Yola

The Verdict

You may know chef Elie Assaf from his time at Lebanese Grocer on Pitt Street, the quick-to-become-a-cult-favourite daytime eatery serving up lamb pitas, falafel, baba ganoush, tabbouleh and more, alongside the limited-time but almost illegally good crispy shawarma. Perhaps you ate his food during his time at Milenta, or Williams. What you might not know, is that Assaf's story begins in Wellington, or perhaps more accurately, Beirut. 

Few people have had a larger influence of Aotearoa's Lebanese food scene than the Assaf family. As Urban List contributor Nick Iles wrote, Elie's parents Tony and Yola Assaf were forced to leave their home country of Lebanon in the latter part of the civil war. Before they left, Tony collected recipes from his favourite chefs around town. These formed the foundation of his new life in Wellington. A few months after arriving in the city in 1995, they opened Phoenician Falafel, a place that has become a formative part of the capital's dining scene. 

Elie grew up around the family business, so it seemed only fitting that, after moving to Auckland, he would eventually find his way into sharing the cuisine of his homeland with Tāmaki Makaurau, in the same way his parents have for 30 years in Pōneke. That ultimately manifested in The Lebanese Grocer which he opened in 2023. But, of course, as of this week, that is now only part of Elie's story in Auckland.

"Phoenician Falafel is really where it all started for me," Assaf tells me. "My parents, Yola and Tony, opened it in Wellington and I grew up around that business. Lebanese Grocer was our own version of sharing Lebanese food in Auckland." He explains that Yola was a natural progression for him and his wife and business partner, Keelan Bowkett-Assaf. 

"Lebanese Grocer gave us the confidence to do something bigger," Assaf explains. "There were also a lot of things I wanted to cook that just didn’t really fit at the Grocer." Around the same time he was thinking about doing more, a spot presented itself in Ponsonby Central. The space and its energy resonated with them both, and, suddenly Yola went from a flicker of an idea to a full blown concept. 

There is a lot that fans of Lebanese Grocer will recognise at Yola, namely the flavours, "the dips are there," Assaf says. "Plenty of toum, Yola’s za’atar, shawarma spices, pickles – all the good stuff," and, of course, the warmth that Lebanese Grocer has come to be known for (and is the reason Phoenician Falafel has survived more than three decades in Wellington). But Yola will also carve its own path too. 

"With Yola I’m probably cooking closer to my own identity than I ever have before," Assaf tells me. "I'm taking the Lebanese flavours I grew up with and using everything I’ve learned along the way, too." That translates to a menu that is undeniably Lebanese, but not necessarily wholeheartedly traditional. Take the kibbeh—a spiced dish similar to a meatball made from mince and bulghur—which, at Yola, is made from tuna instead. There are going to be delicious shish, like chicken tawook with toum and rose onions, or dry-aged ribeye with oregano salad. Tony's fried chicken, a nod to Elie's father, is no doubt going to become a menu main stay, while Yola's batata (fries) are the ultimate completing element to any order. 

Yola is so much more than just a new opening. It's a continuation of a three-decade story of Lebanese dining in New Zealand. It's a restaurant that began its life on the streets of Beirut, where Elie's father secretly collected his favourite recipes with a vision of starting a new life for his family. But it's also a restaurant quietly carving out a new path of the Assaf's family legacy. One that feels apt for Tāmaki Makaurau in 2026. 

Image Credit: Emily Raftery Photography | Supplied