Rooted in Beirut

By Ben Sellers

It has been about a century since Rusty Fallen’s families—the Mehfouds on her mother’s side and the Gibralls on her father’s side—made their way to Richmond. These days, the small, Middle Eastern country of Lebanon—bordered by Israel, Syria and the Mediterranean Sea—seems overwrought with conflict. But for Fallen’s forebears, the world was a different place.

Aziza's owner Rusty Fallen puts away a sheet of freshly baked pastries.

“When my family migrated here, people were just coming for opportunity,” said Fallen. “There was no war over there—everything was fine.” 

Fallen said her Mehfoud grandparents came to America for a visit around 1916 and decided to stay. They settled in Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom, not far from the Church Hill neighborhood. There, Fallen’s parents eventually opened a restaurant, the Henrico Inn, serving homemade Lebanese fare.

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What does it mean to be Lebanese? University of Richmond Middle East scholar Sheila Carapico explains the historical and contemporary influences that have helped to define Lebanese culture in this podcast.

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Grape leaves and family roots

Fallen and her son Billy now carry on the family tradition with Aziza’s, a restaurant named for her mother that opened last September a block away from the original Henrico Inn. The restaurant’s menu still emphasizes traditional Lebanese cuisine with items such as tabbouleh, hummous and grape leaf rolls.

As in many cultures, in a Lebanese household the idea of hospitality often focuses on food, said Fallen’s brother Philip “Baltimore” Gibrall, who now owns the McGuire Park Pharmacy next door to Aziza’s. “Basically, when you come over to someone’s house, the first thing they want to do is feed you,” said Gibrall.

Yet Fallen and Gibrall both agreed that there is more to Lebanese identity than just a full stomach. “The food plays a big part—but, you know, I think it’s the family,” said Fallen. “My husband is not Lebanese, but my children, when someone asks, ‘What culture are you?’ they say ‘Lebanese.’”

A close-knit community

Part of it has to do with proximity. Growing up, many of the Lebanese families in the area lived nearby and sent their kids to school at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church.

“We were raised in tight-knit community. All the kids we went to school with in the area and socialized with, for the most part, were Lebanese,” said Gibrall. As for the family’s connection to its heritage, “You couldn’t avoid it when everybody around you came from the same place,” he said.  

Since then, many of the Lebanese families have made their way to Richmond’s West End, said Gibrall. But community spirit remains strong thanks to St. Anthony Maronite Church in Glen Allen. Billy Fallen said his mother was not only active in the church, but also volunteered with St. Anthony’s annual Lebanese Food Festival, a Richmond tradition that celebrated its 25th anniversary in May.

The festival is perhaps the most prominent symbol of Richmond’s Lebanese heritage for outsiders. Bridget Fitzpatrick, a recent VCU graduate and server at Aziza’s, said that Lebanese cuisine has become something of a “staple in the area.” Fitzgerald added that she enjoys the food festival because it gives people the opportunity to try new things. “It kind of gives a diverse feel on different cultures.”   

And for those within the city’s Lebanese community, the festival offers yet another chance to reconnect. Though Fallen spent many years in Newport News after marrying in 1969, she said she made a point of returning to St. Anthony for the food festival when it began. “The church keeps us close,” she said.

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The American flag flies above the entrance to the Phoenician.

Nearly a century after immigrating to the United States, Rusty Fallen’s family has become an institution in Richmond’s Lebanese community. But while Fallen’s family came simply for opportunity, others such as Naji Kadi came under far different circumstances, during a civil war that lasted from 1975 to 1990. Learn about Kadi’s moving journey and the story of his West Broad Street restaurant, The Phoenician, in this audio slideshow.

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A return to Lebanon

In August, Fallen will visit her cousins in Lebanon for the first time with a delegation that includes family members and St. Anthony’s Monsignor George Sebaali. “I’ve always wanted to go, but never had the opportunity,” said Fallen. She also hopes to visit New York’s Ellis Island some time and see how her father and grandparents entered the country. But for all her travels, it seems Fallen will always make her way back home, whether it’s for the food or the family.

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Tags: Aziza's, Lebanon, The Phoenician