This is an offsite event being hosted by Reem's Mission. Visit their event page here for more details and to buy tickets.
Join Reem's Mission for a festive meal celebrating the release of Chef Jad Youssef's newly released cookbook, Lebnani! Signed cookbooks will be available for purchase on-site.
Doors open at 5:30 PM. Dinner begins promptly at 6:00 PM.
MENU
Snacks
Kabees
dill cucumbers, beet pickled turnips
Zaytoon
marinated olives
Khobz
Reem's Signature bread
Cold Mezze
Hummus Beiruti
smoky, herby, garlicky hummus- the Beirut Way
Salatet Batata
yukon golds, lemon, olives, pomegranate
Loubie b'Zeit
late summer green beans, tomato reductions, lots of good olive oil
Kibbet Bandoura
South Lebanon tomato tartare, khalta harra, herbs
Warm Mezze
Sawda Djej
caramelized chicken livers, garlic, pomegranate molasses
Kreidis Meshwe
tiger prawns, tangy chili glaze, toum
Dessert
Osmaliyeh b'Tine
Baked kataifi, ashta, poached figs
Menu is set and will be served family-style. Modifications are not available for this menu.
MEET THE CHEFS
Reem Assil is an award-winning chef, entrepreneur, and community organizer. Often known as an “accidental restaurateur,” her path began in social work and grassroots organizing before she built worker-owned businesses rooted in social equity. Through food and storytelling, Reem shares the spirit of radical Arab hospitality and creates spaces that feel like home.
Jad Youssef is chef patron of the award-winning Lebnani in Reigate, Surrey, UK. Jad was born in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War, the youngest of six siblings. He learnt to cook in his mother Khadija’s kitchen and in his father’s pastry shop before training at the Ecole Hoteliere in Beirut. After early work in local hotels and restaurants, he moved to Oslo in 2000 as Head Chef at Jeppe Restaurant, later relocating to London to lead the kitchen at Fakhreldine in Piccadilly and serve as Executive Chef at the Levant Group. In 2009, Youssef founded Yalla Yalla in Soho, one of London’s first Lebanese street food restaurants, expanding to Fitzrovia and Shoreditch in the following years. The restaurant received wide critical attention and achieved a cult following. After time in Hong Kong, Youssef and his wife Aga returned to the UK to open Lebnani in Reigate, Surrey, in 2020. The restaurant was named Best Restaurant in Surrey by Muddy Stilettos in 2024, an AA Rosette in May 2025 and in October Be Inclusive Hospitality winner of the Middle Eastern Food Award. Jad has also appeared at Meatopia, Taste of London and Taste of Hong Kong, on BBC’s Masterchef and worked with Miele amongst many more. Jad has just released his first cookbook, Lebnani, a collection of 84 authentic recipes cooking from his own family’s kitchen in Lebanon and that feature on the menu of his award-winning restaurant Lebnani.
