Toni Beaino was twenty years old when he opened a small bakery stall in Jounieh, Lebanon. The year was 1975—the same year civil war erupted across the country. While chaos swirled around him, he kneaded dough, chopped lamb, and spread rich meat across thin flatbreads. Fifty-one years later, that modest stall has blossomed into Furn Beaino, a beloved eatery with a growing presence in the UAE and dreams of reaching the world.
The word furn means “bakery” in Arabic, and the name carries both heritage and purpose. Toni never chased degrees or certifications. He learned by doing, waking at 3 a.m. every day to prepare every ingredient himself. His star creation, lahm baajin—a fragrant blend of minced lamb, onions, and tomatoes on a delicate crust—became legendary among Lebanese families who craved something warm and honest.
A Legacy Forged In Fire And Flour
Civil war raged through Lebanon for fifteen years. Instability became the backdrop of daily life. Through bombing campaigns and economic collapse, Toni showed up. He moved his stall from Jounieh to nearby Sarba around 1990, where it still operates today—a small pickup location with a handful of bar chairs, a terrace, and lines of customers eager to taste nostalgia.
“He’s the type of guy who used to wake up early every morning, every day at 3 a.m. He goes there, he does everything by hand,” Wissam Beaino, Toni’s eldest son and current CEO of Furn Beaino, explained during a recent interview. “When you have to do something and no one else can do it, and you have to survive, you have to do it for your family.”
Toni’s work ethic became the foundation upon which everything else would grow. He selected his own cuts of meat, mixed his own dough, and served customers personally. Staff remained minimal—two or three people at most. The menu stayed lean: zaatar (thyme), cheese, spinach, and the signature lahm baajin. Simplicity ruled, but quality never wavered.
Sons Who Carry The Torch
Wissam and his younger brother Samer grew up watching their father sacrifice sleep and comfort for the family trade. Both men eventually joined the business, each bringing their own strengths. Samer now serves as co-CEO, leading operations in Lebanon, while Wissam steers international expansion from Dubai.
Wissam himself walked an unconventional path. He earned an engineering degree, completed a master’s at the American University of Beirut, and published many academic papers. Yet the pull of his family name proved stronger than any corporate ladder. He resigned from his post as a university instructor in 2018 to dedicate himself fully to Furn Beaino.
“It’s something that’s running in the veins,” Wissam said. “It comes from our family name. It’s the only thing that you have, and you really want to take good care of it.”
The brothers modernized what their father built. They established a central kitchen in Lebanon, earning ISO 22000 certification in 2018 and the rigorous FSSC 22000 certification shortly after, making Furn Beaino one of only three establishments in Lebanon to hold such credentials from the stringent UKAS British certifying body. They reworked their branding, built a social media presence, and expanded the menu to include wraps, salads, pizzas, and desserts.
From Beirut’s Ashes To Dubai’s Skyline
Lebanon’s turbulence never relented. The 2020 Beirut port explosion—the third-largest non-nuclear blast in recorded history—devastated the country. A banking crisis trapped citizens’ savings. Currency values plummeted a hundredfold. Another war erupted in 2024. Through it all, the family kept baking.
Wissam moved to Dubai after the explosion, seeking stability for his own children while plotting Furn Beaino’s regional growth. The brand launched its first cloud kitchen in Business Bay in 2022, followed by Hessa Street in 2023. Additional locations opened in Silicon Oasis and Abu Dhabi’s Al Reem Island. A flagship brick-and-mortar restaurant is set to debut in Bay Square, Business Bay, in May 2026, with more cloud kitchens planned across Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Ras Al-Khaimah, and the rest of the GCC.
A partnership with Ambrosia Foods now positions the brand for broader GCC and eventually worldwide expansion. Four pillars guide every decision: Quality, Consistency, Passion, and Pride—values embedded into the logo itself through four parallel lines.
The Patriarch Still Rises At Dawn
Toni Beaino turned 72, yet he still arrives at the central kitchen each morning. He no longer handles every task, but he continues preparing the meat for lahm baajin—the dish that started everything. And to this day, the Furn Beaino family continues to grow in Lebanon and the UAE.
“Every employee, every staff member is one part of the family,” Wissam emphasized. “We are all one family now.” The bakery that began as a survival mechanism has become something far greater—a living tribute to a man who never stopped working, never stopped caring, and never stopped believing that good food could carry a family through anything.
