Inside the modest-sized restaurant called Cafe Adel, calm yellow walls contrast reddish-brown paneling and handsome tile, and upbeat music plays in the background. We are later told the music, like the menu, is Bosnian. “When people come here, I want them to take away a piece of our culture,” says Anel Abdulovic, the owner (photo below).
Cafe Adel owner Anel Abdulovic
Dushanka, our server, is also a family friend. She is animated, alternating between languages as she chats with each group of guests. When she suggests we try the meza (photo at top), a classic Bosnian appetizer, we take her advice without hesitation.
She soon brings a wooden slab to make small-plate lovers clap. Charcuterie joins cheeses soft and firm, olives and peppers done different ways. A luscious fat sliver outlines slices of smoked beef. Spreadable, crumbly kajmak (KAI-mahk) mixes feta and ricotta. The ajvar (EYE-var) purees red pepper, eggplant and garlic into a bright-tasting, mildly sweet dip. Other red peppers are roasted, sliced and brined with herbs. We amuse ourselves juxtaposing different small bites atop pieces of lepinia, a round bread resembling pita but much fluffier. Meza is a must-have at every Bosnian get-together and always includes similar things, says Abdulovic.
The Abdulovic family left their hometown of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a result of the Bosnian War and started over in Houston. Of the war, Abdulovic says, “It’s a sad thing that happened, no matter who it happened to or why it happened, no matter what religion people belong to. What happened back home is something I hope never happens again anywhere in the world. But it brought me here, so in a certain way it gave me a new beginning.”
That move was nearly 20 years ago. Here in Houston, Abdulovic attended Lee High School and the University of Houston downtown. After several years working in local restaurants, continuing a line of work they had begun back home, the family opened their own restaurant for the first time in February 2013. “My mom was always a great cook, so that’s how we decided to go into business. That’s how I guess the adventure started,” Abdulovic says.
Everything at Cafe Adel is made fresh from scratch every day and hews closely to tradition. Abdulovic says, “My mother makes it the way she learned, the way she used to make it at home, the old Bosnian way that my grandmother used.” The same food, he says, can be hard to find elsewhere.
Bosnian cuisine resembles Greek, Turkish and other Mediterranean food, “but we add our own flavor,” Abdulovic explains. For example, many of the cooked dishes are seasoned with vegeta, a kind of dry condiment made of salt, spices and dried vegetables. We surmise vegeta had a hand in the comforting beef stew with mashed potatoes and rich gravy, embodying the home-cooked feel Adbulovic talks about.
Sarma, or cabbage rolls
Some dishes are shared between Balkan and other cuisines, marking the footprints of former empires but bearing the imprint of their own region. An example is leafy greens rolled around a flavorful filling, a technique that shows up in many Mediterranean dishes. Grape leaves, collard greens and cabbage take this form at Adel. We try sarma, or cabbage rolls (photo above), filled with ground beef, onion and rice and served with buttery mashed potatoes. Tomato sauce invigorates the whole thing, and the sarma satisfies as its own meal.
Another traditional must-have is Bosnian pita (photo below), not to be confused with the flatbread the name may remind you of; it’s actually a pastry wrapped in a spiral around a hearty filling. “My mom stretches the phyllo dough herself on the table here,” Abdulovic says. A bit sturdier than other phyllos, the warm pastry crunches, flakes and blends into a tasty spinach center. We can’t get enough of the beef sausage pita and especially the spinach and cheese pita, best when spread with more of the kajmak. Other kinds, like potato pita, are available if other diners don’t order them all first.
Bosnian pita
A classic sandwich here is the ćevapčići, or beef links between pieces of crusty bread (photo below), altogether so wide we ended up taking the thing one half at a time. The sausage is less brashly spiced than most, but not to its detriment, and it forgoes any rubbery casing. We’re told all the meats are mixed in house and seasoned simply, with garlic, olive oil and black pepper. The sandwich can be dressed to your liking with lots of kajmak and fresh minced white onions.
Cafe Adel’s ćevapčići, or beef links between pieces of crusty bread
The crowd at Adel tends toward international, as the restaurant draws a strong following of lunchgoers from the Energy Corridor representing multiple continents. But on the weekends, more Bosnians come. Abdulovic says the community of Bosnians in the Houston area is relatively small, spread out and integrated into the American way of life, but the traditions of food have remained. “Years pass, kids grow up, we get older, and we get more Americanized. But one thing that never changes is the food, and that’s what I see with the guests here.”
On another of our visits, Dushanka lets us know there’s a lamb shank today, and we take her up on it. Served on somewhat bland rice, the tender delicious lamb is plentiful yet manageable, giving up its hold on the bone when turned.
Desserts here, too, have their own character. We didn’t get around to trying any but were told about the palačinka, or crepes; the baklava; hurmasica, a kind of cookie; and tufahija, a poached apple stuffed with walnut and served cold. We did finish a meal with nicely steeped Turkish coffee, which we poured from a gorgeous long-handled pot that helped us control the thickness of the famously thick liquid.
I ask Abdulovic what the transition from Mostar to Houston was like, and he admits to some culture shock, but he also observes that his time here has changed him. “It takes some getting used to, but you adjust, and now even when I go home and visit, I kind of miss here and kind of want to come back,” he says. “You get used to the fast pace of life, always moving around and working. Back home, life is much more relaxed.
“I’ve adjusted myself to the American life, and I’ve married a Colombian wife. But as far as the food, I always want my Bosnian food. That’s the one thing I cannot get away from.”
Cafe Adel, 13110 FM 529 at N. Eldridge Pkwy, 713-466-1331, cafeadelhouston.com
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2017 issue of My Table magazine. To find My Table magazine on a newsstand near you, click here.