Falafel, Funk And Good Times: New Restaurant Laziza Opens In Bed-Stuy

Restaurants & Bars

Falafel, Funk And Good Times: New Restaurant Laziza Opens In Bed-Stuy Craft cocktails and charcoal-grilled mezze right on Malcolm X Boulevard.

BROOKLYN, NY — Following a series of successful pop-ups, Laziza , a fresh new Middle Eastern restaurant, has officially opened for business as a brick-and-mortar location in Bed-Stuy.

Laziza, which means "good thing" in Arabic, is a bar and restaurant founded by Chef Jilbert El-Zmetr that offers craft cocktails and charcoal-grilled mezze inspired by traditional Middle Eastern flavors and the chef's Lebanese roots. The new restaurant opened on Tuesday.

The eatery's interior, with a mirror-tiled bar and velvet banquettes, has an intimate, vintage feel, complimented by the archival, vinyl-only soundtrack, spanning global funk, soul and boogie.

Fittingly, the restaurant's slogan is "Falafel + Funk + Good Times."

Before opening Laziza, El-Zmetr owned and ran a Middle Eastern ice cream concept in Williamsburg called Republic of Booza.

Now, he's joined by industry veteran Nima Jahromi, who has worked at Balthazar and Sofreh in the city, as well as Neuehouse in Los Angeles, where he ran the bar program.

On the drink menu, the team shares a mix of inventive cocktails like the lavashak with bourbon, and an apricot fruit leather emulsion, and a Lebanese Arak, with a Persian tea blend with notes of cardamom and citrus, topped with edible roses.

The cocktail menu also features a variety of non-alcoholic cordials made with shaved ice, like sour cherry with lime and saffron-infused simple syrup, and the Jallab with date, grape, and pomegranate reduction topped with sparkling water.

For eating, the duo designed a menu of hot and cold shareable mezze, including maple smoked labneh, falafel, Armenian sausage, red lentil kofte, and tahdig made with potatoes and saffron butter.

For dessert, they're serving Pashmak, a hand-pulled Persian cotton candy with dried fruit, and a flight of ice cream with flavors like pistachio, praline, and halva.

Laziza is located at 306A Malcolm X Blvd., Brooklyn, NY.