With its open sacks and barrels of grains and spices, bulk containers of olives, nuts, and dried fruits, its mixed fragrance of cumin and coffee beans, and the beat-up dispenser from which customers must take a number during crowded times, this looks like an old place - and it is. Sahadis has been doing business in Brooklyn for fifty years. (The original Sahadi was established in Manhattan in 1898.)

Today the store anchors the Middle Eastern commercial enclave that flourishes along Atlantic Avenue between Court and Hicks Streets and includes restaurants, food and music stores, and the Damascus Bakery (on the avenue since 1936). Weirdly, this shopping district flourishes where there are no Middle Eastern residents to speak of. There used to be of course: The merchants and workmen who moved to Brooklyn early in the century from the original "Little Lebanon" in lower Manhattan.

On any given day, Sahadis has on hand about a hundred and fifty varieties of cheese (including some Lebanese and Syrian varieties youre not likely to find anywhere else in town), and several dozen types of olives and olive oils. Theres every imaginable dried fruit, including bananas and strawberries; nuts both roasted and raw, salted and un-salted. Theres crecre, Chinese peanuts with a flavored coating; exotic herbs like sumac and maheb (made from the inside of cherry pits, used to flavor the Syrian string cheese), and dried mloukhiyeh, a forbidding spinachlike vegetable used in soups and gravies. Theres Afgan bread as big as a pillow case, Turkish delight studded with pistachios, and Jordan almonds. In the back, the prepared foods section offers superb hummus, baba ghannouj, tabbouleh, and also what experts- (us, actually) -believe to be the best kibbeh (ground lamb with pine nuts and spices) in New York.

With its unique combination of Middle Eastern and other hard-to-find specialty foods, Sahadi Importing continues to be one of the citys gourmet food meccas.
Originally from Lebanon, the family opened Sahadis on Atlantic Avenue in 1948. Business continues to burgeon, with customers filtering in from all boroughs. "Here youll find ethnic items that you would not find in the average grocery store," says Charlie Sahadi. His children work with him at the store, now three generations strong. For those seeking a takeout gourmet meal, over thirty dishes are prepared daily on the premises. More adventurous types who thrive in the kitchen will find the perfect ingredients on Sahadis brimming shelves. Grains, beans, spices, 24 varieties of olive oil, and over 120 varieties of cheese abound. Just want to get a smidgen of allspice for a recipe? No problem. "Whether someone wants two ounces of allspice or two pounds of black pepper, customers can come in and get as much or as little as their heart desires," says Sahadi.