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In 2017, the year Rose Previte opened Maydan in Washington D.C., her husband, NPR journalist David Greene, took a job in Los Angeles co-hosting Morning Edition. Call it the first sign that Maydan was always headed west. The coincidences kept coming: her D.C. landlord happened to show her a 10,000-square-foot West Adams space right as Maydan D.C. earned its Michelin star in 2019. In a former factory for coin-collector pages (you know, those hole-punched pages with tiny slots for coins), Previte saw Maydan Market—an amalgamation of stalls celebrating the city's immigrant cultures and cuisines in the spirit of a global night market—with Maydan and a gargantuan live-fire hearth at its heart. It took six years to get Maydan open, but the mezze alone, from silky hummus to walnut casik, makes the case that it was worth the wait and an incredible addition to L.A.’s dining scene.
The vibe: Warehouse industrial-meets-bazaar. Maydan occupies the back corner of Maydan Market. A mirrored and tiled bar with hanging lanterns is a great place for solo diners (and to meet someone), as is the hearth counter seating. Out back, Bedouin-inspired tents seat six to ten diners craving a special Moroccan-style experience or seclusion. It’s best to come with a group if you can, so you can have the three-pound, seven-spice Syrian lamb shoulder and still try other things.
The food: Previte’s Lebanese heritage and extensive travels shape a menu that leans Middle Eastern, North African, and Caucasus. Simple dishes dazzle: an herb plate and a Tunisian gem lettuce salad piled with white peach, shaved fennel, Castelvetrano olives, and toasted pistachios, then finished with a harissa citronette. But the halloumi sings loudest: pulled from the fire still sizzling, dusted with Egyptian peanut dukkah and luscious honey. For first-timers and overthinkers, the $95-per-person family-style tawle—Arabic for “table”—offers a comprehensive spin through the menu, with a seemingly never-ending supply of freshly baked tone, the blistered flatbread slapped onto the walls of a clay oven. The aforementioned lamb shoulder is another $20 a head—if that’s a stretch, or if you’re two people who’d rather not eat leftovers all week, the ribeye dry-rubbed with Georgian blue fenugreek and spicy adjika satisfies just as well. All kebabs are well-executed and worth trying, but if you have to pick two, I’d ditch the mushroom and stick to the chicken and lamb. And do venture into every condiment. The beauty of Maydan is that every bite has the potential to be its own universe thanks to the medley of dishes and accouterments filling the table.
The drink: The wine list is global—California, Spain, Italy, France, Greece and, obviously, the Middle East—and the by-the-glass pours from Morocco, Lebanon and Georgia are where it gets interesting and pairs best with the food. Cocktails have fun with Middle Eastern ingredients, too. Think dukkah orgeat mai tais and labneh-washed spicy mezcalitas.
Time Out tip: While Maydan isn’t open for lunch, Sook—within Maydan Market—is dishing out a few of the spreads (hummus, walnut casik, beet borani), plus a delectable chopped salad with Persian cucumber and crispy spiced chickpeas. Go for the labneh ranch and pull a power lunch move by adding Maydan’s Omani grilled shrimp from the fire.