Bodega owners Debbie and George Sayegh are bringing their hush-hush passion project to another St. Petersburg neighborhood. The wife-and-husband duo’s new Grand Central District restaurant and bakery — underway at 2701 Central Ave. — will ward off “bad juju,” as Debbie puts it, while paying homage to their roots.
It’s called Baba.
Baba is a nod to both George’s father, George Sayegh Sr., and Debbie’s father, Tommy Lekas, as Baba means “Dad” in Lebanese and Greek (Debbie is Greek and George is Lebanese). But the Sayeghs also plan to reference other relatives who influenced them through food at Baba, which will focus on Greek and Lebanese cuisine with an American twist.
“My dad is very influential for me. I mean, he was in the restaurant business his whole life, owned restaurants,” Debbie says. “George’s dad, he passed away a couple of years ago. He was very supportive of us. He always encouraged us.
“So we thought we’d name it after them.”
Neighbors with Casita Taqueria and Bandit Coffee Co., the property that Baba has taken over previously housed an auto repair shop. It’s just shy of 3,000 square feet — and just what the couple were looking for. You see, there’s a divide of sorts in the building, allowing them to offer two separate spaces: the fast-casual bakery, where the former repair shop’s office was, and the full-service restaurant, where the cars went.
“Before we chose this spot, we had other options. We looked at quite a few things,” George says. “A few spots in this neighborhood, a few spots on Ninth Street, and we picked this one. We loved the building.”
The bakery will carry menu items like house-made pita bread, kebabs, sandwiches, Greek coffee and sometimes pastries (think baklava). Debbie’s mother, Maria Lekas, is set to bake the cookies, too, at least when she’s here; Mom spends five months out of the year in Greece, so the treats she oversees are seasonal.
As for the restaurant, diners should look forward to a mix of entrees and starters, plus a full-liquor bar with cocktails featuring hints of Lebanese and Greek inspiration.
“It’s not traditional. You’re not gonna get a gyro or a moussaka,” Debbie says.
The Sayeghs have put some major work into their bread recipe, by the way. According to George, his pita — pocketed yet slightly thicker than the traditional Lebanese variety — comes from lots of trial and error.
“It’s the bread I grew up with,” he says. “We’ve been playing with a bunch of different recipes, but I think we got it pretty good. We’re doing it in a home oven on a stone, so it’ll be different once we get in here.”
Debbie adds, “We’re making sandwiches out of them for the bakery side. You’ll be able to get chicken in there, falafel, whatever, inside this pita sandwich.”
Patrons can even watch Baba bake its bread from a window looking into the big kitchen.
Different from most properties in Grand Central, breeze block will surround the perimeter of Baba to create an almost courtyard setting. Planters — because Debbie is kind of obsessed — were tapped to keep the bakery’s garden-style hangout area independent from the restaurant’s pergola-shaded outdoor seating. But in total, the couple expects to accommodate 150 diners with both casual spaces.
Blues and whites, garage doors that roll up to provide an indoor-outdoor feel at the bar, exposed ceilings and concrete floors are also anticipated, helping Baba pull off a contemporary look with Old World elements.
What diners will notice more than anything is the evil eye. This symbol, found all over Greece, serves as Baba’s signature mark.
“The evil eye protects you from bad juju, basically,” Debbie says. “When you’re born, they always pin a little evil eye on your back, because we also believe if you compliment someone too much you can jinx them. The evil eye protects you from that, but it also protects you from people saying bad things about you.”
Debbie and George introduced EDGE District favorite Bodega to St. Pete in 2013, then expanded their Latin street fare across the bay to Tampa’s Seminole Heights neighborhood in 2018. They’re excited to get the doors of Baba open sometime in spring.
After all, the restaurant and bakery has been in the works for a good four years.
George sums up the latest culinary addition to Grand Central nicely: “It’s just been a passion project that we’ve always wanted to do.”
“I think it’ll take a little bit of getting used to for people to understand there’s two sides. But I think it’ll be fun once they get it,” Debbie says. “You can come here and get a kebab of chicken with a pita and leave in five minutes, or you can sit for two hours.”
