ABOUT ALA

When you join us at ala, we want you to feel the overwhelming sense of being one with a variety of colors. From the colors of the ingredients you are enjoying or the cocktails you are sipping to the colorful expressions of each of our team members & guests who surround you, ala provides an experience for everyone who enters. 

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Derived from the French word “Levant” (rising sun). The phrase Levantine was first used roughly 500 years ago to refer to people living or working near the Mediterranean Sea. Often, Levantine people were known for engaging in business deals with the East (then Ottoman Empire) and the West (Europe). 

Times were changing, and the Middle East was threatened by the merging of Eastern and Western life. Many feared this would taint the rich culture and traditions of the Mediterranean people. As a result, people labeled as Levantine were not considered fully Middle Eastern or fully European. Often seen as “culturally impure”.

Like many other minority groups, oppression brought the Levantine people closer together. Art, literature, languages, and foods were shared, and as a result, a new culture was formed. 

This culture has changed shape and name since then. as in the whole world. It is a kitchen that we can say has enriched itself by preserving its essence in all these changes.

 

We focus on cooking & mixology from the Levant, an area of the world that has a long history and a colorful past. Over 10,000 years ago, it was in the Levant that humans began their first trial with agriculture - where cities, irrigation, and civilization later followed. What came next were the first diners, table settings, and menus. It was then that the first members of our human race settled in excitedly for their very first served meals. At ala, we remember this journey as we take a path of new flavors and scents all while in an environment of bringing the human race together - through color, food, drinks, and love.