend. The meal was as good as the memory promised and it was no surprise that our favorite bite of the evening was the classic Swedish part of the menu. The fried veal and pork meatballs, known as frikadeller med rokal, look more or less like a cuddly toy on a plate. These savory bites are served in a small pool with creamy, velvety gravy and a mound of bright, tart red cabbage (“My favorite way to eat cabbage,” our waiter confided). Both transporting and homely, it’s the perfect winter dish.
907 Bagel Co. (The Morning Glory, $14)
My love for the perfect breakfast sandwich started in New York, where it brought with it both bagels and the occasional hangover. The recent bagel renaissance that has taken place in Anchorage is one of my favorite surprises in recent years and has given me a taste of the East Coast. In 2023, Birch and Alder’s elegant bagel sandwich made my list of top five snacks of the year. This year I’m passing the torch to 907 Bagel Co.
In the warmer months, this business is a roving breakfast and breakfast-for-dinner truck that specializes in hot, sticky, overstuffed bagel sandwiches featuring the exceptional house-made bagels baked by Wooden Spoons Alaska. This winter they spent a few weekend hours in Williwaw Social’s Box Office Kitchen. The steamed sandwich process is exactly what it sounds like and magically combines the ingredients in a way that can only be described as transcendentally melting. My favorite is the Morning Glory ($14), with cream cheese, bacon, egg and a more-is-more blend of American, pepper jack and provolone cheeses.
City Boy Burgers (double smashburger, $11)
Another custom at Williwaw Social’s Box Office Kitchen is City Boy Burgers. Ordering is simple with a single, double or triple ($9, $11 and $13 respectively, and an extra $4 for fries). These are smash burgers the way they should be made – crispy, flavorful and full of smoky char – and topped with a well-balanced classic blend of onion, cheese and pickles. Last summer, this new pop-up burger operation saw lines forming before the 10 a.m. opening bell at the O’Malley Fresh Market. I was in those lines.
Meraki Hellenic Grill (Pork Yerro, $17.95)
Tucked into a nondescript strip mall in an off-the-beaten-path location in South Anchorage, Meraki Helenic Grill serves up some of my favorite dishes in Anchorage, period. I had to think long and hard about my favorite snack. Their quartet of dips were in contention – especially the silky, garlicky roasted eggplant. The smoky, savory kebab was also in the mix, and I have a real soft spot for their grilled haloumi drizzled with honey. But I ended up on their classic pork yerro. This tender, savory, highly seasoned pork, thinly shaved from a vertical rotisserie, is wrapped in a pita bread with lettuce, tomato, onion, tzatziki and some steak fries. It’s the perfect combination of warm and cool, earthy and spicy, soft and crunchy. To describe it is to long for it.
As usual, my New Year’s resolution is simple: enjoy a delicious meal with the people I love. And I wish the same for all my readers.
