In a city teeming with high-concept eateries and a fiercely competitive food scene, few stories captivate like that of Ziyad Ayass. The Founder and Managing Partner of Wonder Restaurants Group isn’t just building restaurants, he’s shaping a personal and cultural narrative through food. With two distinctive concepts under his belt, Manaret Beirut (Instagram) and Ka’ak Al Manara (Instagram) Ayass is bringing the flavour and spirit of Lebanon to Dubai, one carefully curated bite at a time.
Before venturing into the world of food and beverages, Ayass spent nearly a decade navigating the structured corridors of corporate life, culminating in a high-level role at PwC. But as many entrepreneurs discover, financial success didn’t necessarily equate to fulfilment. “I reached a point in my life where I felt a deep urge to pursue something different, something I could truly be proud of,” he says. “I wanted to build something meaningful while also creating financial independence for myself. After nearly seven years in the corporate world, I finally admitted that no matter how much I was paid, I would never feel fulfilled in a corporate job.”
The epiphany came late one night, restless, searching, and open to change. “The idea struck me like a bolt of lightning: bring our beloved Lebanese Ka’ak to the heart of Dubai,” Ayass recalls. “I couldn’t stop thinking, ‘Why hasn’t anyone done this yet?’” Within three months, he had launched a modest food stall at Ripe Market in Zabeel Park, offering four variations of Ka’ak. It was his first income outside of a corporate pay check, and the beginning of a journey that would merge memory with mission.
While Ayass left PwC behind, the skills he gained there became invaluable. “Working at a large organization like PwC gives you firsthand insight into how successful companies operate,” he explains. “Big corporations succeed because they’re built on best practices that can be studied and applied, even in small businesses.” But as he’s quick to point out, “being part of a big company is very different from building one yourself. It’s like the story of the fish that doesn’t know what water is, until you leave that environment and try to build something from scratch, you don’t truly appreciate how it all works.”
From strategy to execution, Ayass was able to apply corporate fundamentals to entrepreneurial building blocks. “I started to connect the dots,” he says. “I tried to incorporate the best aspects of the systems I had seen at PwC and adapt them to my own business. My time there also equipped me with practical skills in market research, team leadership, project management, fundraising, investor management, and financial analysis, all of which were crucial in launching and growing my brand.”
But it wasn’t just business sense driving Wonder Restaurants Group forward, it was personal passion. For Ayass, food is not just sustenance, but a sensory conduit to home, heritage, and human connection. That ethos is embodied in Manaret Beirut, his premium-casual Lebanese restaurant and café that marries elegant hospitality with emotional storytelling. “To me, food is an art form before anything else,” he says. “The goal is to immerse guests in an experience that transports them, through flavour, atmosphere, and emotion. There’s no more powerful tool for that than one’s own upbringing and nostalgia.”
“Manaret Beirut is an ode to my fondest memories, meals with family and friends in Beirut’s charming courtyard restaurants or the warm, soulful spots nestled in Lebanon’s mountaintop villages,” he adds. But the restaurant is also a love letter to his family. “The spirit of Manaret Beirut is shaped by the love and hospitality I saw in my own home, especially watching my mother frequently host with warmth, grace, and joy. That’s the essence we try to recreate with every guest who walks through our doors.”
That same sense of nostalgia, tempered with strategic clarity, shapes his second concept, Ka’ak Al Manara. Where Manaret Beirut is all about transportive ambiance, Ka’ak Al Manara taps into the pulse of urban Lebanese bakery culture. “Ka’ak Al Manara is a casual Lebanese restaurant and bakery concept that focuses on Lebanon’s rich savoury and sweet bakery culture,” says Ayass. “Alongside its core offering of Ka’ak, it also features a concise but well-rounded selection of Lebanese dishes including hot and cold mezzes, grills, sandwiches, main dishes, and desserts.”
With a more compact menu and a quicker pace, Ka’ak Al Manara is designed for modern dining without losing its soul. “Compared to Manaret Beirut, the menu is smaller, making Ka’ak Al Manara a more flexible, quicker, and more casual dining experience,” he says. “But like Manaret Beirut, it is rooted in nostalgia, specifically my earliest memories of walking into a bustling Lebanese Ka’ak bakery with my father, mesmerized by the aromas, noise, and energy.”
Of course, the road from concept to execution was riddled with challenges. “The biggest challenge any early-stage entrepreneur faces is a lack of experience in the art and science of business,” Ayass notes. “This inexperience often breeds self-doubt. Many first-time founders rely heavily on trial and error or on their past corporate experience, both of which are helpful but not enough on their own.” His advice to those entering the F&B world is clear and practical: “Pair those efforts with a commitment to continuous learning. Surround yourself with mentors who have walked the path you’re on. Hire a business coach if you can. And most importantly, invest time in reading and absorbing knowledge from real-world entrepreneurs, books and content written by those who have built successful businesses, not just academic textbooks.”
That grounded ambition is shaping the future of Wonder Restaurants Group. “By 2030, we aim to have at least eight outlets across the UAE, with our catering and wholesale bakery business having tripled in size,” says Ayass. “We’re also looking to expand regionally through franchise or joint venture partnerships in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. Our goal is to reach AED 150 million in annual sales by then, and we’re well on our way.”
As for the dish that best tells his story? The answer is immediate and heartfelt: the Ka’ak. “Ka’ak changed my life. It gave me a vehicle to shape my own destiny and a mission I could pour my passion into,” he says. “I won’t stop until Ka’ak becomes as globally recognized as manakeesh. That’s the dream, and we’re building it, one bite at a time.”
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