Chef Interview: Meet Ori Menashe–Chef of Bavel Los Angeles

Bavel has been the most critically and publicly praised restaurant of the past year. The acclaim is damn near universal, and a lot of that has to do with the hard work of Menashe, Gergis, and their team. Here’s how Gergis and Menashe feel about the response: OM: We’re thrilled with the outcome of everything. I wasn’t really sure how people would perceive this cuisine and the way we execute it. We’re happy that people are appreciating and enjoying what we’re doing. On opening a second restaurant, and all the lessons learned after opening Bestia six years ago: OM: It was a really fun experience opening a second restaurant. You have a lot fewer obstacles because you learned so much from the first one. It was so much better to open Bavel with the experience that we had from Bestia. GG: It’s like having a kid. (Menashe and Gergis have a daughter named Saffron). The first time is a disaster. A restaurant is the same. OM: I was more calm and not as stressed. You’re more in control, and you have a better understanding of your abilities. We took a month to train staff, instead of week or two we had with Bestia. At Bavel, we have a larger dish pit and had enough plates. Also we had a lot of veterans from Bestia too, so the training process was a lot easier. On doing this kind of Middle Eastern cuisine in a city that’s full of great Middle Eastern restaurants: OM: Everyone has their style of doing Middle Eastern food. All of them are great, and all of them are unique in their own way. I don’t know if I could compare Bavel to them. I enjoy all of them. I’m happy that more Middle Eastern restaurants are opening because I think it’s good for the culture. GG: Places like Kismet are doing something very different from what we’re doing. Kismet doesn’t have pita or hummus on their menu. It’s hard to compare when they have their own style. Sure they use za’atar and other similar flavor profiles. I think it’s easier to compare Italian food because it’s all pasta to pasta to pasta. “Everyone has their style of doing Middle Eastern food. All of them are great, and all of them are unique in their own way.” OM: We don’t have a lot of high-end Middle Eastern restaurants to compare Bavel to. No one is following a trend of dishes or styles. With something like pizza, you can compare things like the texture of the dough, sauce, fermentation. I guess the only thing you could compare Bavel to would be our hummus. On which opening Menashe and Gergis are prouder of — Bestia or Bavel: OM: We’re proud of Bestia because it was a long shot. The area was a complete unknown. We opened with the lowest budget on the planet, and we were barely able to make it. Most of the money came from our friends. But we’re proud of Bavel because it’s the cuisine of our heritage. We’re proud of both of them, and especially the two teams that are running them.

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Chef Interview: Meet Ori Menashe–Chef of Bavel Los Angeles

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