The Shawarma Has Landed: Samesa Settles Down in Williamsburg
For two chefs that had yet to (technically) run their own restaurant, brothers Eli and Max Sussman somehow managed to maintain an exceptionally high industry profile for years. In fact, while working their way up the ranks at popular NYC establishments (Eli at Mile End, Max at Roberta’s and The Cleveland), they impressively garnered not just one, but three cookbook deals, commencing with “This is A Cookbook” in 2012, and culminating with “Classic Recipes for Modern People” in 2015, currently ranked by Amazon under the category “Celebrities.”
The nearest they’d come to finally setting a stake in the ground was last fall, when they debuted a duo of pop-up concepts: Ed & Bev’s (a Detroit-style coney shop, situated in Berg’n), and the shawarma-serving Samesa, also in Berg’n, followed by Three’s Brewing. Which is why—considering their enduring omnipresence—it’s hard to believe the Sussmans only officially became business owners (in the strictest sense) precisely one week ago, with Samesa’s brick-and-mortar launch on Lorimer Street.
495 Lorimer St., Williamsburg
Photos by Sasha Turrentine