KC’s stylish new Lebanese restaurant will honor chef’s late daughter
Marwan Chebaro didn’t get to buy his daughter a car.
He didn’t get to see her off to college, walk her down the aisle, or many of the milestones fathers dream of hitting.
Nour had congenital heart disease and developmental delays. She died in 2018 at the age of 29, but, like her name’s meaning in Arabic, she was full of light.
“She loved to be around people, engage with people, even though she was very limited,” Chebaro said. “If she were healthy, normal, she would be creating her own legacy. But she couldn’t.”
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So, all the money that would’ve gone into a wedding venue or a new set of wheels has gone into this: a colorful new restaurant along 39th Street in Kansas City.
Chebaro sat at a table inside Nour’s on Wednesday, tilting the wide-brimmed hat on his head, and looked around.
When designer John O’Brien (who also helped create Voltaire, Earl’s Premier and more) asked Chebaro what he wanted for the space, he said: “Just do something that would make her proud.”
O’Brien interpreted that as splashes of rainbow, light-washed tables and a spacious patio bedecked with string lights.
There’s an interior wall covered with photos of Nour. Visitors are invited to hang up photos of their loved ones or place them in drawers underneath.
If Chebaro’s name sounds familiar, it’s likely for his work at Cafe Rumi or Tribal Grill (both also once on 39th).
More recently, he’s been working in corporate dining for the past several years at Sprint and other Midwest companies. For a while, he liked that better than the restaurant world.
“You come in the morning, you leave at 2 p.m., and you’re done,” he said. “And I was making more money.”
Post-COVID, business slowed down. So, Chebaro began to revisit the idea of returning to restaurants.
He really does love feeding people. Emphasis on the people.
“If you don’t have a generous nature, don’t go into the food business,” he said. “It’s not about making a dollar. It’s about making people happy.”
What you’ll find at Nour’s
When it opens on Monday, Nour’s will sell Lebanese cuisine like watermelon feta salad, salata and pita, crispy potatoes, falafel, pumpkin kibbeh dumplings and more.
Classic Lebanese comfort food, nothing overly complicated.
“We didn’t [reinvent] the wheel,” Chebaro said. “There’s a lot of beauty in simplicity.”
Nour’s has a coffee bar on one side, and an alcoholic one on the other (though Chebaro himself doesn’t drink, he knows plenty of others do).
The 3855 Warwick Blvd. space, part of the Park 39 development, will serve Turkish coffee as well as American-style drinks made from Broadway Roasting Co. beans. Its pastries will be supplied by Blackhole Bakery.
Plus, Nour’s will host a farmers market in its parking lot every Tuesday from 2 to 6 p.m. Chebaro decided to set up the weekly event and connected with a network of Amish Missouri farmers — as well as grower Gordie’s Heirlooms — who will supply produce.
“We know how to connect products with people,” Chebaro said.
To help, Chebaro called his brother — Maher Chebaro — who owns a New York City Lebanese restaurant called El Cedro.
He and restaurant consultant Alina Sirazetdinova are helping open the restaurant.
“It’s really a connecting place,” Maher said. “A third place.”
Near the front door, a colorful sign reads “ours, yours, Nour’s.” Chebaro wants his restaurant to be full of love, just like his daughter.
“I don’t care what culture, what religion, what language, the table promotes social harmony,” he said. “There’s goodness and flavor in all humanity.”
This story was originally published June 6, 2025 at 10:41 AM.