Family behind Phoenicia, Forest to open Lebanese restaurant downtown

It's been nearly four decades since Sameer Eid packed up his cult favorite Lebanese restaurant Phoenicia in Highland Park and headed for greener pastures on the other side of 8 Mile.

But come summer 2019, the Eid family will once again serve their exquisite Middle Eastern fare within Detroit's city limits at a new outpost in downtown's Capitol Park named for Eid's wife, Leila.

"She's our guiding light," said Eid's son, Samy, of his mother and the forthcoming restaurant's namesake. "She tells us what we're doing right and wrong. I think it's a beautiful way to pay homage to her. Some of the best meals of my life have been at her table."

Samy is now the driving force behind the family's restaurant business, running day-to-day operations for Phoenicia – the Free Press' first-ever Restaurant of the Year Classic – as well as Forest in Birmingham.

He said that a downtown location had been in the works for more than three years. Broker Kees Janeway took him to look at the space on the north side of the Farwell Building in 2015, by which point the building had been sitting vacant for more than 30 years. It was in such disrepair that Eid walked away uninterested, particularly in the northern bays. (At the time, a tapas restaurant was slated for the south bays.)

Fast forward three years and the building had seen slow but steady renovations, plus the tapas restaurant was no longer in the picture.

"It was the perfect storm where that other space opened up with a window looking out to the lobby," Eid said. "It's one of the most beautiful spaces I've seen in Detroit."

Leila is slated to occupy about 4,500 square feet on the ground and mezzanine levels of the historic building, which was built in 1915 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Birmingham-based Saroki Architecture is charged with designing the roughly 130-seat restaurant, which will boast 19-foot-high ceilings and a lounge area that adds an additional 20 seats. A private dining space is planned for the mezzanine, while patio seating will spill out onto the park in warm weather.

Leila is gearing up to be a sort of combination of the Eids' two Birmingham restaurants.

"It'll be a group effort," Samy Eid said. "We've got a great base in what Phoenicia is and we want to bring some of that, but we want a more contemporary, relaxed feel. Leila is like Sunday dinner at my mom's."

The kitchen will be overseen by Forest executive chef and two-time James Beard Award semifinalist Nick Janutol, with Forest's executive sous chef Neal Murakami acting as chef de cuisine.

The concept promises family-style Lebanese mezze for the bulk of its menu with "room for imagination," according to Eid.

Leila will not, however, follow in Phoenicia's more pronounced fine-dining traditions. There'll be no white tablecloths and the price point also promises to be lower than at both of its Birmingham siblings.

One major holdover will make the trip downtown: Phoenicia's now famous barbecue baby back ribs will definitely be on the menu.

Contact Mark Kurlyandchik: 313-222-5026 or mkurlyandc@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mkurlyandchik and Instagram: curlyhandshake.