With two Les Saj locations already under their belt in St. James and downtown, owner-operators Adam Tayfour, along with husband-and-wife team Mohamad and Rochelle Baravi have witnessed their brand expand –– somewhat unexpectedly.
While the trio always had plans to open more locations of their shawarma shops, it was a regular customer and a contractor who they befriended that brought the Les Saj brand to two new spots in the city.
The location on Grant (1857 Grant Avenue, Unit C), which opened in May this year is by Mr. Farouk Khalifa and his family, who are part of the local Syrian community like Adam and Mohamad. The Les Saj owners first met Mr. Farouk when they hired him to do some work on the original St. James location.
"I was working with him after hours and he was telling me how he and his wife cooked and sold their food at the Waverly Mosque Bazaar [the Winnipeg Grand Mosque]," said Mohamad. At that time, Mr. Farouk told me, ‘One day, I want to open a restaurant, like you have.’ I told him, "Your wish can be true!"
Mohamad and Adam then worked with the Khalifa family to find the location and navigate opening the business as a franchise, which they support regularly even though they technically do not have an economic stake in it. In fact, it is where I first met Mohamad and Adam and learned about how the Les Saj brand has expanded.
"We don't have any piece of that [ownership], but we always try to be there," said Adam. "It worked out, and it's running as a family business now, which is great. People like to see family businesses, and the Khalifa's are there to always welcome you."
The forthcoming location on South Pembina (2589 Pembina Hwy #70) will be owned and operated by Mr. Bilal, a local businessman originally from Pakistan who has been a loyal customer and supporter of Les Saj's original St. James location.
"He was one of the very first people to request a franchise opportunity from us, but we were not ready at that time," said Adam. "But things worked out: From idea to business plan, it became an agreement between us and he's so motivated. We're excited also to open South Pembina and hopefully that's another successful story."
Adam and Mohamad first met in Dubai, after both had moved from Syria in 2006 and 2004 respectively. The two lived in the same building and hit it off immediately, working together and becoming fast friends. Mohamad knew they would remain in each other's lives, even after Adam made the first move to Winnipeg in 2011.
"You know it's funny," said Mohamad. "I remember when I dropped Adam at the Dubai airport, I told him, “I’m 100 per cent certain we will meet again. So, enjoy Canada.”
Mohamad, Rochelle and their kids would end up joining Adam in Winnipeg in 2015, with the two gentleman starting to work together again at The Plaza Premium Lounge in Winnipeg Richardson International Airport. Since 2017, they've been sharing their love of shawarma with Winnipeggers, with no signs of slowing down.
In the interview below with Mohamad and Adam, you'll learn why they opened the first two Les Saj locations and what makes their food special –– including its namesake thin bread and why fries belong on shawarma.
Why did you attribute to Les Saj initial success in St. James?
Adam Tayfour: Back around 2016, Baraka was one of the few [shawarma] spots. It’s of course a great brand: lots of fillings, the bread is so fresh, so we had to come up with something to stand out to get some business.
So, the sajj – the [unleavened] bread [which is also the name of the dome the bread is name on]. We started making it in front of people at the original location. This is the whole idea and the name behind the restaurant, what made us different… So that’s where we started.
My initial idea was to have the dome-shaped saj right in front of the people, so it’s like, ‘I’ll make this [saj bread] right before your eyes.’ That's what they do in the Middle East: the dough is ready and you just slam it onto that very hot dome-shaped pan and it cooks nicely in front of you. But it’s challenging. You must have a perfect dough, you have to watch you don’t burn your fingers… it’s hard work.
I was enjoying doing that for a long time, but you do get tired. So now, we have bought an oven, and we were doing so much volume, so most of the bread we are now baking in-house in small batches throughout the day. That’s one of the main concepts –– the saj is always fresh.
What style of shawarma would you say you sell?
Mohamad: As you can see [pointing at the beef and chicken spits], this is the traditional shawarma style. It was invented and created in Turkey, then it spread to Damascus and Syria in general, then throughout the Middle East.
Adam: Along with growing up eating this, before we opened, we went to Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa – so many shawarma places. We gained 20 pounds on that trip alone! We just wanted to see what the Canadian market was like. But, Canada, well –– lettuce, tomatoes, that does not go in the shawarma! However here, people want that and expect that. But it’s 100 per cent a North American thing. The perfect tempting Middle Eastern shawarma is garlic sauce, pickles…
Mohamad: … And some fries!
Adam: [Laughing] The fries! You know, it was weird for some people, and we had some complaining at first. I remember getting some calls, and they said, '"Hi, I just ordered shawarma, and someone accidentally dropped fries in my wrap!"’ –– and that was hilarious. Thankfully, a couple of them were my friends –– we had worked together elsewhere –– and I assured them. ‘"No, take it easy. This is how it's done."’
Of course, not everyone wants double carbs, so we have other [choices], but trust me, in terms of taste, it’s a game changer.
What gave you the confidence to open the second Les Saj on Portage Avenue?
Mohamad: Well, a lot of our customers when they came to St. James, some were driving from all over, and they were saying, ‘"I wish you’d open one closer to us."’
Then when we saw this location, it was a Greek restaurant before, so it had what we needed exactly [the vertical rotisseries/spits used to make gyros].
Adam: And we saw the opportunity. Everyone was still in shock after COVID, and we had people saying, ‘"What are you guys doing? People are closing and now you’re opening a second one?"’
We thought, this is not going to be forever [the downturn from the pandemic]… and because we are across from the university [the University of Winnipeg], we felt, that works great.
But students are on a budget, so here we designed a weekly special for them, student discounts, more wraps, just to fit their budgets… and it’s getting there.
With two locations you own, plus two franchises that you've helped create, are you two settled? Or do you think you'll grow the brand even more?
Mohamad: To be honest, running two right now for us is a lot of work. But, we're hoping in the future to continue to expand Les Saj out of Manitoba. Perhaps locations in Vancouver or Montreal let's say. That's our goal, and hopefully it will happen soon.
But here, it feels like home. Every time I travel out of Winnipeg when I come back, I'm really excited to arrive. It feels like it's home already: My work, the people that I know, my friends, it's all here. Just, the weather in January... that's my main challenge, haha.
Why did you decide to put the Dubai skyline in your logo?
Adam: We all met in Dubai, and it was a learning journey for us. We grew there. We learned lots of things there. So, we are still grateful for that place as it brought us all the way here – it was our bridge to Canada kind of thing.
So, it means a lot to us so we decided to have it as the logo. But you see it was before the Burj Khalifa was constructed, so now we should complete it [he says with a laugh].
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Extra tidbits:
-Rochelle is in charge of the catering, marketing, HR and social media.
-Adam’s background in Winnipeg previous to Mohamad's arrival was in hospitality, including working at the front desk of the Fairmont Winnipeg, while he credits the chef from Winnipeg Richardson International Airport’s Plaza Premium Lounge for showing him a bit of the culinary business ropes.
-There are approximately 30 staff across the three current Les Saj locations.
-All the meats are halal, marinated for 24-hours in a mix that includes 12 spices before being loaded up on the spit for a slow, spinning roast.
-Les Saj has a number of vegan and vegetarian items too, including falafel and excellent lentil soup.
Les Saj is located at 1038 St. James Street; 480 Portage Avenue; 1857 Grant Avenue, Unit C; and soon at 2589 Pembina Hwy #70. For menus and hours go to lessaj.com
