In the Know: Lebanese bistro launches in North Naples

Drawn to Florida for its subtropical climate and beach lifestyle, Hassane “Sam” Charaf and his family feel at home on the southern Gulf Coast. The palm trees, water and high-end tourism trappings in Naples reminds them of their native Lebanon.

“I felt comfortable here,” Charaf said. “That’s how we grew up in the hospitality business.”

A customer at one of the three Lebanese Grill locations that Charaf and his brothers have operated for the last two decades in the northern suburbs of Detroit recommended that Sam visit the Fort Myers area. When he and his wife visited here at Christmas, they were smitten by Naples and knew this is where they wanted to be and buy a home.

“When we came to Naples we felt like we fit there more,” Charaf said.

At the same time, Mariano Maldonado and Rocio Navarrete wanted to sell their El Gaucho Inca Bistro in North Naples. During season, the Fort Myers couple found it exhausting to operate both their original longtime El Gaucho Inca restaurant in Fort Myers plus the bistro in Naples that they opened in fall 2016.

They sold the Naples business to Charaf and closed the restaurant here in early March to focus on their family-owned, chef-driven South American venue in Fort Myers.

With Monday’s opening of Phoenician Lebanese Bistro, Charaf continues the succession of local restaurants at that corner spot of Uptown Center off Immokalee Road. Before El Gaucho Inca Bistro, Fred’s Food, Fun & Spirits and Fred’s Diner operated there for more than eight years until summer 2016. Other restaurants in that retail center include Araya Sushi Asian Grill, Rusty's Raw Bar & Grill, Jason's Deli and Cicis Pizza.

Phoenician Lebanese Bistro honors the heritage and culture of ancient Phoenicia, the coastal area of the eastern Mediterranean that included modern-day Lebanon. Phoenicians were masters of shipbuilding, maritime trade and navigation of the Mediterranean Sea and beyond.

“There’s so much history,” Charaf said. “Unfortunately, not many people know about it.”

Charaf hopes to impress Naples diners with authentic dishes from his birth country.

“It’s Lebanese, Middle Eastern cuisine, basically. The proper, traditional way is what we try to present here,” he said.

The menu has been tested by the discriminating clientele of Greater Detroit, home to one of the largest Lebanese American communities for more than a century. The Charaf family, who hailed from Beirut and the Bekaa Valley east of the Lebanon capital known as "The Paris of the Middle East," has longtime Lebanese Grill restaurants in Rochester Hills, Shelby Charter Township and Troy, Michigan.

“There’s a big community there. They are picky. They come from a background where they know what the food is. That’s why you have to do your best to bring the people in the door,” Charaf said. “We are so successful up there. We are still doing a good business there.”

The Charaf brothers were inspired by their father, a Lebanese chef who had always owned his own restaurant.

“Everybody loved him and his character and the way he cooks. He was very significant. He does it from the heart,” Charaf said. “He loved to see people eating. He enjoyed it. That was his joy. Seeing them enjoying their food. That made him happy.”

Charaf started working with his father at his restaurant in Beirut, and later worked in upscale hotels in Beirut and Dubai before relocating to the United States more than 30 years ago. The joy of hospitality was passed on to the next generation.

“I think it’s in the genes. It comes with the genes. Even when I cook at home I do it with passion. I do it from all my heart,” Charaf said.

So, cooking obviously is more than using just authentic spices and ingredients. The authenticity must come from within, Charaf said.

“What I learned from my father is that you have to be generous. You have to be generous inside genuinely,” he said. “It comes from the heart and, if you’re a generous person, it shows on the plate. Even if the amount is little. It’s not the amount that we are talking about. I’m talking about your respect, your inside. This is how we feel.”

Charaf is using the same recipes and menu from his family’s Lebanese Grill locations in Michigan, but he offers a different presentation. The preparation will remain classic, though.

“We cook everything from scratch,” he said. “It’s made fresh. It’s made to order with natural ingredients.”

A pita oven will be added to freshly create the soft, slightly leavened flatbread that is used in a variety of ways in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines.

“We’ll bake our own bread. This is going to be a hit. We’re going to bring the fresh bread to the table, the fresh pita,” Charaf said. “The garlic sauce we make people love it so much they eat it with the bread like hummus.”

Charaf expects his marinated and charbroiled chicken shawarma and chicken kabobs to be among the most popular items. The key to savory chicken is in the marinade, he said.

“That’s what gives you the nice taste and keeps it moist. It’s not too dry,” he said. “There’s like about 20 different ingredients in there. There are different spices and seasonings.”

Other Lebanese and Mediterranean favorites on the lunch and dinner menu include hummus, tabouli, falafel and lamb grape leaves. The cuisine encourages relaxed family dining with appetizers and sharing. A small selection of Lebanese wines and beer will be expanded and a full bar is available.

Menu sections are named after Lebanese cities: Tyre’s Mezza (appetizers), Tripoli’s Soup, Sidon’s Salads, Bekaa’s Poultry Entrees, Baalbek’s Lamb and Beef Entrees, Byblos’s Seafood Entrees and Beirut’s Sandwiches.

Vegetarian appetizers range from $8 for Spinach Pie or Baba Ghanouj, a dish of baked eggplant mixed with tahini sauce, lemon and garlic; to a $22 Tour of Byblos Mezza, which provides a sampling of hummus, baba ghanouj, tabouli, falafel and grape leaves. Other choices include a falafel plate, vegetarian grape leaves and a variety of hummus offerings.

Non-vegetarian appetizers range from $9 for fried kibbeh stuffed with lamb to $18 for raw kibbeh. Other selections include lamb or chicken hummus, meat pie, lamb grape leaves, Phoenician shrimp and Sojok, a sautéed lamb and beef sausage.

Dinner entrees, served with a choice of rice or fries and soup or house salad, range from $19 for chicken sautéed with mushrooms to $32 for a Phoenician Mixed Grill of charbroiled shish kabob (lamb or beef), shish tawook (chicken) and shish kafta (ground lamb). Lamb chops are available at market price and the more than 25 entrée options also include meat shawarma, baked lamb shank, shish kabobs, Mediterranean salmon, and lamb, beef, chicken or shrimp curry.

The lunch menu, served 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a choice of rice or fries, includes entrees ($12-$18) such as meat or chicken shawarma, falafel and shish kabob, kafta or tawook. Sandwiches ($9-$12) feature favorites — chicken and meat shawarma, shish tawook and shish kafta or falafel — with various vegetables rolled in a pita. Beverages include Turkish coffee, espresso and cappuccino.

“Our food just speaks for itself once you try it,” Charaf said.

Only minor changes were made to the restaurant, a 3,300-square-foot space with more than 150 seats, two bars and an adjoining open-air section. Charaf basically only had to change some of the artwork on the walls.

“It’s a lovely place. It’s a really nice place here. It’s a little upscale from what we had before,” he said. “The place is beautiful. I’ll just give it a little identity. Just a little touch.”

Phoenician Lebanese Bistro, 2700 Immokalee Road, is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays for dine-in or carryout. Charaf may extend the evening hours and add entertainment. For more information call 239-431-7928 or go to phoenicianbistro.com.

For the latest in local restaurants coming and going, see Tim Aten’s “In the Know” columns archived at naplesnews.com/intheknow, and on Facebook at facebook.com/timaten.intheknow.