Michele StuevenIf anyone is an example of spreading the International Women’s History word in Los Angeles, it’s chef and Maydan Market founder Rose Previte. The daughter of an Italian father and Lebanese mother, Previte’s food hall in the West Adams district is a mesmerizing sample of women in hospitality.
The high-energy visionary behind the Michelin-recognized Maydān, Medina, and Sook restaurants in Washington, D.C., has created a 10,000-square-foot space inspired by markets worldwide. Designed as a gathering place anchored by a central live-fire hearth, Maydan Market seamlessly blends a variety of vendors under one roof, including Rose’s Middle Eastern restaurant and bar from DC, Maydan, Compass Rose, as well as various market outposts, including Golden Mountain Fried Chicken, Lugya’h by James Beard Award-nominated Poncho’s Tlayudas, and Maléna.
In addition to an elegant full bar, Maydan Market also includes Club 104, a rotating residency space currently featuring Mehran Movahedi of Baloot, an Iranian rice bowl pop-up, and a Middle Eastern convenience store/wine bar, Sook, that offers grab-and-go foods, hard-to-find Middle Eastern pantry staples, and freshly prepared dishes served from the counter.
Maydan Market (Michele Stueven)
The concept fosters community through shared resources, space, overhead expenses, and operations to help independent businesses overcome obstacles to opening brick-and-mortar locations, despite the many barriers to success and the ongoing restaurant crisis. But this isn’t your typical food hall.
Previte has partnered with other women crusaders like nonprofit leader Odilia Romero (wife and business partner to Poncho Martinez of Maydan Market’s Lugya’h), the Irra sisters at Málena, and new chefs like Tiana Gee to build a more accessible restaurant model for local business owners.
“I always say I’m Lebanese by way of Detroit,” Previte tells LA Weekly over a Ramadan dinner at Maydan. “There’s a big Middle Eastern population in Detroit, and while my mom spoke Arabic at home, she didn’t teach us kids. The fear of losing culture was getting more and more extreme. We moved to a little farm town in Ohio, and they got really nervous that we were going to forget where we came from. And so my mom started a Lebanese catering company out of our house. Much like the mission behind this project, she didn’t know how to start breaking borders. We’d do festivals, weddings, graduation parties, but it was a slow burn, because at first, nobody even knew what Lebanese food was. Cucumber tomato salad was a foreign thing in 80’s Ohio.”
They weren’t able to save the language, but they managed to save the culture. Since then, Previte has travelled the world, returning to her roots, rediscovering family and relatives in Northern Beirut and cooking with women in home kitchens throughout the Middle East.
Cooking with family (Courtesy Rose Previte)
“I do this because I see a Middle East that most Americans don’t see,” says Previte, who ate her first hamburger at age 10 at the original Wendy’s in Ohio, due to her parents’ strict, healthy diets. “Those women brought us, strangers, into their homes and allowed us into their kitchens. To go into kitchens with men in Oman would be impossible. The fact that we wanted to learn from them and to take it back to some fancy restaurant in America? The reaction across the board was pure pride. I do this so people will see something other than what they see on TV. Everybody thinks it’s dangerous and unsafe, but it’s the most hospitable part of the world. We want to reflect that hospitality here and encourage customers to travel.”
You can feel that energy when you first walk into the Maydan Market through the oversized Moroccan-style entrance doors that lead into the cathedral-like space featuring two murals, one of which is inspired by the interiors of Georgian Winery Chateau Mukhrani, and another Oaxacan-inspired mural from local LA artist Ernesto Yerena.
It feels more like you’re walking into a movie set, probably because instead of going with a traditional interior designer, Previte chose a set designer to help lay out the space.
Private dining tent at Maydan (Sierra Prescott)
Morocco was the inspiration for the newest addition, a village of romantic private dining tents inspired by one of the chef’s first trips abroad, where she ate, slept, and lived in the Sahara in a tent for a week. They brought some tents back from Morocco and sourced from different fabric companies and estate sales to construct the cabanas, all of which are repurposed.
Previte describes the menu as “Tangier to Tehran, Beirut to Batumi,” all of which is cooked on an open flame in the massive hearth at the center of the market. Her love of the former soviet republic of Georgia, often referred to as the birthplace of wine, is reflected in Maydan’s wine list, which also includes a selection of Lebanese wines.
“My mom doesn’t like it, she doesn’t understand why it isn’t a purely Lebanese menu, which tends to just be a lot of cinnamon, lemon, and garlic,” says Previte, who lived in Russia for three years with her husband, award-winning journalist David Greene. “I love those flavors, but they don’t tend to have anything spicy like harissa, black lime, or tamarind. I like it to be a little more diverse. We don’t do rice because it’s hard to cook on the fire, but we have chickpeas and bread that’s cooked in the tandoor and lots of vegetables.”
Cooking in Oman (Courtesy Rose Previte)
“Maydan” is used similarly throughout the Middle East, Central and South Asia, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, and North Africa as a central public meeting place, often in the middle of a city, a space for people to come together as a community to celebrate. Insider tip for the West Adams Maydan: Avoid the weekend crowds and visit Tuesday through Thursday for your best bet at scoring a table.
In collaboration with the women’s culinary organization Regarding Her, Maydan Market will be part of the group’s Women’s Month Festival on Monday, March 23, inviting diners to participate in intimate cooking classes, highlighting the culinary diversity of Los Angeles and the talented women leading the charge. The event starts with a reception that includes welcome drinks and snacks from across the market, followed by your choice of cooking class and a welcome lingering afterwards.
Maydan mezze (Ashley Randall)
Classes include Guerrerense tamales with Heidie Irra from Maléna, indigenous Oaxacan chocolate and atole with Odilia Romero and chef Evelyn Gregorio from Lugya’h , market fruit hand pies with Anastashia Chavez from Inglewood’s Cadoro Bakery, Korean Pork Mandu with Deborah Pak from Koreatown institution Soban and gnocchetti sardi with Victoria Bermudez from Leona, a micro-batch pasta shop in Los Feliz
While the Gulf region is in a state of turmoil at the moment, Previte hopes to return again soon with travel companion Greene.
“There’s always war in Lebanon, it’s been going on since 2021,” she says. “They don’t get much of a break. The south is getting hit the hardest, and my family is in the north, but Beirut is getting hit really hard, which is where most of my friends live. Many of my friends moved to Dubai because it’s been very difficult in Lebanon for so long to keep their children safe while they attend school. They keep their money in the banks there because Lebanon hasn’t been stable for a long time. They were starting to make progress with a new president, and now this war happens. It’s pure madness. One of my friends there, who is a chef, says, ‘If any of my friends in the Gulf states don’t know what it’s like to have bombs dropped on you when you’ve done nothing wrong, call me, and I’ll tell you how to survive it.’”
Rose Previte in Oman (Courtesy Maydan)