Chef Alon Shaya to open new restaurant Saba

James Beard Award-winning chef Alon Shaya announced the planned opening of his first restaurant following his public break with the John Besh Restaurant Group. Shaya, an Israeli-American, made the announcement through his recently-formed Pomegranate Hospitality catering company. The new restaurant will be titled Saba, which means grandfather in Hebrew.

Chef Alon Shaya in 2015 at the opening of Shaya. (Photo by Alan Smason)

Slated for a spring opening, the restaurant will reflect Shaya’s heritage, which will pay homage to Israel and the Middle East, Europe and North Africa. Shaya’s previous restaurants included Besh-partnered restaurants Domenica and Pizza Domenica as well as Shaya, the self-titled restaurant the chef oversaw that won Beard Awards as Best New Restaurant and for Shaya himself as Best Chef in the South.

Besh’s organization parted ways with the chef during a very public break last year during which various investigative reporters in newspapers and on TV alleged a climate of sexual harassment. Those reports led to the dismissal of Besh and the renaming of the former John Besh Group to BRG Hospitality. Following Shaya’s departure, executive chef Zach Engle, himself a recent James Beard Award winner, announced he was leaving BRG in order to join forces with Shaya at Pomegranate Hospitality, where he became culinary director.

In recent months, Shaya and Pomegranate Hospitality had attempted to buy back control of the restaurant or at least to take back ownership of his name from his former restaurant. However, a recent court decision upheld BRG Hospitality’s ownership of the brand.

Shaya promises to expand his previous Israel- and Middle Eastern-inspired cuisine at Saba. Among the influences the chef hopes to incorporate into Saba’s menu will be food from Bulgaria, Syria, Turkey, Morocco and Greece. Cara Peterson has been named as chef de cuisine.  She is expected to heavily source local seafood, meats and products from local farms in a major effort to ensure an overall farm-to-table experience. 

“All of us at Pomegranate Hospitality are beyond excited to get the doors open at Saba in New Orleans.  This restaurant will serve as our community center, where we can engage with our beloved team members, our hungry guests, and continue to support the causes that make our community stronger,” said Shaya. 

At the same time, Pomegranate Hospitality announced the opening of Safta, meaning grandmother in Hebrew, in Denver, Colorado. The restaurant will be housed in the Source Hotel in Denver’s RiNo (River North Arts District.

At both restaurants, wood-burning ovens will bake hot pita. Freshly-made hummus will also be a mainstay on both menus. 

Shaya will continue to focus his energies on the Shaya Barnett Foundation and next month will release his debut cookbook, “Shaya: An Odyssey of Food, My Journey Back to Israel.”