Tokyo Listening Rooms, Istanbul Taverns Inspire Middle Eastern Eatery in Bed Stuy

A new Middle Eastern restaurant and bar with an equal focus on food, booze, and music will be opening on Bed Stuy’s Malcolm X Boulevard in coming months, with the aim to bring the feel of Tokyo listening rooms mixed with Istanbul taverns.

The name Laziza means “a good thing” in Arabic, and for owner Jilbert El-Zmetr, who is Australian Lebanese, the inspiration for the restaurant came from all the things he said he loves in his life: Middle Eastern cuisine; good drinks; funk, soul, and groove music; and spending time with friends, family, and neighbors.

El-Zmetr grew up in kitchens in Australia, with parents who are both chefs, and there developed his love for shawarma, mezze, skewers, falafel, and cooking over fire in general, he said. Laziza will have all of those on offer in the style of smaller share plates at its location at 306A Malcolm X Boulevard. Cocktails will be the focus of the beverage menu, with a bar manager moving from Los Angeles to help El-Zmetr with the program that will also lean heavily on Middle Eastern flavors. Wine and beer will be available, too.

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On the music side of things, El-Zmetr said, the restaurant would be “record forward” with DJs most nights of the week. El-Zmetr himself has worked as a DJ in Sydney, London, and Hong Kong, he said, before moving to the U.S. seven years ago. The turntables will be an obvious fixture on entering the restaurant, he added, and a lot of effort has gone into the sound system, designed by New York brand Ojas with a mixer from Australian group Condesa.

“Selfishly, the bar is like a place of all of the things I love, and the ability for me to share that with everyone,” he said. “Surrounding myself with people who want to have fun, want to enjoy themselves, want to meet new people, want to learn new things, and have that experience.”

Bed Stuy was a natural choice for an opening location, El-Zmetr said, given he lives a couple of blocks from the restaurant and wants to make a contribution to the local area. City records show El-Zmetr through the LLC 304amx Group purchased the three-story building at 306A Malcolm X Boulevard from Bed Stuy Malcom X Blvd Partners LLC in February this year for $1.65 million.

“This is definitely going to be a neighborhood joint for people who are in a neighborhood to enjoy, but also for people that are not from the neighborhood to come and experience what we’re about here in Bed Stuy,” he said.

He said he is already very closely connected to the bar and restaurant owners along the bustling Malcolm X Boulevard corridor, where his immediate neighbors include Dick & Jane’s, Che, and Chez Oskar, given it’s where he eats and drinks currently. He said he wants to bring “my spin, my cultural experience to the table to kind of add to that and share it and contribute to that.”

Laziza has already held a couple of pop-ups in the nearby Milk and Pull coffee shop, which El-Zmetr said proves there is appetite in the neighborhood for another place to hang out and eat.

Just up the road, another Middle Eastern restaurant, Dar525, recently opened, but El-Zmetr said the offering at Laziza will be different with its focus on smaller plates, music, and drinks.

The inspiration for the interiors comes from “dimly lit listening rooms and hi-fi rooms in Tokyo, Japan, and the vibe of taverns in Istanbul,” he said, and he wants that to result in a space where people can hang out for a long time, make friends, and dance. He described the decor as “organized clutter and chaos” with lots of color.

As well as growing up in restaurants, El-Zmetr said he has years of experience working in hospitality, most recently owning Williamsburg ice cream store Republic of Booza, which closed during the pandemic. His dad has come over from Australia to help with the buildout and looking after El-Zmetr’s kids, and his mom will be joining closer to opening. While he said getting ready for the opening is a lot of work, “we have to do what we love.”

When Brownstoner stopped by last week, the space was under construction with workers on site. El-Zmetr said the plan is to debut in September or October and be open Tuesday through Sunday. Weekdays, the restaurant will open at 5:30 p.m. for dinner, while there will be a brunch service on the weekends. Laziza will close anywhere between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. depending on the night, he said.

The space, formerly occupied by well-known boutique condo developers Brookland Capital, has been empty since the company fell on hard times before the pandemic.

[Photos by Anna Bradley-Smith]

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