I miss (the idea) of doing a weekly walkabout here in Bloomington, honestly, but my life has simply been too busy (by my own doing) to get out of the bubble that is the space between Gather and oak. (my house and my youngest’s preschool). But alas, last evening the husband and I found ourselves downtown retrieving a book from the Public Library (which I will likely write about in due time) at dinnertime, so we did what any couple with a troublesome three-nager would do — we thought long and hard about WHERE we should bless with our (likely very loud) presence, and the husband decided on Layali Feast.

Layali Feast is located on the corner of Third and Grant – so just a block or so from the public library, conveniently enough. We had stumbled upon this Middle Eastern delicacy last time we were at Bru Burger bc I had seen something on a sandwich board when I was driving by days earlier about a middle eastern breakfast platter situation and I’d shared that with him. See, my husband’s first wife’s family is from Lebanon and he spent some time there and our kids all have fond memories of this kind of food. We’d walked by those weeks ago and were quite confused because the building/space is branded as The Coffee Beanery, but also randomly was advertising this breakfast platter. Anywho– we didn’t think much more on it at that point, but weeks later someone on the Foodies FB page had posted that Layali Feast had opened (in the evenings) in this location.

So – the reality of why I’m writing this post about a food place is not that I want to review this Middle Eastern cuisine. It was good. We both ordered Shawarma and the babe ate french fries and we didn’t get kicked out (due to the loud threenager in question). The husband said it was ‘legit’ and I trust his judgment as his palate is much more sensitive than mine;) I’m not a food reviewer. I like food. It was Lovely. The service was great and kind and the space was clean and I’m certain we’ll go back to try more. Why I’m writing is more on . . . well, I’m often thinking about the future of retail, right? Because, well, I’m in retail. I’ve been working in retail my entire adult life, which is a long time at this point. And now, only recently, I’ve ventured into this (for me, gray) area of food service. And I wonder, what’s the future of restaurants?

So — I say this because, again, let me set the scene. This building is a new build with (I’m guessing) hundreds of students living up top. First floor commercial opened up maybe a year ago, as the Coffee Beanery. I believe this is a franchise that this particular location *might* be locally owned. Rumor had it (Reddit rumor that is) that The Beanery was closing its doors– in fact, I came across a FB Marketplace ad selling their espresso machine, grinder, ice machine, etc, just a few weeks ago. But then, Layali Feast popped up. The Coffee Beanery is still open (to my knowledge) during the ‘daytime’ hours and then, after 5pm it opens as Layali. Is THIS the future of expensive downtown real estate? Because quite frankly $5-$20K/month in rent is just too much for one small business to afford on their own.

I can see how it works. I mean, it makes sense. The Beanery only *needs* to be open until early afternoonish — many coffee shops close up shop around 2pm around here, some stay open until 6 – Soma (just up the street) has later hours. But they have this whole dining room and kitchen going to waste, so why not let a dinner establishment utilize the area when it’s not up and running?

About a year ago I had a similar (but obviously not the same) idea — I reached out to a local Vintage shop who maybe doesn’t have an “ideal” (to me) location and asked if they wanted to partner up in some way. I have this “perfect” (to me) location with lots of walk-by traffic and could use some help in the way of providing my customers with MORE. Why not venture into the realm of vintage – get the college kids to come in a little more – and reach a different audience. I didn’t know QUITE how it would work, but we were both savvy business owners, I figured we could figure it out together. Said vintage shop was not interested. Which, honestly, is fine, I get it. If I’d been in business for many years and someone reached out to me to set up shop in a smaller space inside another business I’d (honestly) probably be (relatively) offended as well. And that’s why I don’t see ESTABLISHED restaurants going this route – BUT I can totally see up and coming eateries getting behind this.

I mean– especially if they plan ahead, right? Seek out the right partnerships and collabs. I mean – maybe the Coffee Beanery and Layali aren’t the PERFECT pair as Coffee Couture and Middle Eastern vibes aren’t exactly the same – but I LOVE the concept and I think a lot of great could happen with it. It’s certainly not the Garage Food Hall in Indy (which we could also TOTALLY DO!!) but it’s definitely INNOVATIVE – which, I’m sorry folks – we just don’t see a ton of in this town;/ I say with Love of course.

So yeah – that’s my .02. Layali Feast was great – try it out. It truly is the only place outside of a food truck that you can get Shawarma these days – and it’s damn cold for food trucks right now! And I think it’s an interesting (different) take on shared kitchen spaces (think ghost kitchens). What do you think?

Much Love, as always,

talia