Healthy Fast-Food
Eat Like a King at Pashas
Story by Debra Kronowitz
| Photos courtesy of Pasha’s
Offering fine quality, freshly prepared Mediterranean cuisine at
affordable prices is what Pasha’s is all about. With locations in the
Design District, Lincoln Road, North Miami Beach, Aventura Mall,
Brickell, Sports Club LA at the Four Seasons and UM Medical Wellness
Center, the fast-food restaurant is ever-present throughout South
Florida.
Pasha’s
started out as founder Antonio Ellek’s class project at Harvard Business
School. “I entered a business plan competition and my partners and I
developed the concept of creating a casual healthy fast-food eatery,”
said Ellek. A natural entrepreneur, Ellek wanted to do something that
was original and allowed people to stay fit.
Pasha’s is a name that has been attributed to a noble person – like a
lord in England, but it has no association with politics. “There’s an
expression ‘to live like a Pasha,’ which means to live like a king. The
expression transcends many languages and basically represents a person
who wants the good things in life. Someone who dresses well, eats well,
has a nice house, so on and so forth. So we tell all of our colleagues
that we treat all of our customers like a Pasha, like a king,” explained
Ellek.
The Menu
Prices are
low and the food is fresh. The menu offers a wide array of street foods
from “the Levant” – the countries bordering on the eastern
Mediterranean, though they could easily refer to the cuisine here as
“fast-food for vegetarians,” as meatless dishes abound.
The Design District location serves breakfast and lunch. The breakfast
menu features granola and fruit; egg wraps; various omelettes, including
the classic cheese; Mediterranean omelette with fresh mushrooms, green
peppers, onions, olives and feta cheese; chicken omelette with
charbroiled marinated chicken breast, green peppers, cheese and harissa
sauce; bread and pastry. |
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For
lunch patrons have a variety to choose from, including
appetizers, traditional soups, stews and entrees. To start,
try hoummus, baba ghanoush, falafel, Mediterranean olivesor
labneh,
a natural yogurt cheese spread sprinkled with a sesame-based
spice. Lentil soup and stews consist of beef or chicken and
are accompanied by basmati rice.
Entrees range from grilled kabob platters of traditional
chicken, beef, lamb and fish to vegetarian, chicken, beef,
salmon and shrimp wraps. All wraps are rolled in Pasha’s
homestyle flatbread and come with a choice of sauce:
tatziki
(yogurt),
aioli
(garlic mayo)and harissa
(warm spicy tomato).
For a taste of the Mediterranean, opt for the house kebabs –
mixed grill shish kebab and mixed grill
adana
kebab.
The shish kebab features a combination of filet mignon and
chicken breast with grilled vegetables and tatziki sauce.
The adana kebab, a traditionally mild spicy kebab, combines
ground chicken breast and lean ground beef with grilled
vegetables and aioli sauce.
Fresh salads and side dishes include a Mediterranean garden
salad, choban, tabbouleh, basmati rice, bulgur pilaf,
grilled vegetable medley and tatziki.
The bakery features unique Mediterranean pizzas and breads
baked in stone ovens. Trysimit,
the traditional sesame-covered ring-shaped bread;
lahmijn,
thin village bread topped with seasoned ground beef, tomato,
onion and bell peppers; and Pasha’s traditional
pide,
a pizza boat with mild cheeses and sesame. |
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