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Alex Vazquez, executive chef at Natalie’s Taste of Lebanon
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Kafta from Natalie’s
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All entrees at Natalie’s are now served with a mezze sampling of dips from hummus to baba ghanoush.
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Housemade pita at Natalie’s
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Beet and halloumi kebab from Natalie’s
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Natalie’s has a revamped bar program with a focus on Mediterranean spirits.
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The newly refreshed dining room at Natalie’s
When Alex Vazquez applied for a chef position at Natalie’s Taste of Lebanon, he had never heard of the restaurant. He wasn’t incredibly familiar with the cuisine of the Middle Eastern country, either. But it wasn’t the food or the restaurant that drew Vazquez, 27, to send his resume. Even with another job already lined up, when he stumbled upon an opening at Natalie’s one night while randomly scrolling, he felt compelled to apply. Five minutes later, he got a call for an interview.
“I was looking for something a little more fulfilling, and the mission of Natalie’s is 100% what brought me here,” Vazquez says.
That sort of commitment excited Natalie’s General Manager Mike Park. “The more we talked, I realized there was something potentially special here,” he says.
Open since 2017, the restaurant was founded by Anne-Marie Irani, who was looking to provide a place of employment for her daughter, Natalie Schwartz, a graduate of The Positive Vibe Foundation’s culinary arts training program. Natalie’s relocated from its original Innsbrook-area location to the former Positive Vibe Cafe space at Stratford Hills Shopping Center in 2022, also adopting the cafe’s vision of providing a place for young adults with disabilities to work.
At the time of the job posting late last year, the restaurant was looking for a refresh, a way to enliven the menu and refocus its mission after a pandemic pause and a move.
At the end of June, Natalie’s reintroduced itself in Stratford Hills, presenting a tighter, mezze-forward menu with shared small plates, an open dining room dotted with tables instead of booths, and a new executive chef. And while Vazquez had never held that role before, being tasked with revising a menu that hasn’t changed since the restaurant’s opening and finalizing its bar program, he accepted the challenge and has spent the past several months working to meet it.
“Lebanese culture is so rich, and the mission of Natalie’s is so important, but it felt very disconnected to me,” Vazquez says. “The way they eat in Lebanon is family style, passing hummus and pita around, and it’s all very connected; you feel like a part of something bigger than yourself, which I think goes hand in hand with our mission. What we really want is for people to feel like they belong somewhere, like family, and accepted and welcome, and like that have a place at the table. That was really the catalyst for the menu design.”
Now, at the start of the meal, diners can expect six to eight bowls of baba ghanoush, zippy hummus, beet mutabal, pickled turnips, seasonal mixed veggies and loubia b’zeit (green bean stew), served with unending baskets of housemade pita. A must-order is the savory, spicy-sweet muhammara, a slightly chunky dip of red bell peppers, pomegranate molasses and walnuts.
“Mezze is the core of what we’re doing; you’re sharing, and you have something to talk about and something that connects you, and it’s not just the person you’re at the table with, but the person two tables down,” Vazquez says.
Mains are presented in a similar family-style format, with fresh herbs, lots of lemon and a touch of fire. Kebabs include a classic beef kafta, harissa-rubbed tuna, and a vegetarian beet and halloumi cheese, while mixed-grill platters, such as a hearty brined and braised lamb shoulder, are meant for two.
“We gave him the opportunity to create his own menu, and what he did is lean more into the Lebanese culture. There’s no way we would be in this spot if the universe had not aligned and Alex hadn’t come here,” Park says.
Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, Vazquez, who notes his Puerto Rican and Hungarian ancestry, grew up eating everything from mofongo to goulash. He says his earliest memories of cooking are with his family. “I’ve loved cooking ever since I was little, cooking with my mom and grandma.”
At 16, he began working in restaurants, and he has held stints at spots from casual dine-in pizza shops to managing outposts of the Mediterranean-inspired chain Cava and attending ministry school in between.
“This has been my first foray into more upscale dining, definitely been growth in that, for sure,” Vazquez says. I was definitely nervous, because it was my idea, and this restaurant means a lot to me and to a lot of people here, so obviously a lot of pressure that it goes well.”
Vazquez has also revamped the bar program at Natalie’s, featuring Mediterranean selections such as the anise-heavy, high-proof arak, considered one of the oldest distilled spirits in the world. It’s the star in the Pink Lion, which features arak, grapefruit, pistachio orgeat and lemon.
After essentially opening a restaurant while running a restaurant, Vazquez says the response from diners has been positive, but it’s the support of the entire team that gives him the most joy. “The biggest part for me has been them supporting and believing in the vision. … They trusted the process,” he says.
Chef Vazquez will participate in the inaugural Positively Delicious, a fundraising event from The Positive Vibe Foundation, on July 16 at The Faison Center.
