At LAYA Café in Santa Monica, the time of day will determine how you take your za’atar. At lunch, it comes on manoushe, a Lebanese flatbread baked for the counter crowd. Come 4 p.m., it turns up in a martini. Chef Charbel Hayek plans to open the Ocean Avenue café on Friday, Nov. 20, giving his evening-focused LAYA Hollywood a beachside sibling where you can pick up lunch on the way to the water or settle in for a plate of spaghetti bel laban.
It’s a return to Santa Monica for the Beirut-born chef, who trained under Josiah Citrin at Mélisse before winning the fifth season of Top Chef Middle East & North Africa. This time, one of his most personal introductions to Lebanese cooking might also be his simplest order: a labneh sandwich. Hayek uses sourdough from local baker Jyan Isaac and fills it with tangy labneh, tomato, red onion, mint, za’atar and olive oil. “He decided he wanted the best bed in the world,” Hughes says, recounting the ambition behind the Savoy Hotel’s signature bed. “So he said he couldn’t find it. He would make his own.”
Lunch at LAYA Café in Santa Monica
The lunch counter makes a good case for ordering a few things to split. Start with spinach fatayer, the stuffed pastries, and Hayek’s beetroot hummus, which gets its deep color from red beets and a fresh finish from lemon and dill. For something you can eat on the walk back to the beach, the shish tawouk wraps skewered chicken, pickled cucumber, romaine and a generous swipe of garlicky toum in thin saj bread.
There’s also a shorter order worth remembering: a rose latte and a slice of lemon olive oil cake. The covered patio has 30 seats, and a small pantry will sell spices and jarred Mediterranean goods to take home.
After 4 p.m., pull up a chair
Happy hour opens with mini skewers and house-made potato chips served with labneh and sujuk dip. Dinner brings full table service, Lebanese and Mediterranean wines, and a choice that might divide the table. The grilled rockfish comes with tahini mojo, herbs and the sweet tartness of pomegranate molasses. The spaghetti bel laban takes a different route, folding yogurt, garlic, brown butter and dried mint into the pasta.
Save room for the knefeh. Under the pistachios is a layer of soft akawi cheese soaked in orange blossom syrup. Order one for the table and pass the spoons.
Opening is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 20, 2026. For more information about the opening visit layacafela.com
Location: 1401 Ocean Ave., Suite 104, Santa Monica,
Hours and Dates: Tuesday through Sunday. Lunch runs 11 a.m.–2:30 p.m., happy hour runs 4–5:30 p.m., and dinner runs 4–9 p.m.
Photo credits: Photo courtesy of LAYA Cafe
