The Sauce-Is-the-Meal Evangelist

Omar Haddad

Omar grew up at a table where bread was the utensil and the bowls in the middle mattered more than the protein. He builds meals around toum, tahini, harissa, yogurt, herb oil and long-cooked tomato, then chooses whatever carries them best. He considers dry grilled chicken a cry for help and plain roasted vegetables unfinished paperwork. His menus begin with the sauce and work backward.

LevantineMiddle EasternMediterranean

Voice · lush, persuasive, communal, teasing, relentlessly sauce-positive

Signature Dishes

The essential curation of Omar's favorites.

45 MIN

Crispy Buckwheat Falafel Bites with Tahini-Herb Drizzle

Golden, crispy buckwheat-coated falafel bites loaded with fresh herbs, served with a silky tahini-herb drizzle that ties the whole plate together. Omar would never let you eat these dry.

50 MIN

Smoky Pinto Bean Flatbreads with Herb-Yogurt and Tahini Drizzle

Warm flatbreads loaded with smoky spiced pinto beans, crowned with cool herb-yogurt and a silky tahini drizzle. This is a meal that asks you to drag everything through every sauce — and to take more bread when you think you are finished.

90 MIN

Stuffed Roasted Butternut Squash with Spiced Pinto Filling

Roasted butternut squash halves become edible bowls for a warmly spiced pinto bean mixture, finished with a silky tahini-lemon sauce and a shower of fresh herbs. This is the kind of dish where the vessel matters as much as what fills it — bread-worthy, saucy, communal.

45 MIN

Almond-Flour Roasted Chickpea Bites with Garlic-Lemon Toum

Crispy, spiced chickpeas roasted in almond flour until golden, served with a lush garlic-lemon toum that you drag everything through. This is the kind of dish that makes bread the star.

45 MIN

Roasted Butternut Squash Wedges with Herb Oil and Tahini Drizzle

Golden roasted squash wedges crowned with bright herb oil and a nutty tahini drizzle — because a squash alone is just a squash, and we are not in the business of delivering unfinished paperwork.

47 MIN

Buckwheat and Tahini Olive Oil Cake with Honey Drizzle

A deeply nutty, moist cake where earthy buckwheat meets creamy tahini and fruity olive oil, finished with a warm honey drizzle that pools into every crumb.

42 MIN

Tahini Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Yogurt Drizzle and Toasted Sesame

A rich, nutty tahini and olive oil cake that stays beautifully moist for days, draped in a bright lemon yogurt drizzle and finished with golden toasted sesame seeds. The kind of cake that makes you forget frosting was ever the point.

55 MIN

Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Romesco and Tahini

Thick-cut cauliflower steaks roasted until caramelized, served with a smoky Spanish romesco and silky tahini — because a vegetable this beautiful deserves not one but two sauces to fall into.

15 MIN

Fresh Herb and Lemon Bean Salad with Crumbled Feta

A bright, herb-forward bean salad that proves salad need not be boring. The lemon-garlic dressing clings to every bean and the feta crumbles luxuriously over the top.

45 MIN

Saffron Yogurt Poached Chicken Over Quinoa

Tender chicken poached in saffron-scented broth, draped in silky garlic-yogurt sauce and nestled over fluffy quinoa. This is not plain protein on grain — this is a vessel for the sauce, and the sauce earns its keep.

30 MIN

Whipped Feta and Olive Oil Pasta with Harissa

Silky whipped feta draped over hot pasta, loosened with starchy pasta water, finished with a fiery harissa drizzle and fresh herbs. This is the kind of dish where the sauce arrives before the carbohydrates and everyone is better for it.

45 MIN

Lemon-Herb Lamb Chops Served Over White Rice

Tender lamb chops marinated in lemon-garlic and seared to perfection, served over fluffy white rice and bathed in a bright, herbaceous lemon-herb sauce. This is the kind of meal where the sauce does the heavy lifting and no chop ever sees the plate dry.

45 MIN

Za'atar Roasted Chickpeas with Garlic-Herb Yogurt

Crispy chickpeas with a tangy homemade za'atar-style seasoning piled high over silky garlic-herb yogurt — where the sauce is absolutely the star and the chickpeas are just excellent vehicles for dragging through the bowl.

45 MIN

Smoky Eggplant and Tahini Dip with Crispy Shallots

Charred eggplant blended with nutty tahini, bright lemon and garlic, crowned with golden crispy shallots. This dip demands bread and refuses to be ignored.

45 MIN

Tahini Lamb Kofta with Garlic-Herb Yogurt

Lamb kofta infused with nutty tahini and warm spices, charred until juicy, then draped in a bright garlic-herb yogurt that makes every bite sing. This is the kind of meal you build a table around — bread dragged through yogurt, kofta pooling in tahini-scented fat, everyone reaching at once.

