Advertisement It’s the good old summertime, and this year is particularly good.
The warm weather is here, AMC’s hit show “Mad Men” has just started a second season, and Assaad Maatouk is back in town.
Maatouk, who owned the restaurant Casablanca, closed up shop in 2007 and moved to be with his family in Beirut, Lebanon.
“I tell you, I suffered a lot with these people,” Maatouk said of his time in Lebanon. “They're liars and crooks.”
That will take some explaining.
For those of you who visited Casablanca, either in its Onalaska or La Crosse location, you already know Maatouk is a colorful character and master storyteller. He didn’t offer a menu, but he did offer to kill you if you didn’t like his food.
Not many people complained.
Dinning out at his place was truly an “experience.” So is having a conversation with him.
As for the “liars and crooks” in Lebanon, it turns out they’re his niece and her husband. They took money to do work on the family home and never did it.
But, the trip back wasn’t without its merits.
“The climate is the best in the world,” he said. “The fruit and the vegetables are the best in the world.”
What wasn’t the best in the world, apart from his relatives, was the government-controlled electricity and water shortages in his war-torn homeland.
“I know a lot of people here. It's like my home,” he said. “I used to think my roots were in Lebanon, but I'm quite wrong. My roots are here in La Crosse.”
So, back he came. He promised he would. He also said he’d likely open a catering business and he has. Sort of.
He’s done some private catering for friends since moving back to La Crosse on May 25.
“It's not a business thing,” he said. “I'm doing it free for them. They helped me and now I'm helping them.”
He’d like to expand the catering. In fact, he likes the idea of people telling him how much they want to spend, and then he’ll tell them what he can do for them.
“Most people know what they want,” he said. “I'll go there and prepare it in their home. It's fun, private and cheaper than going out.”
Maatouk said he won’t be opening a restaurant again unless it requires a lot less time than Casablanca did. He nearly killed himself working so hard just to pay the bills.
He doesn’t think he’ll be moving any time soon either.
“If this business goes well, then I will stay,” he said.
He’ll also be waiting for people to call him for catering gigs. His phone number is (608) 385-2482. Before you call be forewarned.
“You can tell people I'll still kill them if they don't like my food,” he said.
Call him. It’s worth the risk.
Ryan Stotts can be reached at (608) 791-8446 or ryan.stotts@lee.net.
