From tortillas and flatbreads to lettuce, grape leaves and rice paper, wraps have been around forever. But over the past few decades, wraps have become almost as popular as sandwiches in American restaurants and kitchens. And around Atlanta, some of the city’s best chefs are making them a grab-and-go art form.
At Yalla at Krog Street Market, the food stall menu features Middle Eastern small plates with shawarma, kebabs, falafel and sabich — all conceived by executive chef and partner Todd Ginsberg, with a dash of Israeli street food flair.
“At its core, at a falafel or shawarma joint, you’re going to get it in pita or laffa,” Ginsberg said. “We brought bowls over here as a gluten-free option. But in Israel, you wouldn’t find that traditionally.”
One of Ginsberg’s most recent creations is a sort of Southern-Middle Eastern hybrid, with roasted sweet potatoes and red pepper hummus stuffed into a pita pocket and topped with whipped feta dressing, red peppers and herbs.
“I like this recipe a lot because feta and sweet potatoes aren’t something you’d find together that often, but they’re a great flavor combination, between the sweetness of the sweet potato and that briny, salty cheese,” Ginsberg said. “I also wanted to incorporate red peppers because they go so well together with sweet potatoes. They’re all comforting flavors but in a different combination.”
At Poco Loco in Kirkwood, chef Nick Melvin is offering an ever-changing weekly burrito menu, including Austin-style breakfast burritos, and a weekly provisions menu with the likes of charred salsa verde, charro beans, and house-made tortillas for sale.
“Wraps work because people don’t want to wait,” Melvin said. “During COVID, people got used to a crazy, hectic lifestyle. Like a biscuit sandwich, wraps are comforting. It’s something you can eat in your hand while you’re driving a car or sending an email.”
Melvin’s recently made a wrap that isn’t on the menu at Poco Loco. But he shared the recipe for what he simply calls a grilled chicken BLT burrito. It includes romaine lettuce, fresh veggies instead of salsa, and a spiced crema with barbecue sauce instead of mayo.
“It’s something I thought of that would be simple for home cooks,” Melvin said. “It’s approachable, but it’s really flavorful. And it’s really fresh and light with the vegetables coming into play. The chicken isn’t heavily marinated or brined, it’s just grilled. And the end product is much more than the sum of its parts.”
Pano Karatassos, the executive chef of the modern Buckhead Greek restaurant, Kyma, recently launched Lamb Shack — a ghost kitchen serving build-your-own pita wraps, as well as appetizers, sides and desserts.
“The focus of what I’m doing right now with these wraps is bringing in fresh, healthy, high-quality ingredients,” Karatassos said. “I list all the farms on the menu so everybody can look them up and see the focus on quality.”
In his cookbook, “Modern Greek Cooking: 100 Recipes for Meze, Entrees, and Desserts” (Rizzoli, $37.50), Karatassos presents many of the dishes he honed at Kyma. But one of the simplest is also one of the most important — a recipe for pita bread that originated with his Greek grandmother.
“Let’s face it, the wrap is about the pita bread,” Karatassos said. “My pita recipe is foolproof. I’ve got the big bulk recipe that I use at Kyma. But if I just want to make some pita at home, I pull out my own cookbook. To mix it all together and put it in a bowl is like five minutes. You just need to let it rise, then roll it out, and grill it.”
RECIPES
These international wrap recipes include chicken BLT burritos, Laotian lettuce wraps, homemade pita bread, and sweet potato pockets.
Credit: Chris Hunt
Credit: Chris Hunt
Grilled Chicken BLT Burrito With BBQ Crema
This recipe from Atlanta chef Nick Melvin of burrito concept Poco Loco is a take on a BLT wrapped up in a flour tortilla. Melvin calls it super simple, and “more than the sum of its parts.” And as burritos go, it’s a bit lighter, with grilled chicken, fresh veggies instead of salsa, and a spiced crema instead of mayo. With all that, kids might like finding it in their lunchbox.
Credit: Chris Hunt
Credit: Chris Hunt
Laotian Larb Lettuce Wraps
This unofficial national dish of Laos also can be made with chicken, beef or firm tofu. But tender ground pork seems to be the favorite. Fish sauce and lime juice brighten it up, and blend with the spicy and herbal flavors of chile pepper, shallots, scallions, cilantro and mint. Wrap it up in lettuce for a pretty, crunchy presentation, or arrange the ingredients on a platter for a DYI buffet.
Credit: Chris Hunt
Credit: Chris Hunt
Homemade Pita Bread
In his cookbook, “Modern Greek Cooking: 100 Recipes for Meze, Entrees, and Desserts” (Rizzoli, $37.50), Atlanta chef Pano Karatassos presents dishes he honed at Kyma, his acclaimed Greek seafood restaurant. But this surprisingly easy pita bread recipe goes back to his grandmother, Athanasian. The raised dough is pinched into pieces, rolled into rounds, and grilled. The result: slightly charred, yeasty pita, perfect for wraps.
Credit: Chris Hunt
Credit: Chris Hunt
Roasted Sweet Potato Pockets With Whipped Feta Dressing
In this new variation on a pita wrap first served at Yalla in Atlanta, chef Todd Ginsberg said he wanted to do something different from the traditional shawarma and falafel. He ended up using that popular Southern vegetable, the sweet potato. Paired with whipped feta dressing, Ginsberg calls it a great combination of sweet and salty. Creamy red pepper hummus and hot Fresno chiles tie the familiar flavors together in unexpected ways. Use red peppers to make it milder.
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