Building Beit Rima
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Chef Samir Mogannam turned turbulent times into a booming business.
photos: RaeAnn serra
Beit Rima is a concept built from equal parts heart and hustle. The restaurants serve “Arab comfort food,” showcasing the food of Chef-Owner Samir Mogannam’s Palestinian-Jordanian heritage, and the two locations happen to occupy spaces previously owned by Samir’s father. Though Beit Rima was born from a place near and dear to Mogannam, the road to restaurateur wasn’t always so clear.
Mogannam had a turbulent experience cooking in restaurants throughout San Francisco and Oakland. Like many cooks working in fine dining kitchens in the early 2010s, Mogannam’s career was defined by exhausting hours and meager compensation—a “culinary boot camp” that left him burnt out. “I was pushed to the point where I considered quitting cooking,” he says, “but it made me reflect on what I wanted out of my own restaurant one day.” Mogannam had begun to feel disconnected from the highly technical aspects of fine dining cooking and wanted to return to his roots. In his spare time, he began running Arab-inflected pop-up dinners independently, teaching himself to cook the food he grew up eating. Simultaneously, his father’s business was struggling. His chain of American restaurants, Burgermeister, which had been around since 1999, was facing bankruptcy. So, Samir decided to go all-in on homestyle Arab food and pitched the concept to his father as a full-fledged restaurant. “I convinced my dad that I had this concept that would share our culture with the community,” he explains. In 2019, the elder Mogannam handed over the keys to his restaurant on Church street in the Castro.
Chicken Shish Tawook Plate
Fried Acorn Squash, Brown Butter Labneh, Pine Nut Dukkah, Olive Oil, Scallion
Though Beit Rima now sees mostly enthusiastic diners, the concept wasn’t always a safe bet. “The biggest power move was having the heart to label us as Arab,” says Mogannam, “a lot of people have unfortunately been discouraged to identify with that word.” In fear of racist backlash, a number of people tried to convince him to label the restaurant as something more generalized, like Mediterranean. Mogannam stuck to his guns. The menu at Beit Rima (named after Samir’s mother, Rima, and the Arabic word for “house”) pulls equal inspiration from both his Jordanian Mother and his Palestinian Father. It ranges from small plates like hummus and babaganoush to composed dishes like a Chicken Shish Tawook Plate with yogurt-marinaded chicken and “mom’s rice,” or a grilled hanger steak with freekeh, zhug, and marash. “People are excited to try and learn about Arabic food,” he says, “the things you see represent all of us.”
While the first location gained traction, Mogannam forged ahead, opening two more locations by the end of the year (the third location in Daly City would close in the aftermath of pandemic shutdowns). Mogannam took the opportunity to also create spaces he had always hoped to see when working in fine dining. From establishing an 8-hour shift limit, to dividing tips equally among the house, Mogannam structures the business for the betterment of his staff’s work-life balance. “All I can do is be wholesome in how I practice my business. That’s how I'm going to contribute to change.” Though replacing his father’s restaurants was bittersweet, Beit Rima has brought new life into the spaces. Now, Mogannam is exploring the idea of taking the concept outside of the Bay Area. “It’s my introduction to Arab food, culture, and hospitality. We are Arabs. This is the food we eat.”
