Anagrams can cleverly shield identities, as "Hamlet" did with the Danish prince "Amleth", and "Mij"...no, make that "Mji" does for your friend with crabs, Jim. Damn it! For a less purposeful, far tastier anagram, hit Ezme.
Opening late this week and rustically appointed with an L-shaped marble bar and brick walls lined with unfinished, reclaimed-wood bottle racks, Ezme's a new offering from the Turks behind AdMo's...Meze; while the latter translates as "small plates", the former admittedly translates as "quit worrying about the name and order something why don't you". Serving lunch and dinner, their 40+ inventive dishes are divided into somewhat poetically licensed sections like "Garden" (veggie lentil cakes called Mercimek Kofte, the feta-filled pastry Sigara Boregi); "Air" (the chicken meatball Tavuk Kofte); "Sea" (white wine Mussels, seasoned shrimp Karides Kebap); and "Land", with Karni Yarik (beef/lamb-stuffed eggplant) and Arnavut Cigerie, a pan-fried calf's liver so spicy, you'll...cry yourself a liver. For thirsty Otto-men, they've got 20+ internationally sourced wines, some stored on the racks, some cooled in a large, glass-doored fridge, and the nicest kept in a nitrogen-injected dispenser that keeps opened bottles fresh for days, thereby making nitrogen nobler than Argon.
They're also offering 3-sampler tasting menus, as well as $15 flights, for those whose indecision might be Hamlet-like, but like "Jmi", definitely know they want to get knudr.