All in the Family
At this vibrant restaurant in eastern Virginia, there’s no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen.
Open the door to Layla’s, a Lebanese restaurant in
Woodbridge, Virginia, and you can count on a couple of things:
The aroma of freshly ground spices will fill the air, and a basket of warm pita bread will be on every one of the tables.
Mathil Chebat, who owns the restaurant with her husband,
Michael, and brother-in-law Jimmy, will be in the kitchen, cooking family recipes like chicken shawarma, lamb kabobs and creamy rice pudding. And helping to make sure everything runs smoothly will be three or four of Mathil and Michael’s eight children—seven daughters and a son. Ranging in age from 16 to 36, they take on every task, from greeting guests and waiting tables to overseeing the launch of Layla’s product line of garlic whip and hummus.
“In our family there’s nobody too big for any job,” says Michael. “We’re all contributing to the success of the restaurant, and we’ve always taught our
children that there’s dignity and pride in hard work.” Even while the restaurant has been closed for dine-in service during the pandemic, the whole family has been busy keeping the business running smoothly, ensuring takeout and delivery orders are as delicious as ever.
Christiane, 24, says she and her siblings grew close working alongside each other in the family business. “We learned that you can always rely on family for love and support,” she says. “When one of us is feeling down, we can count on the others to bring us up.”
The Chebat family story has plenty of ups and downs. In 1975, Michael fled Lebanon during the country’s civil war and settled in Buffalo, New York. Mathil followed a few months later. While they raised their family, Michael built a career as a printer. But when an economic downturn loomed, threatening the business, the couple, now living in Virginia, turned their attention to their family’s culinary legacy. “My mother was a private chef back in Lebanon,” Mathil says. “I cook exactly like she does, and when people would come over for dinner, they’d always say to me, ‘You should open a restaurant to share these dishes with the whole world.’”
The Chebats took over the lease of a former Vietnamese restaurant, painted the walls light green and white—two of the colors of the Lebanese flag—and opened three days later. Some of Layla’s customers have been coming to the restaurant throughout its 14 years and first got to know the Chebat children when they’d perch on barstools to do their homework. Those regulars have now become part of the extended Chebat family.
When Christiane got married a few years ago, the guest list included nearly 20 of the restaurant’s regular customers. “Our relationship with them is as close as you’d have with a cousin, an aunt or an uncle,” she says. “When they come into Layla’s, they feel like they’re coming home.”
“We’ve always taught our children that there’s dignity and pride in hard work.” —MICHAEL