Cambridge, MA – Moona, the beloved Inman Square restaurant known for its bold Levantine flavors, is expanding with a second location at 750 Main Street in Cambridge’s Central Square inside the MIT Engine Building. This new iteration builds on Moona’s Inman Square legacy, tripling the footprint and adding a new layer of creative energy.
The restaurant itself will include a total of 90 seats comprised of a 55-seat dining room, 10-seat bar, and 25-seat café by day, lounge by night that can also host private events for groups of 10 to 30 guests. Dinner service will feature a bread & dip section, mezze, and large-format dishes for groups, whole fish, lamb, and other shared plates; encouraging communal dining in the Levantine tradition. The wine list will emphasize Lebanese, Greek, and Georgian producers, while the bar program will spotlight seasonal cocktails and mocktails incorporating Levantine flavors.
By day, Sawa Café (“sawa” meaning “together”), a fast-casual, community-oriented space for breakfast and lunch designed for people who want to linger, work, and connect. Guests can expect a unique croissant program delivering a rotating selection of sweet and savory Viennoiserie featuring Levantine-inspired flavors.
In addition to Lebanese-influenced pastries, breakfast, and lunch, Sawa Café will introduce Boston’s first Lebanese soft-serve program, featuring seasonally rotating flavors such as preserved lemon and salted tahini, topped with confitures, crunchy toppings, sweet and tart sauces, curds, chocolate bites, and more. Lunch will feature sandwiches that are twists on Lebanese classics, along with salads, dips, mezze, and sweet and savory pastries utilizing Lebanese pantry (mouneh) items.
“Moona has always been about the pantry, which preserves fresh local ingredients for use year round” says owner, Mohamad El Zein. “We’re continuing to dive deeper into sourcing spices, olives, molasses, oils, tweaking spice blends, pickling, nuts, honeys, and so much more. It’s not just the food at the table that’s enjoyable, it’s also everything else at the table. That’s where we come in, to brighten the day!”
With over 20 years’ experience in Boston’s restaurant industry, Mohamad El Zein opened his second restaurant Moona, in 2016 in Cambridge, MA’s Inman Square.
Originally from Lebanon, but born in Abu Dhabi, UAE Mohamad was exposed to many cuisines from South East Asia, Persian, Middle Eastern, European, African, and American. After graduating he moved to the United States to study finance and during his freshman year of college he discovered a passion for hospitality while working at a French bistro.
Mohamad got his start in the industry at Aquitaine Bar a vin Bistro in Boston’s South End where he worked in between classes to offset the tuition costs. During his time at Aquitaine he learned to appreciate the true art of cooking, the critical importance of high service standards and acquired a vast knowledge of the wine and beverage program. El Zein left Aquitaine in 2002 and became the food & beverage manager of Blu, a fine dining restaurant in The Ritz Carlton, where he worked alongside James Beard Award-winning chef Jody Adams. In 2003 Mohamad joined Masa Restaurant as a general manager, and then ultimately director of operations and co-owner of two locations. At Masa he was able to hone in on his true passion for creating and operating restaurants, growing Masa into a multi-unit business, and it was only a matter of time before El Zein took that creative energy and sought to open his own concept, Moona, in Cambridge’s Inman Square in 2016. Inspired by the food of his childhood, Moona, slang for the Arabic word meaning “storing” or “pantry,” is a 30 seat Eastern Mediterranean-inspired restaurant that specializes in hot and cold mezzas (small plates). The concept pays tribute to the impact that the pantry has had on food, especially in the remote villages of the Middle East, and each dish incorporates Moona made pantry items or sourced pantry items from credible local and global sources. When he’s not running the restaurants, El Zein dedicates much of his time to raising his kids Noora and Omar, and spending time with his wife and family, working out, fishing, snowboarding, hiking, and listening to music.
Nick Kazizian offers a warm, personable approach to hospitality, with a focus on craft and detail built from nearly nine years in restaurants. A Watertown native raised in an Armenian and Scottish home, his love for great food and better company started early; melding cultures and cuisines offered constant new experiences and a kitchen where everyone knew how to cook for the family. While his original passions for archaeology and chemistry remain, they take new form in the joy of researching and tweaking old recipes for food and cocktails to better suit modern tastes.
This passion for dining and elevating experiences drew him to restaurants and further education in beverage and wine, particularly under Sandy Block’s course through Boston University. With that knowledge he quickly moved up to bartending where he joined teams led by Garrett Harker, Andrew Holden, Michael Fiorello and Tony Maws. His tenure with each drove home the importance of tightly focused service and the unique quality of a fine meal and genuine connection to turn someone’s day around. He is excited to bring that ethos to Moona and help create a team with the same drive for skill and authenticity.
At home, he can often be found writing or baking(with or without a cocktail in hand), studying to become a sommelier, tending to the garden or relaxing with his dogs.
Jeffrey Becker began his culinary journey in 2012 through a high school program and quickly discovered his passion for the energy and creativity of hospitality. His early career included stages and roles at Café Fiore, Nom, Valentino’s Take & Bake, and Plated Events by Chef Jason in Ventura, California, before moving on to Emery’s Catering in Rhode Island and several Boston restaurants, including Russell House Tavern and Garrett Harker concepts Eastern Standard and Branch Line.
A Johnson & Wales graduate with an associate degree in Culinary Arts, Jeffrey has spent the past six years as an executive sous chef, overseeing menu development, daily kitchen operations, and mentoring the next generation of cooks.
For Jeffrey, the joy of cooking lies in bringing people together, whether it’s creating memorable dishes for guests or guiding his team in the kitchen. Outside of work, he enjoys reading, movies with his partner, Renaissance fairs, and spending time with his cats. One of his most meaningful experiences was cooking at the Casa Pacifica Food & Wine Festival, giving back to the organization where he spent part of his childhood.
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