Back to Baklava

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On innumerable occasions, I've tried to enjoy baklava and managed not to do so, always finding it too sweet or too sticky or too spiked with rosewater, too goopy or too stiff. Finally, I'd gotten to the point where I'd assumed baklava was just not to my taste -- like celery, roasted eggplant and pad thai -- and had simply stopped ordering it. But then I tasted this baklava...

That's an excerpt from my review of Ya Hala, the Syrian restaurant (pictured above) that's inspired a new obsession that has me rolling out at all hours, cruising the mean street of South Colorado looking for my fix of honey, walnuts and phylo. My counters are now crowded with empty take-out boxes, my fingers sticky with sugar. My name is Jason Sheehan, and I am a baklava addict.

You can check out the rest of the Ya Hala -- plus a pretty cool Bite Me column in which I compare Julia Roberts' acting career to a dead chicken) --- in this week's issue, coming soon to a newsstand (or computer) near you. -- Jason Sheehan