Oasis, a Mediterranean restaurant in Chevy Chase, has common prospects who eat their each day lunch there. However the brand new proprietor has a recipe and retains numerous issues the identical, he says.
A small however well-liked Center Jap restaurant in Lexington has been offered.
However earlier than The Oasis modified arms, the brand new proprietor needed to make a deal: hold the meals the identical.
Ahmad Saleh stated he would achieve this. He helped: For about 4 months, longtime proprietor Mahmoud Ahmad Saleh taught followers for greater than 20 years the best way to make meals that got here again (in some instances each day). So, sure, he’ll stay a real Mediterranean favourite.
“I’ve identified this household perpetually, they’re buddies and so they promised me,” Saleh stated.
Chevy Chase Plaza restaurant formally modified arms this month after Saleh purchased it from Ahmad, who purchased The Oasis in 2002 with companions.
The Ahmad household posted a farewell message on the restaurant’s Fb web page: “I wish to inform our esteemed prospects that we’ve offered The Oasis restaurant. We’re the only proprietor for 20 years, however it’s time for brand new adventures! I wish to thank everybody for the reminiscences they’ve created and shared through the years. Thanks on your assist from day one and for being with us through the pandemic! We hope that you’ll present your like to our new house owners! ”
Mahmoud Ahmad’s son, Ali Ahmad, a Lebanese native, stated his father got here to Lexington from Detroit to work at one other restaurant referred to as Aladdin. Then he and two companions determined to purchase The Oasis from a Syrian household who opened a Center East grocery retailer with the identical title a couple of years in the past.
Ahmad expanded the buffet and added extra dishes, together with Lebanese salads and specialties, Ali Ahmad stated. Over time, Mahmoud Ahmad has purchased companions, and now his father is able to retire and transfer again to Michigan, the place the household nonetheless lives, Ali Ahmad stated.
So he labored with Saleh. “For the final 4 months, we’ve been coaching with him and giving him all our recipes and all of the secrets and techniques of our elements,” Ahmad stated.
So, shakshuka, foul mudammas, mujadara, shawarma and garlic sauce and all different dishes are nonetheless accessible for lunch or dinner, which is a superb comfort for a lot of customers.
In keeping with Ali Ahmad, many regulars come to lunch day by day. “We inform them their names within the kitchen, they know what to do,” he stated.
However Saleh is planning a number of adjustments: he’s returning the lunch buffet. “Quickly,” he stated.
It plans so as to add vegetarian dishes requested by customers.
As for the common menu, “if there may be room for an replace, we’ll do it,” he stated.
Oasis
What: Mediterranean restaurant
The place: 837 Chevy Chase Place
Hours: Monday to Saturday 11.00-20.30
Name: 859-269-6440
On-line: Oasisrestaurant.org