We learned how to make Yafo’s arayes in Charlotte — now you can make them, too
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- Yafo Kitchen introduces arayes, a meat-stuffed pita, to Charlotte diners.
- Chef Shai Fargian blends Middle Eastern spices, herbs and kafta by hand.
- The Ballantyne location offers traditional and fusion Mediterranean dishes.
Arayes — a traditional Middle Eastern street food — are crispy on the outside, flavorful on the inside and undoubtedly delicious. Made with pita bread and stuffed with savory kafta beef, and served with a side of tzatziki or nutty tahini, arayes are simple, flavorful and are designed to be eaten on the go.
Shai Fargian, the chef-partner at Yafo Kitchen in Charlotte, likens arayes to “Middle Eastern Hot Pockets” — a meat-filled pita you eat with your hands.
While not widely available in Charlotte (though, they definitely should be), you can try arayes for a limited time at Yafo Kitchen, the fast-casual restaurant best known for its Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine.
“It’s become popular over the last few years as street food in the Middle East, so we brought it here,” Fargian explained.
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CharlotteFive met up with Fargian in the kitchen at Yafo’s newest location in Ballantyne to learn how arayes are made and share the restaurant’s secrets with you.
The restaurant’s 2,600-square-foot interior has 94 seats and a large covered patio where you can dine on the arayes and your favorite Yafo offerings including Greek yogurt mac and cheese, crispy chicken schnitzel and build-your-own bowls.
“From the day I opened YAFO Kitchen in SouthPark, twice a week I would hear, ‘When are you coming to Ballantyne?’ It’s been a long time in the making,” Fargian said.
Chef Fargian’s arayes
Arayes are burger-like in design, but differ wildly in flavor. Traditionally, they are served to newlyweds because they’re handheld and easy to eat while entertaining guests.
“It’s not just like a burger,” Fargian said. “There’s a lot of other flavors involved.”
In the kitchen, Fargian prepares the kafta — a mixture of chuck and brisket — with precision.
He takes the kafta meat out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes prior, to allow for easier, more pliable mixing, which he does by hand.
In a blender, Fargian adds his spices: an aromatic blend of salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, cumin and cinnamon.
“The kicker — and what makes this special — is a little bit of cinnamon. It’s very herbaceous and floral, and you don’t expect it in savory dishes,” Fargian explained.
Next, Fargian adds raw onions, chopped garlic and raw eggs as a binding agent. Traditionally, the onions are grated with a box grater, but Fargian says the blender creates a similar effect.
“We purée it all together so it distributes evenly in the meat,” Fargian said.
Fargian then folds bread crumbs and herbs (parsley and cilantro) into the kafta, mixing it again, with his hands. He even let me don a pair of gloves and mix with him. There’s something special about mixing food with your hands that makes the process feel more personal. Perhaps a human touch makes food taste better?
“The breadcrumbs absorb some of the liquid from the onion and the eggs and hold it all together,” Fargian explained.
Next, we knead the kafta — kind of like a focaccia bread — before incorporating the puréed mixture.
To ensure the quality, Fargian, in true chef fashion, likes to taste the raw kafta meat. Though I’m not much of a tartare fan, I have a nibble. It was perfect: The fresh herb mixture was bright, and the spices sang.
Finally, we gently stuffed the kafta mixture into the pita bread — mine a little more messy than his, but I’m not keeping score.
As an aside, Fargian recommends using day-old pita as it absorbs the flavor the best, but if you only have fresh pita, that works, too.
Fargian then placed the arayes in the oven and finished them off on the grill. He served it with a side of tzatziki and tahini, which is the traditional dipping sauce.
Yafo’s arayes recipe
Ingredients for arayes:
Yield: 40 stuffed pita quarters (10 whole pitas)
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 large egg
- 1 ¼ tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- Pinch ground cinnamon
- 1 bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 ½ lbs ground beef (80/20 works best)
- 10 small pitas, cut into quarters
Preparation
First, prepare the flavor base. In a food processor, purée the onion, garlic, egg, salt, pepper, paprika, cumin and cinnamon until smooth.
Then in a large mixing bowl combine the parsley, cilantro and breadcrumbs. Pour into the onion/spice purée and mix well.
Break the ground beef into chunks and add to the bowl. Gently mix together with your hands until everything is combined. Fargian warns against overmixing. The meat should still look like ground beef, not paste.
Now it’s time to form the meatballs. Scoop approximately 2 tablespoons of the mixture at a time and roll into small meatballs.
Next, cut the pitas into quarters. Gently open each quarter into a pocket and stuff with a meatball. Flatten to fit and press the pita around it. It’s okay if the meat spills out a little, it will shrink as it cooks.
Heat a grill or grill pan over medium heat. Brush pita exteriors lightly with olive oil. Grill the stuffed pita quarters for 3-4 minutes per side, until the pita is golden and crisp and the beef inside is cooked to medium-well. You can also grill it on the open sides to get a nice sear on the meat.
Serve hot and enjoy with a side of tahini sauce or yogurt dip.
Mediterranean and Middle Eastern fare
The dishes on YAFO’s menu run the gamut of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine, with Fargian drawing inspiration from the Levant area of the Mediterranean. But when it comes to flavor, Fargian likes to stay true to the intended flavors.
“ If I had to make hummus at a Michelin Star restaurant, I would make it the same way,” Fargian explained. “We do it in the best way possible.”
When designing the menu, Fargian also draws from his multicultural background: His father is Iranian, and he grew up in the Galilee region of Israel.
“All of our neighbors were Arabic and Muslims,” Fargian explained. “We used to go to their houses for holidays, and we really grew up in coexistence. To bring this, is like a piece of my childhood.”
At Yafo, you can have a fully authentic Middle Eastern dish like arayes, or you could have Yafo’s Brussels sprouts and dates, which are equally delicious but have a more Italian/Spanish influence. Then there’s Yafo’s rice, which is Persian-style.
“We try to give it a balance,” Fargian said. We have some Greek influence, we have some Middle Eastern influence, and we have some North African influence.”
No matter the origin of the cuisine, the most important thing is that it tastes good. Which it undoubtedly does.
“We really do try to make the food the best way we can,” Fargian said.
YAFO Kitchen
Location: 15105 John J Delaney Dr. Ste J in Ballantyne
Location: 1231A East Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28203
Location: 720 Gov Morrison St, Charlotte, NC 28211
Cuisine: Fast-casual Middle Eastern, Mediterranean
Instagram: @yafokitchen
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This story was originally published August 27, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
