Summer Salem has always been comfortable in the kitchen.
For years, she’s made a pastime out of hosting small parties and gatherings in her home, cooking for loved ones and sharing her recipes with them.
So it makes sense that she’d start cooking up those recipes in a restaurant of her own. In a way, she’s still serving friends and customers at “home” — as the restaurant’s name, “Darna”, means “our house” in Arabic.
Her new eatery, Darna Mediterranean Cuisine, opened in Olathe at the end of January.
Already, the restaurant has begun to see some regular customers.
Darna opened at 15962 S. Mur-Len Road
- The restaurant opened in a space just off 159th Street and Mur-Len Road, near Price Chopper.
- Delish Catering & Events previously occupied that space.
- Darna is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Darna serves up ‘a taste of tradition’
The restaurant serves classic Mediterranean-influenced entrees like gyro platters, falafel bowls, grilled lamb kabobs and shawarma sandwiches.
In addition to its entrees, Darna also offers appetizers and smaller plates like Greek salads, stuffed grape leaves, hummus with pita, and lentil soup.Though Salem’s restaurant is new, her family isn’t new to the local culinary scene.
Her husband, Abraham, co-owns Zaina Mediterranean Cuisine & Catering in Kansas City, Missouri’s Crown Center.
Salem wanted to fill a gap in the local market
As an Olathe resident herself, Salem said she’d noticed a lack of Mediterranean options in the city’s food and drink scene.
Since opening her restaurant, it’s become apparent to her that other Olathe residents had noticed this lack too.
So far, she said her regular customers are excited to have a new option for Mediterranean cuisine in the area. It’s mutually beneficial, she said, because through the restaurant, she’s had the chance to get to know the community in a new way.
“Some of the (regular) customers have become more like friends,” she said. “I always enjoy meeting new people.”
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