Baguette Nir: A Tiberias Shawarma Counter Rebuilt on Biscayne Boulevard

The baguette comes out of the oven first, long and blistered, its crust crackling as it cools on the rack. A few steps away, the shawarma spit turns slowly, beef and turkey layered and glistening, the outer edge darkening to a crisp mahogany. A knife shaves it into a pan, the baguette is split down its length, and the space between the two halves fills with hummus, a spoonful of amba, pickled chilies and a heap of hot meat. This is the ritual Baguette Nir has been repeating since 1985, first in Tiberias on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and now at 17871 Biscayne Boulevard in Aventura. The name tells the whole story: Nir, the man whose family built the original shop, and the baguette, the bread that set it apart in a country where shawarma usually goes into a pita. The Miami branch carries both over the ocean, together with the kosher meat kitchen, a salad spread of twelve dishes, and a Friday menu for the Shabbat table.

The menu is built on a simple grid. Pick a filling, then pick a vessel: pita, laffa, the house baguette, a bowl, or a plate. The fillings read like the counter of any serious grill in northern Israel. Beef shawarma, turkey shawarma or a mix of both. Kebab. Pargiyot, the marinated boneless chicken thighs that Israelis treat as the benchmark of a grill. Merguez, the thin, spicy North African sausage. Schnitzel, fried chicken breast in a golden crust. For anyone who wants all three grill items at once, there is the Escobar, a pile of pargiyot, merguez and kebab together.