Nawres Almamoori and Ali Alawady are on a mission to introduce South Australians to an authentic slice of Middle Eastern cuisine and culture.
Born and raised in Iraq, Almamoori moved to America where he worked for the US Forces. When he retired, he moved to Adelaide, Australia. And then Covid-19 hit.
“While at home during lockdowns I developed a passion for food by cooking my Mum’s recipes. Our culture is all about generosity, so I decided to share my passion for food by bringing all the good parts of our culture to South Australian” Almamoori said.
The Almamoori family have roots, traditions and recipes that are traced back to the times of Babylonia and the Mesopotamia, throughout the Middle East, the United States and Australia. They’ve been sharing food with communities all over the world, so they know a thing or two about making people feel welcomed.
“Our culture is often misrepresented and therefore misunderstood, and this is all about changing that.”
And thus, Mediterranean Breeze has been designed around the concept of bringing people together through food and traditions.
“We like to say in Arabic ‘Ahlan wa Sahlan’ which shortly translates to ‘welcome’ but the actual meaning is a lot more than that. ‘Ahlan’ means family and ‘sahlan’ means land or home, so what we are actually saying is our place is your home and our family is yours.”
And he takes that seriously, often travelling between tables and chatting to patrons about their experience.
“This is one of the things we most love and admire about our heritage: when you are in our home, you are treated like a family, not an outsider.”
So what’s cooking? With their emphasis on community, it’s no surprise that the menu leans heavily on shared plates. There’s the Baba Ghanouj, consisting of roasted eggplants and capsicum served with tahini, garlic, tomatoes, pita and lemon juice; or the burrata cheese, with cold tomato sauce, mixed greens, and pesto paste.
For something a little hotter, you can’t go past the kibbes, made with either beef mince, potato, or turmeric rice, depending on what you fancy.
And for something a little bigger, there are main courses like two charcoaled lamb mince koftas with capsicum and pastel, served with red bulgar, roasted tomatoes and a capsicum sauté. Or, if you prefer white meat, you can grab it with two charcoaled marinated chicken breast skewers.
Of course, there’s also a whole selection of flatbreads, topped with minced lamb, or a selection of vegetables.
Mediterranean Breeze is open Tuesday through Sunday from 5pm – 9:30pm, with a 12pm – 3pm lunch sitting on the weekends.
Where: 171 Reservoir Rd, Modbury
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