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301-984-0880, fax 301-984-4188

Hours: Monday-Thursday 8 a.m.-8 p.m., Friday 8 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Entrée prices: $3.99-$12.99

Credit cards: All major cards

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www.lemontreemarket.com

Like Harry Belafonte’s well-known song, Rockville’s Lemon Tree is very pretty. But the fruits of this tree, blossoming in the Stores at Congressional Village, are impossible to resist.

‘‘Sharing meals with friends and family, pausing to taste, smell and enjoy rather than refuel, this is the foundation of traditional Mediterranean culture,” the menu proclaims. It is the basis of The Lemon Tree Market & Gourmet Café as well.

‘‘We want to bring that Mediterranean calmness to here,” owner Koray Kotan declares. ‘‘We are not going to rush anybody out; that’s not our way.”

These surroundings invite lingering even for those who are not enjoying the wireless Internet. Granite-topped tables and cozy sofas and chairs flank a double-sided fireplace hung with twin flat-screen televisions. Imported ceramics, glassware and crystal brighten the walls. Kotan calls the Anatolian gold-covered glassware, museum-quality limited reproductions from one of Turkey’s oldest manufacturers, ‘‘the best of the best of that region.” Handmade ceramics from Kutaya in Northeast Turkey, ‘‘really appealing in their colors and detail,” Turgla glass dishes (an exclusive) and white porcelain table settings aptly named Athens, Istanbul, Beirut and Tel Aviv are also for sale.

Lemon Tree shows the other face of the Mediterranean, the one that isn’t Spanish, French or Italian. The Eastern Mediterranean is not about kabobs, Kotan says,

Central display cases hold popular spinach or cheese-filled flaky borek and nearly a dozen homemade mezes including stuffed grape leaves, stuffed peppers and eggplant delight (Imam bayildi). Four kinds of hummus are made fresh daily, and a quintet of paninis and salads draws inspiration from the region.

Pistachio and walnut baklava and thumb-sized fried dough bits (tulumba) add authentic accents to the extensive gourmet pastries and cakes. Espresso drinks complement Turkish coffee served in the typical manner – under a fancy metal dome.

Customers are welcome to eat in or take out, and that’s not all. ‘‘I want people to buy the ingredients right here and do it at home,” Kotan says. Cookbooks highlight the cuisine of Israel, Syria, Turkey and Greece.

A cookbook, however, is not necessary to put together your own ethnic feast — just browse the abundant shelves. Turkish, Greek and Israeli brands feature stuffed grape leaves, fried eggplant slices, olives and pickled vegetables. Olive oils from Turkey and Greece, lemon vinegar, black olive paste, capers, nuts and special blend spices line the shelves.

In the refrigerated cases, Bulgarian and Greek fetas made from sheep or cow’s milk rub elbows with mild or spicy Turkish-style sausages (soujouk) manufactured in New York. ‘‘You can’t import meat products directly,” Kotan explains. Organic black mulberry, pomegranate and other unusual juices (most are 100 percent juice, he says) from the region share space with sweet or salty yogurt drinks. Turkish and Greek coffees complement apple, sage and linden flower teas and a regional drink called sahlep.

Turkish delight (the confectionary enticement in ‘‘The Chronicles of Narnia,” Kotan notes) ‘‘is very popular. Kids love it and adults appreciate it, too.” Lemon Tree has a befittingly large selection along with fruit preserves (imagine rose, bergamot peel, sour cherry and fig), candied chestnuts, halva, Greek baklava and biscotti.

From foodstuff to lemon cologne, olive oil soap and Mediterranean-scented candles, this is the place. Kotan and his family hope Lemon Tree will bloom someday into a franchise. Amen to that.

Lagniappe (a little something extra): Fat Tuesday, Feb. 20, marks the ninth annual gourmet gala Mardi Gras for the Kids. Benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the festivities will take place from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in D.C.’s National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Among the 36 chefs participating are Jason Tepper of La Miche, Bethesda; Geoff Tracy of Lia’s, Chevy Chase and Jeff Black, Black’s Bar & Kitchen, Bethesda, and Addie’s, Rockville. Also represented are county residents Michel Richard (Citronelle) and Jonathan Krinn (2941); The Melting Pot, Gaithersburg; Jacques Poulain of Cacao, Olney; Warren Brown of Cakelove, Silver Spring, and the Abi-Najm family of Lebanese Taverna, Rockville and Silver Spring. Visit www.stjude.org⁄gourmetgala.