Chef profile: Mahar Fawaz: co-owner of Kalamatas

At the front counter of Kalamatas, a Mediterranean cuisine destination nestled in a Green Hills strip mall, your greeting by co-owner Mahar Fawaz is a crapshoot.

"I am the gyro Nazi," Fawaz said. "I mess with everyone in here. I like to mess with our regular customers and people I've never seen before. I'll do anything. I like to catch them off guard, like make fun of the way they say gyro."

But unlike Seinfeld's infamous screaming “Soup Nazi” who turned customers away empty-handed, Fawaz is merely amusing himself, and those who don't shy away will find a man who warmly bids each and every staff member farewell at the end of their shift or heartily shakes the hands of the family members his friends bring to meet and dine with him.

Regulars know his special way of making a falafel, and Fawaz knows to begin preparing it without them asking.

Fawaz was born in Sidon, a small town in southwestern Lebanon, and the menu reflects his Mediterranean background.

Meanwhile, the dishes lean toward the healthier side, which is partly the influence of his close friend and Kalamatas co-owner, Beth Collins, the former executive chef for St. Thomas Hospital.

The menu features fresh versions of Mediterranean staples like Greek salads; lamb, beef or chicken kebobs; spinach, cheese or meat pies; stuffed grape leaves; hummus; but also boasts Fawaz's special twists like pine nut and cashew-filled baklava and falafels rolled up with tahini like a skinny wrap instead of a bulging pita pocket.

What kinds of food were you raised on?

Mediterranean food — hummus, falafel, rice, lamb, beans. A lot of salads — romaine lettuce, no iceberg. Tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, squash, green beans, oranges, apples, peaches — those used to grow in our backyards because of the warm climate, grapes — so many varieties of grapes, fresh figs, cactus fruit — the cactus leaf sometimes grows something the size of a peach but you can let it get ripe, open it and inside is sweet and very nice, pomegranate. And, salt water fish, sardines. My mom did a variation on spaghetti. She used to bake it in the oven with some fresh tomato sauce and lamb so it would be in a pan.

What are your earliest memories in the kitchen?

Somehow my mom knew I liked cooking, so she was always asking me to bring some salt or pour in some olive oil or red wine vinegar. I remember the first time I made a salad I was nine years old. My mom told me how to do it and I put it together. I think when I was a teenager I was cooking a lot. I was coming up with various things. Sometimes when I was younger and a picky eater or my mom would cook something I didn't like, I would try and put something else together. That's when I knew I loved cooking. I just enjoy it. A lot of people think it's work, but to me I am just having fun.

How did you get your start in the food industry?

I went to the University of Grenoble, (in France) and I worked in restaurants all that time and that's how I paid for my schooling. When I graduated I worked for a restaurant, then a hotel, then a couple of local-owned small brassieres and specialty small delis and then a restaurant in Monte Carlo — always as a sous chef, cook, prep assistant. Then I got a job to work in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in kitchen management at the King Fahed Hospital because of food and beverage management courses I took in college. In 1983, they sent me to Nashville to learn how the food service in America works and apply it over there in some of their hospitals. The training center was at Baptist Hospital. That's where I met my wife, who is a registered dietitian.

Where did the idea for Kalamatas come from?

I started my own business — a small deli shop. A friend of mine and I opened it, it was called Dalton Meat and Seafood. We sold fresh meat and seafood in Belle Meade. (He decided to close it after six months.) I opened a small gyro shop on Charlotte in 1997 called Farooge, which means ‘little chicken’ in Arabic. I had it for six years and then sold it in 2003. The first place was a test thing to see how to do things. Between my wife, me and my business partner [Beth Collins, the former executive chef at St. Thomas Hospital], Kalamatas was a collaboration. We wanted to bring in the Mediterranean diet and cuisine but something healthy — take some of the old recipes and bring it out so people can see what we have.

Which family recipes do you use?

The hummus, the falafel, eggplant, the Persian lamb kebab, the tabouli are all from my mom.

Which dish are you most proud of?

The salmon florentine. It was created by Beth, that is the best salmon you'll ever have. It's just so good — it's fresh and has an excellent combination of spinach and spices. It is the most asked for.

What is your favorite ingredient?

Garlic. I love it. And, it's healthy for you. Garlic and olive oil is a good combination to flavor food and it will alleviate the need to put a lot of salt on it.

What is your favorite kitchen tool?

A chef's knife. I like the way it handles, and the best thing is you can use it for different things.

What is your favorite cookbook?

Lebanese Cuisine by Annisa Helou. She took a lot of the old recipes — the real recipes — and she fused a little bit of the new cuisine in it. Sometimes I go through it if I am preparing something special, I'll take some of her recipes and modify them to make it healthier. Or, if I can't think of something, I'll pick it up and it presents something new. I am 20, 30 years away from home, so it's a reminder.

What do you miss the most about Lebanon?

The availability of fresh fruits and vegetables year round. I like the figs. We had three trees — three different kinds of figs — in the back of the house. One that produced a light green fig; one that produced a fig that was dark green on the outside and red on the inside; and one that was purple on the outside and red on the inside. You only rarely see that variety in California. We'd climb the trees and pick them all the way from July until October.

Cooking tip?

Simple. Make it simple. Do not complicate it. A lot of people try to mix a lot of things together, but when you make it simple it comes out better, especially when you do it with love. I don't care how good the recipe is, if you don't love what you are doing, it won't taste good.

What is in your refrigerator?

Very little. Most of the time the family eats here. There are apples, grapes, kiwi, carrots, romaine lettuce, low fat yogurt and water.

What is in your CD player?

Mediterranean music. A little Lebanese jazz.

What do you eat on a normal day?

A salad with fish whenever we have the three-ounce fish or a salad with some vegetables and a falafel with hummus.

What would you never eat?

Okra.

What is your most memorable dining experience?

Eating with a bunch of Saudis in a tent with a lamb stuffed with rice, pine nuts, almonds, raisins and different spices, and we ate al fresco with our hands. It was wild, but I just had to try it. It was good, and not everyone can say they did that. When I was there working, I got invited by tribesmen in the southern region of Saudi Arabia.

Kitchen horror story?

I don't have any, except one time I sent a guy out to buy romaine lettuce and he came back with cabbage.

Guilty food pleasure

Chocolate. I love chocolate. I know if I eat too much it's not good for me, but I love it. Dark chocolate is my favorite.

What would your last meal be?

My falafel sandwich.

If you weren't a restaurant owner, what would your dream job be?

I love people, I love dealing with people, I love interacting with people...public relations, maybe?

Kalamatas

3764 Hillsboro Road

383-8700

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