Who's Behind the Counter: Johnny Mattar at Hummus Corner

To say Johnny Mattar is confident in his Lebanese cooking would be an understatement.

When he and his wife Carla opened 10 months ago on Lakeside Boulevard, they knew that fresh food coupled with a consistent product would endear the the area (and surrounding communities) to this cuisine.

Mattar sat down with Patch to talk about his experiences so far.

Patch: Is this you and your wife's first restaurant experience, or have you had others?

Mattar: I’ve been doing this job for the past 20 years. I’ve done lots of restaurant openings overseas—more than 12 restaurants. But, this is the first restaurant that I’ve opened and owned.

What’s it like for you to be in charge and the number one guy?

The number one guy (laughs). It’s not a big difference for me, because my previous job was an operations manager for 10 restaurants. I was the big guy, but not for one restaurant. The feeling is a little bit different even though it is not much. But, when you hold the responsibility for a big company, it’s easy to handle a small operation as well.

What do you like about working in Owings Mills? How has it gone so far?

It’s a good location. This concept doesn’t require perfect location because it’s very authentic and very special so people don’t mind driving from far away to come here. But, what’s good about this place is that it is located in a business and residential area. So we can do breakfast, lunch and dinner.

If someone in Owings Mills said, ‘I haven’t heard of Hummus Corner’ or ‘I haven’t been there yet,’ why should they want to try Middle Eastern cooking? What makes it special?

The first thing special about this place is the freshness of the food. We prepare everything every day, and everything we serve is homemade inside this place. We don’t have the commercial hummus; we don’t have anything else like that. The meat itself, we only use fresh meat. We don’t buy frozen meat. The freshness is one strong part about this concept.

The other side is the authenticity of these recipes. We are not fancy stuff here. We get the real recipes that have been done, and we do all we can do to get good products so we can apply the recipes and make good products.

What are some of your favorite things to eat off the menu here?

When it comes to appetizers, I really like the baba ganoush and the hummus by itself. People here like the hummus more than anything else. When it comes to the main course, the fresh meat is my preferred item.

What is it like to work hand-in-hand with your wife? You guys must be together a lot of the time.

It’s been a good experience. It’s not only about trusting, it’s also about finding someone who can do the same job [as me]…It’s good to have everyone you know helping you to do your business.

After a long day’s work when you get back home, what do you do to relax?

That’s a good question, actually. I go to see my kids before they go to sleep. That makes me relax. I play with them—it’s the best time I could have.

What are some of the responses and feedback you’ve heard from people coming here for the first time?

Other than the regular words that you hear every day like "excellent" and "delicious"…one day, two months ago, I open at 11 a.m., somebody was knocking on the door at 10:15, and I open the door and she said "please, can you give me a container of hummus that you sell?" I said, "of course."… So, she came in, and then she started talking about the hummus that it is something coming from the heavens, and I got...goose bumps.

Say I was opening a business and I came to you asking what I should do to be successful. What would you tell me?

Always, when you use fresh food, it’s going to make a big difference. The other thing to concentrate on is the consistency of producing this quality product. If you aren’t consistent, you aren’t going to get anywhere. Freshness and consistency are the keys to success.

I see that you’re located on the end of the shopping center. Would the restaurant still be called Hummus Corner if you were in the middle?

No matter what, it was going to be Hummus Corner. We named it before we got the space. To actually be on the corner, that helps.