A Chef Dreams of Chicago’s Only Lebanese Tasting Menu Restaurant
-
Loading... - Nicholas Leos
- 17 Mar 2023
- 73 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
Beity, which translates to “home,” is the name of an upcoming River North restaurant
A new French-Lebanese restaurant will showcase its ambitious young chef’s unique culinary approach, honed through his extensive travels.
Beity, the first venture from 25-year-old Ryan Fakih, spotlights the nuances of Lebanese cuisine which the chef says is a genre often lumped in with little fanfare under a banner of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean food. Beity provides Fakih a platform to challenge diners and demonstrate the French cooking techniques he learned as a student at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.
“[Lebanese food] can be fine, it can be complex, it can be challenging to one’s palate,” Fakih says. “We want to provoke people’s sense of what they thought was good Lebanese food, and show them what it really is.”
Fakih aims to set Beity apart with a more formal dinner menu, with a la carte options such as shish barak, Lebanese meat dumplings with garlic yogurt sauce, and pistachio-crusted lamb with honey-glazed cumin carrots and date sauce. He’ll also offer brunch options like an ample Lebanese mezze breakfast (soft-scrambled eggs, labneh, grilled halloumi, fava bean, olives, mint, tea), traditional manakish (flatbread with akawi cheese and/or za’atar), and viennoiseries.
Though Beity’s opening menus are complete, its location remains an open question. Fakih says he and his investors are in negotiations for a location near Dearborn and Hubbard in River North.
High-end Lebanese restaurants are rare in Chicago, though the city is home to numerous casual alternatives like Taste of Lebanon in Andersonville. Another casual option, Evette’s in Lincoln Park, mixes Lebanese with a dash of Mexican. Many Chicagoans are introduced to Lebanese cuisine through fusion. Lately, the menu at a few modern French restaurants, like Le Sud and Le Select, reflect that country's immigration patterns with influences from places like North Africa and Lebanon. Read More…
