NAYA began with a simple idea: share the flavors of home. Founder Hady Kfoury, raised in Beirut in a family where hospitality was second nature, spent summers visiting his aunt in Midtown East — the same neighborhood where he would one day open his first restaurant. Missing the freshness, brightness, and generosity of Lebanese cooking, he set out to bring those flavors to New York in a way that felt both authentic and modern. In 2008, with recipes crafted by his mother and aunt, NAYA Mezze & Grill, a full service restaurant, opened on Second Avenue and quickly earned a feature in The New York Times, signaling that New Yorkers were ready for a new take on Middle Eastern food.
