Mo Abusham always wanted to be an entrepreneur. A high school football injury that led to him becoming paralyzed in surgery at age 18 didn’t hold him back.
Now 52, Abusham, a proven businessman, is one of the latest entrepreneurs to open a new eatery in Old Towne. Filo Dessert Co. specializes in house-made Middle Eastern ice creams, coffees and pastries inspired by Abusham’s cultural heritage and his travels across the region.
Found one block off the roundabout, Filo Dessert Co., which opened July 15, has made a name for itself in only a few short weeks with its array of booza.
For the uninitiated, booza is a resin-based ice cream noted for its stretchy texture. It achieves its characteristic elasticity with the use of mastic, which grows on the Greek island of Chios. Not only does the resinous base give the ice cream a malleable texture, but it also adds deeper complexity.
Mistika Mastic Booza at the Filo Dessert Co. in Orange, on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
“It gives you a slightly piney yet sweet taste,” said Abusham.
Flavors at Filo include pistachio, which uses a pistachio butter made from imported Turkish nuts; an impossibly refreshing lemon-mint that brings to mind a classic sherbet; a Biscoff swirled with its namesake spread and flecked with the caramel-spice shortbread cookie; banana, an ode to the bananas found along the banks of the Nile in Egypt; classic chocolate and vanilla (using Madagascar beans, of course), to name a few.
Filo offers a dozen flavors, many of which change depending on the season, including four vegan-friendly options. Abusham said he has developed recipes for 50 flavors in total.
With roots in the Eastern Mediterranean, booza — which has seen a rise in popularity in the United States over the last five years due to the virality of Instagram and TikTok clips — can be found across Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and Palestine, where it has been a staple long before the advent of social media.
Filo also offers pastries like knafeh, a pie-like dessert that layers kataifi (shredded phyllo dough), Nablus cheese and optional pulverized nuts, which is then baked and then drizzled with a simple syrup. The knafeh arrives at your table in personal-pan form, measuring roughly five inches in diameter, nestled inside a charming ceramic dish. The result is a slightly sweet dessert with a satisfying cheese pull.
Shredded Pistachio Knafeh, left, Mistika Mastic Booza, and Pistachio baklava, at the Filo Dessert Co. in Orange, on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Other sweet treats at Filo include walnut baklava and booza lave (knafeh paired with ice cream and topped with golden semolina pastry). As for coffee, Abusham sources beans from across the Levant, offering a rich cardamom-infused Turkish brew and a special white roast made with beans imported from Dubai.
Of special note is the interior decor of Filo, which offers a communal seating arrangement designed to bring people together. “It feels similar to being invited into an Arab home,” said Abusham.
Spread across two stories, the narrow yet soaring space features Damascus-style tile decorating the counter area and the staircase leading up to a loft-like area ideal for late-night studying (Filo stays open until 11 p.m.) or date-night flirtations over a bowl of booza. Neon signage and verdant greenery add a bit of contemporary contrast to the polished wood flooring and pendant lighting found throughout the space.
Filo’s stylized Byzantine aura is a far cry from the type of restaurant Abusham grew up in. For years, his parents owned and operated a fast-food joint in San Diego called A&B Burgers on University Avenue.
“Thirty years ago, we would’ve never dreamt of opening a place like Filo.”
The upstairs seating at the Filo Dessert Co. in Orange, on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
SEE ALSO: Felix Continental Cafe in Old Towne Orange closing after 45 years
Like many 20th-century immigrant restaurateurs, the Abushams felt pressured to serve up standard American fare — burgers and fries, Mo said. Today, in Orange he sees a dining destination with dozens of restaurants catering to a wide palette of cuisines but none with a focus like his.
Inspired by his parents’ entrepreneurial spirit, Abusham knew he wanted to create a business of his own from an early age.
But his parents actually discouraged him from entering the restaurant industry.
“My mom didn’t like the idea of me starting Filo at all,” he said. “She and my dad worked so many hours a day running A&B Burgers, and we were still not always able to make ends meet when I was growing up.”
After his injury, Abusham was inspired — not to enter the food and beverage market — but to create products that made mobility easier for people living in wheelchairs. In 2004, he founded Better Life Mobility Centers, selling wheelchair vans, scooter lifts and adaptive mobility equipment in Southern California and Las Vegas.
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The company’s motto was “life without limitation,” a phrase that could just as easily describe Abusham’s tenacity.
When he sold that company in 2016, he said he planned to retire off the deal’s profits even though he was just in his mid-40s.
Abusham went to the Middle East for an extended vacation. With Jacob Jarra, a friend and chef, Abusham traveled to Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. Naturally, he rediscovered his love of food.
Along the way, Abusham said a bit of hubris inspired them to believe that they could make anything they tried better. Like the elastic booza he and Jarra have mastered, their confidence stretched so high that he decided to unretire and start Filo Dessert Co.
At Filo, Abusham hopes customers will feel the hospitality he experienced on his travels.
“I want this to be a place where people of all walks of life can come together,” he said.
Find it: 227 E Chapman Ave., Orange; open seven days a week from 10 a.m. until 11 p.m.
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