Why we built a home,
not a store
On long tables, two worlds, and the phrase our parents said to every guest who ever crossed the doorstep.
Ahlan. If you grew up like we did, you know the sound the house makes when guests are coming: the good glasses coming down from the high shelf, mama yelling to clean our rooms, someone sent running for more parsley.
We are Egyptian-American sisters. We grew up in the West and spent every summer we could back home in Egypt, and our whole lives have happened around one piece of furniture - a long table with “is it going to be enough” food.
When we started planning HOUSE OF MENA, everyone asked what category it was. A café? A boutique? A gallery? The honest answer is that it's the house we grew up in, translated. The café is the kitchen. The boutique is the salon where the beautiful things live. The programming, game nights, the supper clubs, the parties - that's just what happens after dinner.
The house mark — embroidered heirloomEl beit beitak — our home is yours. It was never a tagline. It's what our parents said to every guest who ever crossed the doorstep.
Nora & Reem — at the bar, 1194 S La BreaNora &
Reem
We spent years working in corporate luxury before this — Burberry, Hourglass, the pop-up that brought Barney's back to Soho for one improbable month. We learned how beautiful things should be presented. But we kept noticing what those spaces were missing: nobody offers you coffee. Nobody asks about your family. You are a customer, efficiently served. We wanted to build the opposite —
a place where you're a guest first and the receipt is an afterthought.A vast selection of designers from the region and its diaspora, chosen one at a time — Jude's gold from Cairo, Karen's frames from Dubai, tatreez re-cut as evening wear, harissa and za'atar and hibiscus for your own kitchen. A bar that takes the region's coffee lineage seriously. And a calendar that keeps the lights on late, because gathering is the point.
We took a barista job to learn the craft from the ground up. We flew to see ateliers. We argued about wallpaper. All of it so that when you walk into 1194 S La Brea, it doesn't feel like a concept. It feels like arriving somewhere you've been before- even if you've never been.
Yalla. Come home.
In flight — the collection, seat by seatThree pillars
Culture
Culture is at the heart of everything, a space that embodies the traditions and aesthetics of the region, from the interiors drawn from MENA landscapes and architecture to recipes crafted with authentic flavors.
Creativity
We celebrate creativity through curation; an exclusive array of fashion, accessories, art and décor showcasing the unique talents and stories of designers across the region and its diaspora.
Community
Community is the soul of the house; a gathering place where people come together, linger a little longer, and feel like they belong. It's the thread that weaves HOUSE OF MENA together.
Between East
and West
Los Angeles is one of the world's great diverse cities and Mid-City sits at its crossroads. On La Brea, the house brings the region's designers to a new audience, and gives the diaspora a place that tastes, sounds and feels like home.
La Brea at golden hour, from aboveThe story so far
The long table
Two sisters, two worlds, summers in Egypt, school years in the States, and every memory anchored to a table crowded with food and family.
The idea takes shape
Years in luxury retail and brand experience turn into a question: why is there no home for MENA creativity in Los Angeles?
Learning the craft
Coffee sourcing trips, cupping classes, and a barista job at Blue Bottle. The designer list grows from a note on a phone to a curation of dozens.
1194 S La Brea
The keys to the house. Our coffee cart popping up throughout Southern California. Renderings become walls; the wallpaper is custom; the espresso machine arrives before the furniture.
The doors open
El beit beitak. Our home is yours — yalla.