By 
In May 2022, couple owners Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis opened Saffy’s. This is the new sister restaurant of the critically-acclaimed restaurants Bavel and Bestia, located in the Arts District. Bestia, which was the first restaurant that opened in 2013, has received a few accolades from the renowned Los Angeles Times’ food critic Jonathan Gold, who passed away in 2018.
Ori and Genevieve wanted to open a Mediterranean restaurant inspired by the kebabs Ori grew up eating in Israel. Both of them were born in LA, but Ori spent his formative years in Israel, whereas Genevieve was raised in LA. The menu features Middle-Eastern food but with a modern twist.
Saffy’s is located in a gorgeous revamped Art Deco building, right across the street from the Scientology center in East Hollywood. The restaurant is named after their daughter, Saffron. According to Thrillist.com, the interior has a mix of the 60s and 70s Moroccan style and old Hollywood.
That day was very cloudy, so I wasn’t able to get good pictures of the restaurant interior. Here’s what it looks like.
Although reservations are strongly encouraged for big parties, walk-ins are also welcome. Parking in this area is very tight, but I was able to find a metered spot. Make sure to read the signs! If finding parking becomes unbearable, you can park at the valet.
I went by myself and I was sat right away at the bar. Sitting at the bar gave me an overview of the open kitchen and the indoor seating area. In the kitchen, I saw Ori Menashe at the helm shaving meat off of the giant rotating spit.
Next to me, a mother and her daughter were sharing the hummus plate, which seemed to be ubiquitous. This is what I had:
Tomatoes
You can find Hummus or falafel at every kebab place in LA, which is why I wanted to venture into more creative dishes like this one. The two waiters I talked to, also highly encouraged me to order it.
The Tomatoes is served with feta cheese, smoked eggplant purée, cilantro and sprinkles of Nigella seeds.
It was so good! The tomatoes were so fresh and I Ioved the thick chunks of salt. The combination of the soft texture of the feta cheese, the citrus hint of cilantro and the smoothness of the purée brought everything together. It was perfectly executed and I really enjoyed savoring all the different textures. If it’s your first time, you definitely have to get this as an appetizer! It’s not that big, so if you go with someone else, you can order a second appetizer.
Skewers
This is their signature plate. They offer three types of meat: chicken, beef or lamb. It’s served in 2 long metal skewers, which are very intimidating to say the least! The plate comes with homemade laffa bread and tahini chopped salad that is topped with anba sauce. A bit of “chili crunch” sauce is served on the side. The laffa bread is served from the oven straight to the plate.
One of the waiters who saw me struggling trying to slide the meat down to the plate, told me to use the bread, which was big and fluffy. I did as he said and that did the trick! The servers scope the tables to remove the skewers once they’re empty.
I got chicken and beef. The waiter said that the beef came from Australia, whereas the chicken came from local farms in California. The other meat option was lamb.
When I go to a kebab place, rice plays an integral part. Here, rice is only served if you order one of the large plates.
However, the fairly-sized homemade laffa bread and the tahini chopped salad make up for it.
The beef was cooked medium, and it was very flavorful and juicy! The chicken was also really tender, as you can see in the pictures below. Look at that beautiful char on the skin!
In between bites, I occasionally tore off pieces of the laffa bread and dipped them into the tahini chopped salad. The salad was good, but I wasn’t especially crazy about it nor the side of chili crunch. For me, the winners were the meat and the bread.
The mom and daughter who were sitting next to me also ordered the skewers. The daughter placed the meat on the bread, spread some of the tahini salad and then folded it like a taco. It all depends on your preference! Because the meat at Saffy’s is of outstanding quality, I didn’t want the flavor of the meat or the chicken to be overpowered by the bread, which is why I ate the meat on its own.
By the time I had finished eating the skewers, I was almost full, so I left some of the bread and the tahini salad. I wanted to make sure I had some room for dessert!
Dessert
Do not skip the dessert! One of the reasons I came here was because of the delicious enticing pictures of their Bergamot Chocolate Cake with rose ganache, and boy, was it worth it.
This was probably the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had. It tasted just as good as it looks in the pictures.
Once it came, the couple sitting next to me on the other side glared at the cake. “Oh My God, that looks amazing! Wow!” said the woman. Then the man chimed in: “We definitely need a report on that.”
It was very fluffy, almost like you were biting into a cloud, and moist, which is always a good indicator of freshness and quality.
The frosting wasn’t sweet at all! It was very creamy, decadent and overall, ridiculously delicious. Altogether, it was surprisingly light. My hat goes off to the pastry chef!
My bill came to almost $80 without a tip. You could say this was definitely a splurge. Although Saffy’s is not my go to place when I’m craving a kebab, the experience and the creative dishes made up for the hefty price tag. Another note is that Saffy’s is slightly cheaper than its two sister restaurants.
You also have to take into consideration the ambiance and the quality. Not all kebab places will have beef flown in from Australia, or a scrumptious homemade chocolate dessert such as the one here. Additionally, this place is perfect for people-watching. Since it opened, Saffy’s has been a hub for spotting celebrities. I went very early and I didn’t see any, but apparently, from what I read, the later you go, the more chances there are to spot one.
If you want an upscale experience different from what you can find at any kebab place, then it’s worth a try. But if you’re hungry and you just want a kebab fix, this is not the place. Since it opened, Saffy’s has been featured in every LA magazine restaurant publication, so I wanted to see what the hype was all about.
4851 Fountain Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90029
Book your reservation here.
Have you been to Saffy’s?
