Sofra Cafe, Sunnyside

The smell of sizzling meat fills Sofra Cafe. But chefs don't use just one cooking method to achieve the right flavor for their meat dishes. They roast gyro meat on a rotating spit and char-grill cuts of lamb and chicken with vegetables on skewers until they're tender and juicy. But there are also plenty of unique dishes that set Sofra apart. Among the stand-outs is a dish of sauteed cubes of liver and a whole grilled bronzini fish served with a squeeze of lemon and capers. But like birthday gifts from a butcher friend, not everything has meat in it. One vegetarian favorite, the cigar borek, has chefs rolling phyllo dough into tubes that are filled with a blend of feta, tomatoes, and parsley.