We recently connected with Noam Bilitzer and have shared our conversation below.

Noam, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I’ve cooked ever since I could stand. I had my first taste of a professional kitchen freshman year of high school and never looked back. Moving to the states from Israel, food was always the center of every occasion. As a green cook fresh out of culinary school, I wanted to learn about everything other than the food I grew up with. I loved butchery, charcuterie, and elevated dining; food was and in many ways still has my heart. When I would go home, I would have a shawarma sandwich or fried eggplant, and maybe a random vegetable dish my sister put together. It was all so good and I wanted to bring that to more diners. At MeeshMeesh, we focus on creating a Levantine feast where guests can break bread and enjoy delicious food in a refined but comfortable and inviting space. What we do at Meeshmeesh is by no means original. There are a number of restaurants in the states and all over the levant which focus on similar styles of food. It’s really just creating a genuine space for our team to host, feed, and take care of our guests and friends that join us.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I always loved to cook. It came natural and I’ve never done anything outside of the restaurant industry and couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I moved to the states from Israel at the age of 6 and grew up in Florida where I worked in restaurants until I graduated high school and moved to Charlotte NC for culinary school at Johnson and Wales University. I continued to travel and cook always wanting to learn more and get better, but always looking beyond just the food. Systems, people, operations. So many details go into having a successful place beyond food. As I continued my career in food service with lead me into a number of different paths from more corporate structures to running chef driven kitchens. As I continued to evolve you start to understand the importance in both models and the need for corporate style structure with in a genuine people first company. ( people being our team) which there for go above and beyond to help our guests.

Creating a genuine connection for your team with the space is what I find to be the most important factor to set me apart.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Meeshmeesh started with hard work, finding a great team and a lot of luck.

I had the idea for a similar concept for years and had worked on a business plan here and there. But I knew I didn’t want to get into the same hole so many chefs end up in when opening a restaurant by going into a massive amount of debt. In the beginning, I did pop ups and prepped out of my apartment. I did my own marketing, and I shamelessly asked every restauranteur and business owner lots of questions.

Most banks wouldn’t give a 30 year old with no business history or assets a dime. I was able to save up money from private events; about $60k. I really lucked out when my now landlord and owner of Wiltshire Pantry offered me a chef in residency at one of her existing restaurants. With the help of an incredible team and a childhood friend who grew up to be a talented chef, we joined the Wiltshire family and had MeeshMeesh @ Wiltshire On Market from January – July 2023. This allowed us to test out our concept and learn what worked, prior to taking the leap of opening the restaurant myself.
I found one local bank that gave me a micro business loan of $10k with forgivable interest once the principal is paid back. I made a proposal for a line of credit from one of my private chef clients (we haven’t had to use it yet) and borrowed another $50k from family, which they “graciously” gave me at 10% interest rate; haha. So far it’s been a miracle, but we’ve managed to make all of our payments on time and have been profitable since opening.

Although I took the financial funding, I also owe a huge deal to my landlord, Susan, for her help with the kick start she gave me with the restaurant space and to my team for helping build such a unique space for us and our guests to enjoy.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Here it was our first full week open. Dinner service is about to start. We weren’t fully staffed in the kitchen yet. I was working the line. 5 o’ clock and the doors open. First order goes in and our POS system is down with no hope of being fixed with a full house of reservations. We can’t process any payment. What do I do? Are people going to walk away? Where’s the closest ATM? Am I burning that steak? My mind is racing. I give my phone to Cale, my “non-manager, server, manager person” at the time, who is now our direct of operations and events. I tell him to print my Venmo QR code and cross some fingers that everyone understands.
We pivoted and ultimately had a successful night.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://MeeshMeesh.com
• Instagram: Meeshmeesh_med_lou
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/eatmeeshmeesh
• Yelp: MeeshMeesh Mediterranean
• Other: TikTok @eatmeeshmeesh

Image Credits

Spot hopper, Jordan Delewis, Shoku Club Media