Bavel, in Downtown Los Angeles’ Arts District, is a Middle Eastern restaurant from Chefs Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis. With family roots in Israel, Morocco, Turkey, and Egypt, Ori and Genevieve have always wanted to open a restaurant that showcases the cuisines of their family lineages, bringing together the flavors and dishes they grew up with.
Ori and Genevieve were both born in the Los Angeles area–Genevieve was raised in Southern California, while Ori and his family moved to Israel where he spent his formative years.
Ori grew up traveling with his family and was exposed to fine dining across the globe, but it wasn’t until his year-long stay in South America, where he realized his passion for cooking. Genevieve is a self-taught pastry chef who started baking out of necessity to satisfy her sweet tooth. At the time, she was studying to be a classical French horn player.
In 2001, Ori returned to Los Angeles. He landed his first kitchen job at an Israeli cafe, before working at La Terza—the restaurant where Ori and Genevieve, who was a hostess, met for the first time. From there, Ori spent time in the kitchens of Pizzeria Mozza, All’ Angelo, and under chef Gino Angelini at Angelini Osteria, where he worked for four years as chef de cuisine.
In 2012, Ori and Genevieve pursued their dream of opening their first restaurant, Bestia and in 2018 their second restaurant, Bavel, alongside their business partner and Director of Operations, Leah Bunch. In June, 2022, the team opened their third project, Saffy’s, named after Saffron, Ori and Genevieve’s daughter. With a background in the field of interior design, Genevieve played a key role in the design of all restaurants.
Bavel, Modern Recipes Inspired by the Middle East invites home cooks to explore the broad and varied cuisines of the Middle East […]
The word Bavel, comes from the story of Babel, from the Old Testament. Due to the similarities of the Hebrew letters ‘b’ – bet, and ‘v’ – vet, it is theorized that when the Old Testament was translated, Bavel was mistranslated into Babel. […]
Middle Eastern restaurants are often imagined to have design aesthetics that tend to be very dark, heavily patterned and somewhat cliché. The design for Bavel set out to challenge those conventions. […]
We’re always on the lookout for hardworking individuals with a good attitude and a passion for food that would make a great addition to our current staff. […]