55 MIN

Garlic-Tahini Roasted Chicken for Bread Dippers

Crispy-skinned chicken lacquered with a garlicky tahini-lemon marinade, built for tearing apart and dragging through warm bread. This is the kind of meal where the sauce and the protein arrive together, inseparable, both demanding your attention.

40 MIN

Smoky Tomato Chickpeas with Tahini Drizzle

Warming chickpeas simmered in a deeply smoky tomato sauce, finished with a silky tahini drizzle that you will want to put on everything. This is the kind of dish where the sauce is the point and the bread is mandatory.

35 MIN

Garlic Toum and Chicken Skewers

Omar would never serve chicken without a proper garlic emulsion on the side — these juicy skewers are just the excuse to make extra toum for bread-dragging. Grilled until charred outside, tender within, then drowned in clouds of garlicky white sauce.

35 MIN

Tomato and Garlic Flatbread Pizza

Garlicky flatbread crowned with a swipe of tomato sauce and melty mozzarella, finished with torn basil and a generous pour of olive oil. This is the pizza that makes bread the star, not the afterthought.

45 MIN

Lemon and Herb Oil Roasted Potatoes

Golden potatoes roasted until crispy at the edges, then drowned in a bright lemon-herb oil that makes every bite worth fighting for. This is the kind of side dish that makes the main protein look nervous.

15 MIN

Herb Oil and Tomato Salad

A vibrant Levantine-inspired salad where ripe tomatoes swim in a lush herb oil. Built on Omar's principle that a sauce should never be an afterthought — the herb oil here is the star, pooling generously around the tomatoes for maximum bread-dragging potential.

60 MIN

Tahini and Olive Oil Cake

A moist, nutty cake where sesame tahini and fruity olive oil create a rich, fragrant crumb. The tahini brings depth, the olive oil brings fruit, and together they make something you will want to eat straight from the pan with your hands. Finish with sesame seeds and a squeeze of lemon because sauce evangelist Omar insists on it.

75 MIN

Slow-Cooked Tomato and Olive Oil Pasta

A deeply savory tomato sauce built on low heat with olive oil, garlic, and patience, tossed with pasta and finished with fresh herbs and a squeeze of lemon. The sauce is the meal here — serve with bread for dragging through every last bit.

20 MIN

Garlic Yogurt and Cucumber Dip

A cooling Middle Eastern meze of thick yogurt laced with garlic, bright lemon and crisp cucumber, finished with a generous pool of olive oil. Serve with warm bread and watch it disappear.

45 MIN

Lemon and Garlic Chickpea Stew

A communal chickpea stew built around a bold, silky lemon-garlic sauce. The chickpeas swim in it, the bread demands it, and nobody leaves the table hungry.

15 MIN

Tahini and Garlic Dressing

This is the dressing that makes everything better. A luxuriously creamy tahini emulsion with bold garlic and bright lemon that clings to everything it touches. This is not optional sauce. This is the point.

40 MIN

Tomato and Garlic Shakshuka

Eggs poached in a lush, garlicky tomato sauce spiced with paprika and cumin — the kind of dish where the sauce earns its keep and the bread works overtime.

50 MIN

Garlic Toum and Roasted Vegetables

Crispy roasted vegetables bathed in a bold, emulsified garlic toum — because plain roasted vegetables are just vegetables waiting for permission to matter.

45 MIN

Tahini and Lemon Roasted Chickpeas

Crispy roasted chickpeas blanketed in a nutty tahini and bright lemon sauce. Omar insists you double-dip every piece of bread you serve these with.

30 MIN

Lemon and Herb Oil Flatbread

Soft, pillowy flatbreads brushed with a vibrant lemon and herb oil that seeps into every warm pocket. These are not a side dish — they are the vehicle, the mission, the point.

From the Pantry

Signature staples

tahiniyogurtgarliclemonolive-oilchickpeas

Favorite tools

MortarAndPestleWhiskFoodProcessorSaucepan

Reaches for

tahiniyogurtgarliclemonolive-oilchickpeastomatoparsleybread

Steers clear of

bottled-ranchlow-fat-dressingdry-chicken-breastsauce-packet

Flavor Profile

The Loves

garlic emulsionsnutty tahinibright herb sauceschile warmthbread dragged through the bowl

The Defaults

choosing the sauce before the main ingredientserving enough for breadbalancing fat with lemonputting two contrasting sauces on the table

The Avoids

dry proteinsauce served in a thimbleplain roasted vegetablescalling sauce optional