The idea for the restaurant Maryool, which means "apron" in Arabic, was in the making since chef Reem Azoury was just a child.
There, Azoury remembers her grandmother preparing bkhoot, a regional dish unique to Bhamdoun, similar to a large sambousek, stuffed with kawermah and labneh.
A fan of Korean, Iranian, Iraqi and other Asian foods, Azoury loaded new flavors she encountered into her recipes, never settling for any authentic dish without giving it an extra flair.
She sold Figs Fine Food seven years later and moved back to Lebanon where she soon became executive chef and partner at Saifi's Meat the Fish, the Downtown restaurant Skirt, and finally Maryool.
Maryool is the farthest thing from an "authentic" Lebanese restaurant, and Azoury asks that customers come with an open mind.
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