Liza Beirut Restaurant Designed by Marc Soughayar & Maria Ousseimi.

Paris-based Lebanese-born restaurateurs, Liza Soughayar and Ziad Asseily, recently made a comeback on the upmarket Middle Eastern dining scene with their latest venture – Liza Beirut. The restaurant, named after it’s owner and the city that inspired it, is located in the stylish suburb of Achrafieh in East Beirut. The sprawling 500sqm interior is housed on the first floor of a historical venue that is the Metropolitan Club – the former residence of some of Lebanon’s most prominent families. Ziad Asseily, co-founder of Liza stated, “the fact that the building was a family house, full of history and life, was something that really resonated with us. We wanted to perpetuate through the space’s new incarnation.” 

The opulent interior is inspired by the floors of the 19th-century palace with a subtle mix of modern furnishings and lighting by Tom Dixon. Alongside the backdrop of creamy neutral tones, the walls are covered with Arjumand wallpapers, resulting in the creation of 4 distinctive themes – there are huge lush banana leaves to give the restaurant an exotic presence, large money notes inspired by the country’s former currency, and skyscrapers which form a chic backdrop for the contemporary furniture. “We did not get obsessive about the design… Everything is a bit tongue in cheek; delightful and somewhat impish,” says Maria Ousseimi.

Architect: Marc Soughayar | Interior Designer: Maria Ousseimi | Photo credit: Marco Pinarelli

[Images courtesy of Liza Asseily. Photography by Marco Pinarelli.]