Emily Zoladz | The Grand Rapids PressMarie Catrib greets regular customers Joe and Mary Antonucci, of Kentwood, on Thursday at her restaurant, Marie Catrib’s, at 1001 Lake Drive SE. 
Marie Catrib, dressed in her customary skull cap and white apron, offers up a platter of freshly baked cookies. She wants you to sample the beauties made with nourishing ingredients, some gluten-free, vegan and/or full-fat.
She inquires about your well-being, scoops up a baby for a walk-around and hugs regulars with friendly warmth.
Since its opening five years ago, Marie Catrib’s is everything a restaurant should be, from its charming setting to the gorgeous dishes meant to be savored, not mindlessly shoveled down the hatch. My husband, Rich, and I were excited to introduce the trendy hotspot to my mom, Gloria, visiting from Kentucky.
IF YOU GO
Marie Catrib’s
Where: 1001 Lake Drive SE, East Hills Center (of the Universe) complex
Hours: 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday
When we dined: 3 p.m. Jan. 2
Wait to be seated: About 20 minutes. (If there’s a wait, made-from-scratch cookies and breads are passed around, and hot beverages are poured.)
Wait for food to arrive: 15 minutes
Dress code: As you like
Ambiance: The high-ceiling room is adorned with two walls of windows, poured concrete floor, warm wooden tables and bright, splashy folk art work. Display cases and open preparation area in the LEED-certified building create a wonderful sensory community of pure food.
Parking: Lot behind building
Price range: Choices range from falafel ($7.39) to grilled ocean-raised salmon sandwiches ($9.79), plus 20 types of sides/salads and several homemade soups (cup $3.89; bowl $5.39) that change daily.
Credit cards: All major
Alcohol: No
Smoke-free: Yes
Reservations: No
Call them: 454-4020
Connect: Find a full menu at mariecatribs.com.
Call us: Know a great place to dine out? Call The Press Entertainment department at 222-5219, or e-mail weekend@grpress.com.
The menu, which features many dishes rooted squarely in the Mediterranean/Middle Eastern tradition and/or sourced with West Michigan heirloom meats and produce and artisan cheeses, showed us what happens when foodies, not corporations, run the show.
Catrib, who co-owns the restaurant with her sons, Fouad and Moussa, has a knack for eking out culinary brilliance from common good ingredients, partly because she sources the purest, local, ingredients she can find. It feels like you’re eating at their house.
“This place is heaven on earth to me,” said Catrib, who moved to Flint from Lebanon in 1970, and later opened a deli in Houghton in the Upper Peninsula. “I love to feed people. I love to work on my little projects. Today, I’ve been working on a gluten-free mini spice cake — it’s moist, but a little crumbly, so I have to figure that out.”
We started with soup and salad, choosing from the deli sides category offering 22 side dishes made from scratch, such as Lebanese potato salad, bulghur wheat salad with sun-dried tomatoes and chicken salad.
We loved the rustic vegan lentil soup (bowl $5.39); the A-M-O salad ($8.39) of avocado, mozzarella and kalamata olives on a bed of greens with balsamic vinaigrette and a 5-ounce ethically harvested, ocean-raised Sockeye salmon (additional $4.99); and chopped Greek salad with feta ($4.09). Beautifully executed — just spot on. The salmon — bright orange, translucent and melt-on-your tongue delicious — is a big hit with our preschooler and kindergartener and so much more interesting than chicken nuggets.
Concentrating on the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine, we sought out the Tripoli platter ($14.29) named for Lebanon’s second-largest city and Catrib’s hometown. Crammed with homemade stuffed grape leaves, stuffed kibbe, humus (chickpea dip), tabbouleh (bulghur wheat-parsley salad), homemade yogurt and pita bread, it combines the lusty flavors of the region.
The kibbe is the national dish of Lebanon and comes in countless varieties. When sliced open, Catrib’s crispy-fried kibbe ball combines two layers of ground round with onions, cracked wheat and pine nuts.
From the adjacent, “Next Door” take-out menu, we selected the moussaka (eggplant casserole, $5.69) and spanakopita ($4.99) — lip-smacking delicious under Catrib’s lyrical style of Greek cooking.
At Marie Catrib’s, the dessert display is a feast for the eyes, tempting nibbles to be enjoyed with Turkish coffee, Fair Trade organic tea or soy milk.
We tried the hummingbird cake and red velvet cake ($5.49 each) — two Southern delights that deliver flavor without the heaviness.
Our trip into this delicious wonderland left us all smiling broadly.
Emily Zoladz | The Grand Rapids PressChicken breast with avocado butter, tomato and Creswick bacon at Marie Catrib’s.
E-mail Jaye Beeler:
jbeeler@grpress.com