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Our first meal at this Lebanese restaurant earned it a spot on our Best Bites of 2019. We were smitten with the food, particularly the mousakhan, sumac-coated chicken. Yet, when the smiling owner, Serje Banna, gave us a tiny foil packet of sumac to bring home, we were touched by his passion to share beyond the plate. During our next visit, after we asked about the bottle of arak behind the bar, he wasted no time pouring us a taste of the anise-based spirit. When his wife, Najla Chami, brought out our order of mahshi selek, she pointed out that Lebanese cooks can swap grape vine leaves with swiss chard. For at Mouné, every meal comes with a lesson in Lebanese cuisine.

This zeal for sharing is the seed that sprouted Mouné.  “No one was fully representing Lebanese cuisine,” says Serje. The couple wanted to show that their homeland’s cuisine was more than hummus and kebabs. While they do have delicious versions of both, they also serve sheikh el mehshi (stuffed eggplant) and kibbeh (bulgur wheat balls), dishes one finds in a Lebanese home. “Food is culture,” explains Najla, as Serje adds, “and we are offering a cultural exchange.” The couple named their restaurant “mouné” (“preserved” in Arabic) inspired by the Levantine tradition of storing vegetables in glass jars. After a meal at Mouné, you’ll realize the couple is also preserving, and celebrating, the cuisine of Lebanon.

We start off our meal with mezes, small plates meant for sharing, like rouleau fromage, feta-stuffed pastry rolls, or manakish, whole-grain flatbread topped with za’atar and spinach. Serej explains his countrymen eat the latter for breakfast. We love dipping the disc-size delights into Najla’s flavorful hummus, deliciously topped with tarragon on one visit. As in Lebanon, seasonality dictates what’s on the menu. So, no tomato-based tabbouleh in winter like many Lebanese snack bars – her pet peeve.

But, you will find kabocha squash kibbeh in the fall. Najla’s vegetarian take is lighter than the typical meat version and illustrates her playfulness in adapting recipes. Here, she layers caramelized leeks and swiss Chard between a bright-orange crust made from puréed pumpkin and bulgur. The grain is “everywhere in Lebanon,” explains the young chef, adding that rice is a more modern ingredient that came from Asia.

The couple named their restaurant “mouné” (“preserved” in Arabic) inspired by the Levantine tradition of storing vegetables in glass jars. After a meal at Mouné, you’ll realize the couple is also preserving, and celebrating, the cuisine of Lebanon.

She continues that modern cuisine Libanais has been heavily influenced by Turkey, since her country was part of the Ottoman Empire for 400 years. Take the yogurt sauce. “My French customers get confused since they consider yogurt sweet, not savory,” says Najla. Yet, they fervently sop up the sauce with kefta, the spiced meatballs that are such a menu hit she’s nicknamed them “the codeword.”

The auburn-haired chef buys the yogurt – and halloumi and feta – at local urban fromagerie Laiterie Marseillaise, as well as farm-fresh milk that she transforms into labneh. Eager to support fellow Marseille food artisans, Mouné also serves small-batch coffee from Café Louca and fresh-baked bread from Dame Farine, run by a fellow Libanaise. Ever considerate, they serve the bread in paper bags so that “customers can take the leftovers home rather than have it go to waste,” explains Serje. “They rarely do,” he laments, smiling when we take him up on the bready doggy bag.

Though she took a class in classic Lebanese dishes, Najla’s cooking chops come from growing up in a multi-generational family who loves cooking. Consequently, her food has the comfort of a home-cooked meal. Take her daube de sanglier, a Provençal red-wine stew made with succulent wild boar. Najla adds a Levantine touch by adding smoked paprika and replacing traditional noodles with freekeh, roasted green wheat with a nutty, smoky flavor.

The freekeh is one of the Terroirs du Liban products that Mouné sells, their small épicerie and extension of their education in Lebanese cuisine. “They taste [the products] in the plates,” says Najla, adding that Serje will enthusiastically bring them to the table for further teaching. Like the bottle of carob molasses that he shows us when we ask what is in our poached pear’s tasty, caramel-like sauce. Another dessert, baklava, is loaded with pistachios and not too sweet. The flaky pâtisserie Orientale is so good our friend devours it even after saying she’s too full.

Pair your sweets with a thick Lebanese kawah (“it packs a punch,” warns Serje.) Not a fan of coffee? Order a café blanc, hot water and fleur d’oranger, the orange-flower water so abundant in Mediterranean recipes. “It is good for when you’re sick,” chimes in Najla’s mom. The sexagenarian helps out during visits from Beirut, whether pitching in in the kitchen or running plates to tables.

Though Serje and Najla just hired a dishwasher, mom had been the couple’s only extra hands since opening in September 2019. The first-time restaurateurs had opted for a small space to keep things intimate. They smartly chose a location near the Vieux-Port and the Palais de Justice for foot traffic and a steady lunch crowd. The regulars return for the consistently good grub and warm welcome – Serje’s uncanny memory means a customer becomes a familiar face after one visit.

With business revving up post Covid lockdowns, Mouné has opened on Friday eves for classic and modern mezes like a kefta Scotch egg. A nighttime spot was actually in Najla and Serje’s original plan. The film director and the photographer fancied a cocktail and meze joint for their next creative endeavor. When Najla became pregnant after the move from Beirut to Marseille, the couple pivoted to a lunch-only place. We’re happy to have them at any hour.

Published on February 15, 2022

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