Manuchehr Kholov, who goes by “Manu,” was born in Fayzobod, a small town in Tajikistan, where he was raised by a single mother who owned a bakery.

He moved to Dushanbe, the country’s capital, when he was 12 and got a job as a waiter, Kholov said. When he had free time, he would go into the kitchen and help with salads and whatever else he could. Eventually he was doing decorative arrangements of fruits and vegetables.

“I would just ask, ‘Can I help? I don’t need money, just asking,’” he said. “Then, step by step, I became manager.”

All that experience is on display at Silk Road, named because Tajikistan, next to Afghanistan in Central Asia, was at the center of the Silk Road, the ancient trade route connecting East and West.

Any meal at Madison’s Silk Road must start with its fantastic homemade hummus ($4.99) topped with olive oil and chickpeas and served with fresh, delicious pita. I was so taken with the hummus for both taste and presentation that I got it again on a follow-up visit.

The tavuk kebab ($16.99) is another stunner, with giant chunks of juicy, grilled chicken breast. The gorgeous plate of food included rice, grilled tomato wedges, a pile of grilled onions, pita, charred baby sweet peppers and greens dressed with olive oil and vinegar.

Less exciting, but still good, was a ground beef version, adana kebab ($16.99), with char-grilled, well-seasoned, but slightly dry beef rolled up and stretching the length of the beautiful plate. It had all the same wonderful components of the chicken version.

The beef also came with a delightful homemade tomato-based sauce with cilantro and dill. Neither kebab was on a skewer, which made it easier to eat, and both are available as wraps.

A long, narrow piece of salmon ($17.99) was grilled over an open flame like the kebabs, benefitting from that cooking style and still managing to be moist and flavorful. It also came on a crowded plate, with chopped tomato and cucumber, rice sprinkled with chickpeas, and lime.

The fish was served with a gravy boat full of a creamy garlic sauce that also went well with the chicken kebab.

A pear salad ($11.99) had grilled chicken, greens, feta, and two ingredients I could’ve done without, raisins and walnuts.

Mercimek corbasi ($6.99), a bowl of soup described on the menu as having red lentils, onions, carrots and potatoes, was also disappointing: thin, weak and without many ingredients.

But a dessert called kunefe made up for that. It seemed expensive at $12.99, and was unusual in that it was both sweet and savory. Melted mozzarella cheese was surrounded by shredded phyllo dough and served with vanilla ice cream topped with ground pistachios. My companion thought it was too strange, but I was charmed.

One of my visits was at an odd time, 3:30 p.m. on a Thursday, and my server asked if I wanted tea or water. I chose tea, and she brought a beautiful cup and saucer ringed with gold, and a glass pot that had the tea steeping in a center compartment. She also dropped off a dish of sugar and plate of thinly sliced lemon. The tea service was elaborate and felt perfect on a cool, rainy day.

The tea wasn’t on my bill, and when I asked if it was included in my meal, she seemed to say it was, but there was a bit of a language disconnect. Kholov told me later he likes to give out tea for free if a customer prefers tea over water.

On each of my three visits, Kholov came out from the open kitchen to see how the meal was going.

I enjoyed the music coming from the kitchen on my afternoon visit; it sounded regal. On an evening visit, the monitor next to the menu display screens had a guy playing trance-inducing sitar.

Kholov met his wife, American Hannah Hamelman, when they were both studying at Narxoz University in Kazakhstan. She visited him in Tajikistan, and they kept in touch when she came back to the states. They married when Kholov was 19 and Hamelman was 21.

After she came to UW-Madison for a master’s degree, they chose Madison as their home and plan to raise a family here, Kholov said. Hamelman manages the restaurant.

The biggest knock against Silk Road, which opened Aug. 18, is that out front, by the street, it still has the prominent sign of the last occupant, Madtown Chicken N’ Fish. But Kholov said he’s getting a new sign in the next two weeks.

One time when I was there, a woman came in for fried chicken and was surprised to see the colorful tablecloths and a menu of kebabs and other food common to Tajikistan. The food could also be classified as Mediterranean.

Kholov admitted that having the Madtown sign has caused a lot of confusion, and said he’s been saving money to get it replaced.

If only the woman looking for Madtown Chicken had tried Silk Road’s tavuk kebab. There’s no way a chicken lover could leave disappointed.