When I heard poker pro-Freddy Deeb opened his own restaurant, I knew that a culinary pilgrimage was in my immediate future.
Freddy’s passion for everything he does is obvious — whether it’s his poker playing, running a business, or simply hanging out and telling a story. Anyone who has spent any time at all with this dynamo of a man who was born in Lebanon and who came to the United States to realize his very personal manifestation of the American dream knows the show’s always on when Freddy’s on the room, and the spotlight’s usually on him.
Freddy is best known for his accomplishments at the poker table, which are extensive. What many may not know is his lifelong devotion to family, adoration of fine food, pride in his cultural heritage, and willingness to invest his own poker winnings collectively in all of these passions to ultimately achieve happiness.
Last January, Freddy invited me to visit his new restaurant which had just opened up in the Clearmont section of Los Angeles. I normally pass on such invitations for many reasons. But my love for Lebanese food and insatiable curiosity as to how one of the world’s most engaging poker players would perform playing the unexpected role of restaurateur got the best of me. And so, my wife and I made our first visit to Fattoush Mediterranean Cuisine early last year.
No surprise, the food was fantastic. And Freddy and his family’s hospitality was even more so. They had no idea that I would ultimately be writing about my experience. Indeed, neither did I (this blog started seven months later). We were treated like royalty. I’d like to think we were special, but there’s a better explanation. Natural hospitality is a unique cultural trait of many people who come from the Middle East. They’re eager to share their rich culture with visitors, even strangers. Although I was already a devout convert to Lebanese cuisine, I was just as happy to act the fool that memorable afternoon, just so long as Freddy and his family kept bringing out a ceaseless parade of tasty dishes.
A restaurant review under these circumstances wouldn’t carry much credibility. After all, we were treated extra special that day. Certainly, “regular” customers aren’t treated with such care and kindness. Would they?
And so, I made it a mission exactly a year later to pay another visit to Freddy’s restaurant. This time, I came in and dined alone. I arrived unannounced. Tempting as it might be to speed dial Freddy for a free meal, I wanted to enjoy the feast and was happy to pay for that privilege.
And so, on Tuesday, January 15, 2013, I walked into Fattoush Mediterranean Cuisine and took a seat.
If I had to choose one word to describe Freddy Deeb, that word would be ‘infectious.”
Freddy is one of those rare people who change a room by being in it. He often dominates a conversation, sometimes by saying little. When there’s a group of poker players hanging around and talking, everyone seems to have an eye on Freddy, wanting to know what he thinks.
“Freddy” was actually born Kassem Ibrahim Deeb in Beirut, Lebanon. Even now some 56 years later, he very much reflects his birthplace — cosmopolitan, eccentric, and in a perpetual state of conflict.
Deeb was a college student at Utah State University in 1975 when he came to realize that due to a tragic civil war back home, he would end up starting a new life here in America.
The story of how Deeb eventually became one of poker’s most accomplished players and favorite personalities at the poker table bears telling, or for those who have already heard it — repeating. When the war began back home, Deeb was in college. The conflict dragged on for months, and then years. With communications cut off, he became isolated from his family. Left alone without means of financial support, Deeb took what little money he had and began playing poker. An astute gamesman as a youngster, Deeb discovered a natural talent for card games and gradually became a lifetime devotee to the game.
But his real gift wasn’t grasping the most advanced strategies of the game, nor applying mathematics. Freddy’s talent was in engaging his opponents at the poker table — getting them to talk and often reveal more about themselves than they realized. None of this was manipulative. That’s just the way Freddy was, at the table and away from it. He loved to talk and played the social part of the game better than anyone.
Deeb eventually won two World Series of Poker gold bracelets, including the highly-prestigious “Poker Players Championship” ($50,000 buy-in HORSE) in 1998. Today, his overall career tournament winnings total more than $8 million.
But what’s most impressive about Deeb isn’t necessarily his accomplishments in poker. It’s what he’s done away from the table. Deeb has managed to create a tight-knit family. He’s been married for more than 20 years to his wife, who now spends most of her time at the restaurant. He also has four children (two sons and two daughters), all of whom come and help out from time to time.
Best known of all is Jeanine Deeb, who serves at the World Poker Tour’s Casino and Player Development Manager. Jeanine also does a marvelous job as the host and reporter from WPT.com.
