CH Projects Opens Leila Middle Eastern Restaurant in North Park | Eater San Diego
"When it opens Wednesday, July 31 in North Park, CH Projects’ new Middle Eastern restaurant and bar delivers a deliberately theatrical, multi-sensory experience: you enter off 30th Street into perpetual night under a blanket of “stars,” dine at tables tucked among trees hung with Moroccan lanterns, and listen to a waterfall that flows and pools alongside the main dining room. At 4,800 square feet with 100 seats the space manages to feel both grand and intimate—especially because it’s a personally consequential project for co-founder Arsalun Tafazoli, who foregrounds his Iranian heritage and honors his late mother with home furnishings in a cozy fabric-draped seating nook. The menu, in the hands of executive chef Wesley Remington Johnson (formerly of Tusk and Ava Gene’s and a collaborator of Michael Solomonov), spotlights Tafazoli’s favorites like saffron-infused tahdig with a crispy crust and koobideh grilled on wide flat skewers, and the open kitchen includes a fire pit for whole lamb shanks plus a custom suite with a clay wood-fired oven and tandoor for pita, naan, and za’atar bread; Johnson also riffs on classics like ghormeh sabzi by using fresh green garbanzos in place of kidney beans. Beverage offerings include a welcome tea service poured from ornate teapots, an emphasis on Middle Eastern wines—especially from Lebanon—and cocktails by Keivon Dashtizadeh with creative assistance from Leigh Lacap, while an upstairs lounge will serve snacks and drinks and feature a large selection of arak." - Candice Woo
