Williamsburg’s Hummus Market is in the midst of a rebrand. The restaurant is now named Levantine Mediterranean Cuisine (361 Graham Ave.). Ownership is still the same, but the restaurant’s branding, design, and menu have gotten facelifts.
Owner Idan Shitrit said the restaurant’s rebrand has happened slowly over the two months, but truly started during the pandemic.
“We used to be a vegetarian restaurant and then, in Covid, we had a horrible time like everybody else. But, it pushed us to do new stuff,” Shitrit said, explaining that they got a full liquor license and added chicken and beef to the menu. The team stretched boundaries more and more, and eventually, Hummus Market became a completely different restaurant.
“It lost the sense of a hummus joint,” Shitrit said. “The rebrand was about setting everything up what we really are, which is a full restaurant that serves Levantine food.”
Locals may have noticed the new signage already up at the restaurant. The new logo includes the restaurant’s name written in Hebrew-style script and a map of the Levant region as the dot over the letter ‘I’ as explained in this Instagram post.
The restaurant’s online presence also got an upgrade. Levantine Mediterranean Cuisine’s new website invites locals on a “Middle Eastern culinary adventure” and explains that the aim is to recreate traditional dishes with a twist.
“We just put the sign up last Thursday on the same day the new website launched,” Shitrit said, noting that he is still explaining the rebrand to his regular customers. “Some are hesitant when they see that Hummus Market no longer exists, so I assure them it’s still under the same ownership and most of the popular items are still on the menu.”
The restaurant’s facelift included upgraded capabilities of the kitchen so the team can add new menu items, which they’ve slowly done since the pandemic. “We want to do things a little bit better and introduce people to new menu items,” Shitrit told Greenpointers.
New dinner menu highlights include several new starters like the basar hummus plate with lamb, harissa and silan-marinated chicken wings, a potato and lamb-filled pastelim, chicken skewers, and eggplant carpaccio. The entree section includes a new slow-cooked a short rib tagine.
The new chicken wings, pastelim, chicken skewers, eggplant carpaccio and short rib tagine are all included on the expanded lunch menu alongside a new watermelon salad with red onion, feta, and mint. The brunch menu also include the basar hummus plate, the watermelon salad, eggplant carpaccio, and the pastelim.
Levantine Mediterranean Cuisine now serves espresso drinks like capuccinos and is still offering happy hour with $10 cocktails and glasses of wine Monday through Friday, 3 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Shitrit also told Greenpointers that the restaurant’s backyard will be getting spruced up in two weeks. It will be both heated for winter and cooled for summer. Plus, the restaurant will soon have updated hours and open earlier in the day.
To celebrate all of these exciting updates, Levantine Mediterranean Cuisine is throwing a Grand Opening Party on Sunday, August 13, 3 p.m. – 11 p.m. at the newly rebranded restaurant. The party will feature a live DJ set and giveaways.