GORDO wanted to know more; a small, family-owned Lebanese restaurant chain from that there London, Comptoir Libanais, is opening a Northern outpost soon on The Avenue in Spinningfields. Gordo knows the chain, he eats in the Soho branch while waiting to catch the cheap train back to God’s country.
This guy has the magic ingredient. It’s called OCD and it’s a necessity in a restaurateur
The problem with Lebanese restaurants, you see, is not dissimilar to those at Chinese takeaways; mainly family-run operations with wildly varying degrees of quality. Gordo’s local Chinese is very good, as long as you don’t receive a hail of abuse off Granny when she’s in a bad mood. To find a great Lebanese is not easy.
Yet when done well, it’s heaven on earth, with flavours that put a smile on your face without creating a black hole in your pocket. Two of this year's best cookery writers specialise in this cuisine; Yotam Ottolenghi and Gordo’s favourite, Sabrina Ghayour. Gordo’s chef at home, Lu Varley, has an Iranian husband and she’s taken to cooking full Middle Eastern dinner parties for him, which have delighted and surprised the guests.
Comptoir LibanaisComptoir is a rare gem of a chain owned by a charming fella, Tony Kitous, who arrived in London twenty-odd years ago with £75 in his pocket, aiming to eke it out on a holiday from Algiers. He didn’t return home. Kitous wangled his way into launching one of London’s best Lebanese restaurants, Levant, just off Wigmore Street where Gordo chatted with him one rainy Monday morning.
“Lebanese food is my mission, I want to deliver Arab classics beautifully cooked. The food is healthy, but in no way boring,” says our man from Arabia.
Indeed, families tuck-in, individuals grab and go, dating couples fence over Mana'esh while groups shoot the breeze over banquets.
“We do take-away or you can linger over a good coffee,” says Kitous, “what I want to ensure is that quality is maintained at all times and the traditions of Arab hospitality flows.”
Lamb and prune tagineTony walked Gordo across the road to Comptoir Libanais. It took Kitous about eight minutes to have surveyed the room, the tables, the staff, the coffee and the food in the counter. This guy has the magic ingredient. One that Tim Bacon has at Living Ventures, owner of Australasia, Manchester House and The Alchemist, to mention just a few. It’s called OCD and it’s a necessity in a restaurateur.
He’s a marathon runner, but not your average. Kitous has finished the Oman Ultra Desert marathon, 165 kilometres across six days. This fella has focus and it shows in the pride he takes in the food. Within twenty minutes, there were fourteen courses on the table, some familiar, some not so. Not one dud.
Tony believes that Middle Eastern cuisine is going to elbow others out and Gordo has to agree with him. Think you’ve had falafel? There’s a good chance that you may have a pot of hummus in the fridge. But neither like those served in Levant, or at Comptoir.
Gordo believed that the Comptoir falafel couldn’t be beaten. He looked at the dish arriving in front of him at Levant, the original high-end Mothership. It looked the same, this really impressed Gordo; indeed, it tasted exactly the same as the ones Gordo had been tasting at Comptoir for some time. Absolutely brilliant. Tony didn’t need to pull out the stops just for The Fat One; they have been pulled and finessed by this wiry marathon runner for every paying customer.
Genius Falafel
Mint tea with a dash of rose waterThe Comptoirs all look similar, the Algerian in Tony has brought a certain style to everything in the interior décor. All lemons, yellows, reds and sunshine. You can smell citrus, cumin, coffee and chocolate. Even on a foul Monday morning the place feels as though you’re going to have to hail a camel to get back to Euston.
Comfy, buzzy and likeable.
The Spinningfields restaurant is going to be a big one. Nearly 200 covers on The Avenue. If the team connects properly with Mancunia, unlike some other southern adventurers, it will do well. Gordo, for one, is looking forward to it. A tip? Try out Tony’s mint tea with a dash of rose water. Bloody historic for something without alcohol in it.
If the standards are kept up, it’s a Gordo Go. Watch this space.
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Find out more - Tonykitous.com, ComptoirLibanais.com or Levant.co.uk
Tony Kitous outside Comptoir
