Naya got its start as a build-your-own-bowl concept but with a different spin than most Mediterranean-leaning fast casuals. Here, the menu is rooted in Lebanese cuisine and the ingredients may be slightly less familiar to newcomers.
Now that the chain has expanded to 44 locations and is moving beyond its New York City home into other urban markets, Senior Culinary Development Manager Khalfani Coicou felt the timing was right to introduce Chef’s Creations. The three curated bowls and one roll simplify ordering and make unfamiliar ingredients more accessible. Plus, they give regulars the chance to explore more of the menu’s sauces and spices.
“The idea of the new chef-curated bowls is to help those first-time customers who aren't familiar with the cuisine to essentially guide them toward the best combinations and take into consideration the classical combinations that you would see in Lebanon,” said Coicou. “If they have a fantastic experience, the next time they come in, they can feel more comfortable choosing options.”
While building your own bowl is still encouraged, neophytes may pile clashing ingredients and flavors into the mix and the result may turn them off to NAYA’s menu.
Authenticity is an essential ingredient
In developing menu items, Coicou is very serious about staying true to the way the food is prepared in Lebanon, but some techniques have to be adapted to U.S restaurant kitchens. For example, chicken shawarma is traditionally cooked on a spit. “Unfortunately, we can’t install spits in 44 restaurants, but we’re very intentional about the way we cut the chicken to mimic the spit-cooking-and-slicing effect,” he said. “And the spices we use for our house-made sauces are all sourced from Lebanon.”
Chicken shawarma is sliced like it would be off the spit in Lebanon.
The Chef's Creations are rooted in authenticity but deliberately approachable. The Classic Chicken Bowl, for example, features chicken shawarma, vermicelli rice, lettuce, pickled cucumbers, tomato, toom (a garlicky Lebanese sauce) and lemon tahini. “It takes a lot of the ingredients you’d see in a Lebanese chicken shawarma wrap and puts them in a bowl,” said Coicou. The same goes for the Classic Braised Beef Bowl, which combines braised beef shawarma and vermicelli rice with pickled turnips, cabbage slaw, sumac onions, hummus and lemon tahini—vegetables and condiments that traditionally go with beef shawarma minus the wrap.
There’s also an all-new Greek Salad, using the ingredients that Naya already has in the kitchen and putting them together in a familiar, more approachable format. This item combines romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, green bell pepper, olives, feta, sumac onions, and a new house-made Greek dressing. “We’re getting into the warmer summer weather so if someone is coming in looking for lighter fare, they have a great Greek salad option,” he said.
The flavor profile of the Greek dressing is acidic-forward with garlic playing a starring role. There’s also a little herbaceousness from the za’atar and other herbs and spices. The result is a balanced, flavorful bold vinaigrette, said Coicou.
The new Greek Salad offers a lighter, more familiar option.
He also created an improved recipe for falafel, a popular plant-based bowl component. The updated version incorporates green bell pepper and parsley. “It’s much more herbaceous and brighter in flavor, and the interior is lighter and moister but the exterior is still golden and crispy,” he said. “And when you open up the falafel it’s greener in color.” Six pieces of this falafel go into the new Falafel and Tahini Roll, which also includes hummus, cabbage slaw, pickled turnips, tomatoes, cucumbers and a double poriton of lemon tahini.
The green bell peppers were the only new SKU brought in to introduce the four Chef’s Creations (including the three bowls and the wrap). The braised beef was developed for a fall LTO and moved to the permanent menu.
Prices for the chef-curated items range from $10.59 for the falafel roll to $14.24 for the beef bowl. While the menu additions have been out less than a month, customer feedback has been positive. “Everybody is loving the Greek Salad,” said Coicou.
Putting hospitality first
During the R&D process, there was a lot of trial and error to get to the final four Chef’s Creations. While there are some ideas that didn’t make it to launch this time, the four curated items are evergreen and form a missing piece of the menu, he added.
They also help speed the line by easing decision-making. “That definitely helps with operations, but I will give credit to our operations team, too,” said Coicou. “They’ve trained our team members to be aware of their surroundings, and if a customer is taking a long time to order, someone will swoop in and help the next customer, just to make sure that the line keeps moving. While we pride ourselves on using the freshest ingredients and sticking to our roots, we also pride ourselves on the hospitality part and making sure that those bottlenecks don’t leave a negative experience on guests.”
As far as what’s next on the menu, Coicou can’t reveal too much. He’s currently working on a summer limited time offer with “a new, creative twist that customers will be very excited about,” along with some new beverage offerings timed for release in mid- to late-summer.
But primarily, he is constantly trying to innovate and improve Naya’s current menu offerings. “Everything can always be a little bit better,” he said. “My intention every day is to leave the menu at least 1% better than it was the previous day.”