We had the pleasure for episode 173 to sit down with restaurateur and activist, Moudi Sbeity. Moudi is the owner of Laziz Kitchen in downtown Salt Lake City.
Moudi has taken a different restaurant approach with Laziz. Blending a mix of East meets West, offering a place where bread can be broken, and creating a safe space in the community for SLC LGBTQ+ population. Moudi has found a way to run a restaurant on empathy. Moudi told us that growing up his grandmother had 2 restaurants in Beirut and every day his memories consisted of his mother or grandmother cooking for him. With these memories in hand, Moudi has created a menu and space that represents these memories. When you visit Laziz you may be expecting Lebanese food, however Moudi has infused French, Italian, and Mediterranean cuisine to create his menu. It also changes based on the seasons *winter/spring and summer/fall.*
Moudi started his dream, not really in a bathtub, by creating their famous hummus. If you haven’t had a chance to try it, it is recommended by all of us. He took 7 years of adjusting the flavor and perfecting the creaminess. You can find it, and their other super delicious sauces, at the Saturday Downtown Farmers market as well as at a handful of local grocers. On a celebratory note, November 2019 will be three years that Laziz has been part of the SLC/UT restaurant community.
Laziz is growing. Offering a new drag show once a month to give local performers of all art types showcase their talents, and in the future they want expand the restaurant to have a lounge.
We personally would like to help Moudi find an artist to paint the pride flag and a representation of the queer community on the side of their building because their pride flag has been desecrated three times, as of this recap. If you know an artist that would be willing to donate the time, please let us know!
You can follow Laziz on their website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for beautiful pictures of their food, upcoming menu updates, and events!
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Music By: Folk Hogan. Bootleggers Dance.