(Credit: Photo provided by the restaurant)
On a quiet street at the entrance to Gemmayzeh, a 1930s facade has come back to life after a year and a half of renovations. Behind the restored shutters of this listed building — once converted into a private bank before being heavily damaged by the Beirut port explosion — Marc El Dada and his brother inaugurated Maison Dada in February, a hybrid project combining boutique hotel, a Mediterranean bistro, and a bar with a view. The name reflects both their family name and the revolutionary Dada art movement.
But it is above all around the table that the two brothers, who come from the fields of architecture and design, wanted to share their vision of Beirut. "We have always believed in Beirut," says Marc El Dada, a landscape architect trained at ALBA, whose firm mainly works between Lebanon, the Gulf, and Qatar. "We travel a lot and we are food-driven people: we're always looking for new places, new culinary experiences. We wanted to bring that personal experience into this project."
On the ground floor, Le Dada Bistro has been welcoming about sixty guests since February 13, with an additional 25 seats on the terrace. "We didn't want to define the space as an international restaurant. We chose a Mediterranean cuisine that brings together flavors from across the region," says El Dada. The menu focuses on sharing plates, designed for groups of friends and family gatherings. Ingredients are partly sourced from local producers, following a farm-to-table approach, although some items still need to be imported. The average bill at the bistro ranges from $65 to $70 per person, including alcoholic beverages.
History, gastronomy, and culture
The El Dada brothers have incorporated their own art collection into the project, built up over the past ten years: more than 75 paintings and decorative pieces line the walls of the restaurant and shared spaces. "We wanted to bring together the building's history, culture, design, and gastronomy in one place," emphasizes Marc El Dada.
The boutique hotel occupies the top three floors of the building. It features just three apartments, converted into suites that can accommodate up to six people. Room prices vary depending on the season and apartment size, starting around $350 per night.
At the top of the building, Le D Rooftop is set to open in early June. The space will offer unobstructed views of Beirut and the sea. The atmosphere is designed to be more "French chic," with a refined menu developed by a French chef who previously worked in Amsterdam. The bar will accommodate up to 80 people, with an average spend estimated at $75 to $80 per person.
Ultimately, the project will employ nearly 60 people, across the central kitchen, bistro, hotel, and rooftop. It's a bold venture in a still fragile economic and security context. "When the war began a few weeks after our opening, people were afraid to go out. But we decided to stay open," says El Dada.
Entirely funded by the two brothers with support from their family, the project represents a significant investment, the amount of which remains undisclosed. In a downtown still marked by successive crises, Maison Dada is betting on a more human-scale form of hospitality — where Beirut's heritage, gastronomy, and art of living aim to reconnect with a certain idea of the city.
