Mediterranean restaurant to open in Falls Church this week

A new cafe highlighting Turkish, Greek and Lebanese cuisines is opening this week in Falls Church.

Cafe Zevian, a Mediterranean concept by Adem Kaplan, will be located at the bottom of The Kensington senior living facility at 700 W. Broad Street. Opening at 7 a.m. each day, the restaurant will offer breakfast, lunch and dinner options including an array of meat and vegetable dishes.

"Being born in Turkey, I've been in the country for about 30 years, and so it has always been my passion to own a nice restaurant, something that's really good quality, with a good, comfortable seating environment," said Kaplan, who also owns nearby Italian restaurant Sfizi Cafe.

The new eatery will open in the former space of Famille, a French-inspired restaurant that closed in 2022. It's scheduled to open for business by the end of the week.

While the menu is still being finalized, Kaplan said it will include hot and cold mezes, seasonal vegetables and fresh salads. He also mentioned lentil soup, dolmas and doner kebabs — a Turkish meat dish cooked on a vertical rotisserie.

"Lebanese would call this shawarma," Kaplan said. "In Turkish, they call it doner kebabs. Basically it's the same word in Arabic, Greek and Turkish, meaning spinning."

For lunch, the kebab meat will be added to sandwiches made with a thin bread resembling naan or lavash, Kaplan said. At dinner, he plans to serve beef sandwiches, lamb chops and plenty of seafood, including grilled octopus, sea bass and red snapper.

Cafe Zevian's 2,000-square-foot space includes a cafe bar, fireplace and armchairs. Booths and tables can seat up to 88 patrons inside, while the outdoor patio has space for 42.