Jeanine has made such an impact on poker and is now so visible in the media, that I only half-jokingly told Freddy that his daughter is now more famous than he is. When I said that recently, Freddy acted a little irritated. But it was just a facade. Freddy actually smiled. Of all his poker accomplishments, and there have been many, I’m convinced Jeanine and the pride he takes in his other children are what gives him the most satisfaction.
Fattoush isn’t a fancy restaurant. It’s casual. It’s located in a strip mall, next to a grocery store.
However, one can see the Deeb Family has taken extra care to make the restaurant appealing.
The first thing you see when you enter is not what you expect from a restaurant in a strip mall It’s a huge crystal chandelier that dominates the dining room. This has to be the only casual restaurant in Los Angeles with a $10,000 chandelier hanging over the dining area.
Floors are wooden parquet, another nice (and unusual) touch. Once again, the design could have been done cheaper. But that’s not the way the Deeb Family does things. On the contrary, everything here is a notch above, from the floor to the ceiling — and most of all what’s in between….which is the food.
The restaurant has an open kitchen that looks out into the dining room. This entices diners to look inside as well, to actually see how the food is prepared — as though there’s nothing to hide. Indeed, open kitchens can be risky business since everyone on the “back of the house” is essentially now an actor on a culinary stage. At Fattoush, the idea seems to be transparency — to let everyone see how meals are prepared. And why not, since this is such a matter of pride.
From the moment one enters, it’s obvious this is not a chain, but rather a family business. Freddy’s wife manages the restaurant on most days and is very much “hands-on” when it comes to food preparation and service. Members of the Deeb family largely make up the waitstaff. Unlike other casual restaurants which often employ aloof servers with little knowledge or love for the food, this service crew knows their food thoroughly. They can tell you just about anything you want to know about Lebanese food and how it’s prepared.
Today, I ordered three things. Kibbi as a starter, followed by a side order of tabouli salad. My main course was one of the standard dishes of Lebanese cooking — kafta kabob.
Kibbi can be pretentious. It’s either hit or miss. It’s essentially spicy ground beef or lamb infused with pine nuts, which are encased inside a fried bulgur wheat shell. The kibbi can range from golf-ball in size, up to like a baseball. Normal flaws in kibbi are the wheat shells sometimes fried too long (oil heated at the wrong temperature) or the wrong mix of spices and pine nuts inside the shell. The kibbi I was served was perfect. So good, they could have been a meal in themselves.
The tabouli salad was equally enjoyable. Sometimes, Lebanese restaurants have a tendency to squeeze too much lemon, which gives the dish a sourish taste. I’ve also been served tabouli which is far too salty — killing the ingredients’ natural flavors. Tabouli should be just the right blend of fresh chopped parsley, diced tomatoes, onions, and (sometimes) mint. The marinade is a composition of fresh-squeezed lemon juice and olive oil. Once again, my Fattoush met the mark.
By the time the main course arrived, I was already close to being full. But that didn’t stop me from devouring the final delicacy of the day. Kafta kabob is ground beef, which is removed from skewers cooked over an open flame. This manner of cooking tends to enhance the meat’s natural flavors. Two long kabobs were positioned next to a mountain of rice, and a traditional fattoush salad (simple Romaine lettuce topped with olive oil, lemon, and fresh garlic). A warm skewered Roma tomato served as a tasty accompaniment.
The only thing I didn’t care for was the rice, which was a surprise. It’s probably my personal bias, but the yellowish rice served with the kabobs lacked the right counterbalance to the other food items. Rice is important in a dish of this type since it provides an essential softener between two other far more robust tastes on the plate — the spicy kabobs and the zesty salad. I would have preferred clean white rice, perhaps infused with nuts of some kind. However, this is admittedly a small complaint. I have a strong bias for the manner in which rice is served in Persian dishes and I’m often underwhelmed by the choice of rice served Lebanese style. So, take my criticisms as those of quirky nit-picking Americans. Certainly, the Deeb Family knows more about their food than I do.
My entire dining experience took about 45-minutes. The service was attentive. I was offered refills numerous times.
Fattoush Mediterranean Cuisine receives one of my highest ratings possible for a casual restaurant. Given its convenient location right off the I-10 freeway which is the major thoroughfare between central Los Angeles and Las Vegas, I expect many poker players traveling back and forth to take the Clearmont exit sometime. They’ll be in for a treat.
Freddy Deeb’s restaurant is undeniably authentic. The kitchen uses the freshest and finest ingredients. But the most important ingredient of all is love and attention to detail.
Like its famous owner, this place is a winner.
READ: My Top 10 Mediterranean Restaurants in Las Vegas