Alara, 1303 Wisconsin Ave., NW
More than a year and a half after restaurateur Hakan Ilhan signed the lease on the former Paolo’s space in Georgetown, his new Middle Eastern restaurant is finally here. The long-awaited Alara, named after a mythic Turkish water fairy, opens for dinner on Wednesday, February 5.
It’s a cozy, polished place with a menu that hops around the eastern Mediterranean, from Lebanon and Syria to Istanbul and the Aegean islands. It’s got the kind of range DC diners have come to expect from new Middle Eastern spots: dozens of hot and cold mezze dishes and dips, big kebab plates, pide flatbreads, and a fixed price shareable menu.
Ilhan, an Istanbul-born restaurateur who also owns the Mount Vernon Triangle eatery Ottoman Taverna, says the blend of cuisines at Alara draws on centuries of culinary exchange.
“When you go back to the history, that part of the world having been under the Ottoman Empire for 600 years or so, all of the cuisines have intertwined,” Ilhan says. “We try to present that region as a whole, rather than just focusing on one country.”
Highlights from chef Ahamet Aydogmusmus’s lengthy menu include hummus (optionally topped with roasted mushrooms or spiced beef); karniyarik (roasted stuffed eggplant); roasted cauliflower with yogurt-garlic sauce; grilled halloumi with tomatoes and mint; and a version of Turkish beyti kebab—grilled ground-beef kebabs wrapped in lavash and topped with yogurt and tomato sauce. There’s tzatziki and moussaka from Greece, fattoush and moutabal from the Levant, and many classic preparations from Turkey.
To narrow their options down, parties can opt for a four-course prix fixe spread for the table ($54.95 per guest) at dinner. Dessert might be tahini creme brûlée or Turkish coffee tiramisu.
The 5,000-square-foot space on Wisconsin Avenue was occupied by Paolo’s Ristorante for three decades, until the Italian standby closed in 2018. For nearly seven years, the storefront sat empty, though the fast casual chain Dig took over the attached cottage-like corner space.
Ilhan dabbles widely in the restaurant world: along with Ottoman Taverna, he owns Brasserie Liberté in Georgetown, Al Dente in Cathedral Heights, several restaurants inside Dulles airport, and two Chick-Fil-A franchises. When he signed the lease on the former Paolo’s in June 2023, he expected to open Alara by the following spring. But his team eventually determined they’d have to put in new plumbing, electrical wiring, ventilation, and HVAC. They even decided to move the kitchen to the basement to make room for more seating.
It’s taken 20 months, but Alara is now open seven days a week, essentially all day, until 1 AM on weeknights and until 2 AM on Friday and Saturday nights. Lunch and late-night menus are focused on kebabs, sandwiches, and a smaller mezze selection. Brunch, served on Saturdays and Sundays, adds items like soujouk eggs benedict and avocado toast with grilled halloumi.
Ilhan says the extra seating he added was important because he wants to keep the restaurant relatively affordable— and correspondingly high-volume. Except for large share plates, everything on the lunch, dinner, and brunch menus, from mezze to kebab platters, is under $20.
“We want it to be as friendly a menu as possible for all walks of life,” Ilhan says.
