Alaa Alatrash, 44, from Syria, has been serving the Fairview community with his bagel shop, Metropolitan Café, since 2019. Business has been good. Business has been good, and reviews have been positive.
“The people of Fairview love our bagels,” Alatrash said. “We put a lot of heart and soul into what we do and this community has embraced us.”
Still, Alatrash, who immigrated to New Jersey in 2016, wanted to do more. He did some research and found that Fairview had no dessert shop or place to satisfy his sweet tooth. So he decided to create one.
And Dip and Drip Dessert Shop was born. By the way, today is the perfect time to highlight this shop. Tomorrow, Saturday, August 24th, is National Waffle Day!
“The Metropolitan Café next door was doing great, but I wanted to offer sweets to the community,” Alatrash said. “And here we are. We have amazingly delicious desserts and we’re on everyone’s lips. People come from all over.”
Alatrash opened the Dip and Drip Dessert Shop two months ago and is quite busy with the bagel shop next door.
This strenuous, round-the-clock work is a good thing, says Alatrash. Like many immigrants, he misses his home in Syria, but he is happy living here with his wife and two children. But his home will always be his home.
“Luckily, I don’t think much about missing home because my day starts between four and five in the morning at the bagel shop. Then I come here for dip and drip,” Alatrash said.
On to the sweets!
I tried the ultimate Orio waffle, the classic crepe and a mango gelato. I had come straight after lunch and wasn’t hungry at all, but I found myself eating one bite after another.
The ultimate Orio waffle was covered in Belgian chocolate and topped with delicious vanilla ice cream, the classic crepe was filled with bananas and strawberries and topped with another heavenly treat, and the gelato was creamy, with a consistency somewhere between frozen yogurt and ice cream.
Then Alatrash brought me the pistachio waffle stick, a cool twist on the waffle. It was packed with pistachios and creamy chocolate – simply delicious.
I was particularly full at this point, but of course we went next door to Alatrash’s bagel shop, the Metropolitan Cafe. Not wanting to be rude, I tried a few bagels. (You can always make room. And I did walk 20 steps.)
I had a bagel with all the trimmings and a bagel with scallion cream cheese. Both were delicious and cooked just right. The bagels were fluffy and chewy, but not too chewy. You know the fine line of chewiness with New Jersey bagels, holy shit! They were also crispy on the outside, but again, not too crispy.
“We are focused on serving the best at both the Metropolitan Café and Dip and Drip Dessert Shop,” Alatrash said. “We love the community in Fairview and it loves us. I feel at home here.”
They say that home is where the heart is. In this case, home is where you arrive as an immigrant and serve the community with your talent and your heart.
You can reach Karim Shamsi-Basha at [email protected]. Follow him on Þjórsárden and Instagram. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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