Tucked on the bottom ground of a cinder block constructing subsequent to a row of eating places and a parking storage on Dryden Highway, Loumies’ glass storefront is on the coronary heart of Collegetown’s buzz.
The pink and orange brand on the window invitations folks in to get pleasure from a heat plate of Levantine meals and a heat smile from lead chef Rania Kaldi.
“I like cooking. I like inviting folks. I like assembly folks,” she says.
What began off as an curiosity for Rania –– she’s a former advertising and marketing supervisor at luxurious corporations in Dubai –– become a serious profession shift that introduced her to Ithaca. Every job change and transfer led her one step nearer to her realizing her desires of beginning a restaurant.
Rania and Raed Kaldi: Group behind Loumies
A trip to go to household in upstate New York would ultimately lead Rania to a giant transfer that may set up Loumies as a burgeoning staple of Mediterranean, Center Jap and different Levantine cuisines, a few of which replicate the recipes from Rania’s birthplace, Lebanon.
“I fell in love (with Ithaca),” Rania mentioned. Its stunning blooming timber, change in tempo from New York Metropolis life and the varsity system are what sealed the deal, as she needed a extra appropriate education system for her 8-year-old.
Rising with the solar to cook dinner and shutting the restaurant at twilight along with her husband, Raed Kaldi, the logistics operator and co-partner of the enterprise, the 2 work within the area that was previously the house of Café Pacific. Formally opened on Jan. 21, Loumies is stuffed with welcoming vitality harking back to the placement’s former dwelling.
“It has such a superb karma,” Rania mentioned.
Whereas the eatery initially opened in December, it closed when COVID-19 circumstances rose via the winter.
“It wasn’t good, however it was ours,” Raed Kaldi mentioned of the preliminary opening.
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Meals that inform a narrative
Lined with savory za’atar, cheese, rooster and beef pies, important meal choices like okra stew and a big pan of marinated Seven Spice Hen, sides and different vegan and vegetarian decisions, aromatic and filling meals cooked in olive oil sit behind the glass and wood countertop, which had been constructed with the house owners’ fingers.
Rania’s hope was to make a spot for folks to have entry to wholesome meals in Collegetown.
“Dwelling cooking is the precise design of the recipes themselves,” she mentioned.
Every shelf holds a bowl of spices and dried fruits, just like the dried lemon which the shop is called after. Every recipe is rigorously crafted and cooked for hours by solo chef Rania. Some elements just like the okra are imported from Egypt.
Her recipes and cooking strategies had been cultivated through the years –– how, although, is a narrative in itself.
How Rania obtained right here, her reminiscences expressed via recipes
“Every part occurred by chance,” Rania mentioned. From the extreme world of vogue to funding banking, Rania’s journey to Loumies began in advertising and marketing, her experience.
As a former advertising and marketing supervisor on the Jumeirah lodge and resort group in Dubai, she turned concerned in the culinary arts when she began to create cooking lessons to advertise the lodge with a chef.
Her first bouts of cooking professionally in the USA had been impressed by her pals who would ask her to cater for his or her occasions whereas she was freelancing.
Cooking from her one-bedroom residence in New York Metropolis along with her little one and husband, she remembers the day that her range went out. She purchased a singular induction oven and cooked sufficient meals for 400 folks for a catering occasion.
“It was three days. I used to be working day and night time. It’s just one range. However that is the fantastic thing about the problem. That is what I do, that is how I thrive. I just like the exhausting(work),” she mentioned.
Devoted to studying how you can pursue her ardour, she discovered how you can arrange her restaurant from a profitable pop-up store she did in collaboration along with her neighbor who ran a espresso store and labored with a consulting group to dabble in the cooking element of the enterprise.
Whereas she mentioned she at all times had the abilities and expertise to handle a enterprise, it was the eagerness for cooking she had not but utilized professionally.
“That is how I obtained myself into making an attempt. I dip my finger in so many issues as a result of I haven’t got the expertise,” she mentioned.
Now, the restaurant is the place she continues to specific her love for studying and pushing via challenges.
Loumies: What to attempt to what’s subsequent
Her favourite meals? “That’s asking me to decide on between my youngsters,” Rania mentioned.
The stuffed zucchini with quinoa and greens and the fire-roasted freekeh soup well-known for its smokiness share a spot in her coronary heart.
Though she loves making these meals, objects just like the stuffed zucchini require extra work which makes it troublesome to keep up inventory when balancing different elements of the restaurant.
Because of this, Rania and Raed are seeking to broaden their workforce as they transfer ahead. They need to broaden their outreach to Ithaca residents, college students and guests so that they can also attempt the meals the house owners love, via the restaurant and catering.
As their motto reads, “Come on in, seize a plate.”
Should you go
Aromatic, scrumptious and filling Levantine meals, with recent elements and imported meals objects in a comfortable storefront on the go and in retailer, and an possibility for personalised catering.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 1-8 p.m. Sunday
Location: 114 Dryden Highway, Ithaca
Caroline Johnson is a meals, drink and tradition reporter on the Ithaca Journal. E-mail her at cejohnson@gannett.com. Observe her on @carolinewrites2 on Twitter for extra tales and graphics.
