The Un Peu Fou space covers 160 m², both indoors and outdoors, with a 30-seat terrace for the animals. (Credit: Andrea Bouez)
Un Peu Fou is a restaurant that favors local, seasonal produce. Its doors opened on Feb. 7 on the Saint-Nicolas stairway in Gemmayzeh. Its cuisine is synonymous with creativity, with rising star Andrea Bouez at the helm.
Bouez teamed up with four partners to open this new restaurant, including her sister Rhea, her friend Carma Andraos, Amine Kallas and Tiffany Trad.
“Everyone has their own role. I take care of the kitchen, while the others handle management, design, branding, operations and accounting.” At the age of 28, Andrea has become a crucial figure for the years to come.
After attending the Glion Hospitality School in Switzerland, she returned to Lebanon and became head chef at Tawlet restaurant for a year and a half. Then, with her sister and Carma, she renewed the Peck in Gemmayzeh, revamping its image and menu. The young woman also worked for the golden evenings at the al-Bustan Hotel, when she was just 22: “I concocted the menus, then cooked at their place for the occasion,” she said.
But Un Peu Fou is only her “first [creative] baby.” “Our menu is going to get a little crazier as we go along, but we’re taking it slow,” she said. She recalled that the name comes from the fact that “to live here, you have to be a little crazy all the same.” This nod to the situation in Lebanon is very popular among customers. “Some even told me not to let anyone in who isn’t a bit crazy, while others took photos of the restaurant’s signage. Everyone can relate to it, and so can we.”
Away from the hustle and bustle
To find the restaurant’s location, one has to climb the Saint-Nicolas staircase and get away from the hustle and bustle on Gouraud Street. Andrea had the location in mind for a long time. “I wanted to be away from the road, and this location was perfect. As soon as it became available, I decided to invest right away.”
Andrea and her partners paid around $300,000 to renovate and fit out the restaurant. They signed a five-year lease, with a rental fee of $35,000 a year. Both indoor and outdoor areas are spread over 160 square meters, including 30 seats on the terrace where pets are welcome, and around 20 seats in the dining area, including six at the bar. “We also have a large table for 12 people, which can be privatized.”
A total of 20 employees work at Un Peu Fou, including eight in the kitchen. The eclectic menu “doesn’t follow trends but rather what I like, and it varies according to the produce. Everything comes from small local producers, and we make everything ourselves, including the bread and ice creams,” said Andrea.
For example, the restaurant offers a tomato salad with tomato, honey and olive oil sorbet, or a vegan schnitzel with eggplant. It also offers vine leaves, inspired by the young chef’s childhood home cooking. The average price is around $35. “We’re also betting a lot on music, which my sister takes care of because we’re planning to have brunches available soon, and we hope to do it to music this summer.”
“For the moment, the restaurant is doing well and we’re very happy,” said Andrea. She has many other projects in mind but isn’t revealing anything just yet. “I’m aware that I still have a lot to learn, that I still need to develop, but what’s certain is that I can’t see myself doing anything else but cooking.”
This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour. Translated by Joelle El Khoury.