The family behind Rockville’s Z&Z Manoushe Bakery has roots in Montgomery County’s dining scene that stretch back four decades.

Co-founder Danny Dubbaneh, determined to keep the tradition alive, realized he should pay attention to one image of his childhood summers in his dad’s restaurant that kept popping into his head: steak and cheese.

“Some of my favorite memories are my dad on the flat-top just clanging with his metal spatulas chopping up rib-eye,” Dubbaneh, 37, said with a chuckle.

This year he and his brother Johnny, 32, set out to revive their beloved childhood favorite. They served it once in February but wanted to keep improving by making their own sesame-seeded sub roll. Customers can try out the latest version of a Dubbaneh steak and cheese on Nov. 4 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The sandwich, priced at $17, will have Black Angus rib-eye and a choice of American or provolone cheese, Spanish onions, sweet red hot peppers and mayonnaise.

The Dubbaneh family opened Z&Z Manoushe Bakery in October 2021 selling the namesake manoushe, a griddled Levantine flatbread, typically topped za’atar and cheese. The shop quickly garnered acclaim including a spot on Bon Appétit’s 50 Best New Restaurants list in 2022.

They’ve collaborated with friends in the restaurant industry across the region for pop-ups and special menu items. But they’ve always wanted to find a way to pay homage to their family and their childhood in Montgomery County.

The Dubbaneh brothers trace their heritage back to Jordan on their maternal side and Palestine on their paternal side. Their dad, Issa, owned and operated Chicken Basket, which began in 1981 in Gaithersburg and had locations across Montgomery County for more than 30 years — the one Danny has the strongest bond to was in White Flint on Nicholson Lane from 1990 to 2000.

Their grandfather and uncle owned and operated Chicken Tonight, which operated from 1982 to 2006 at 1111 Nelson St., where the brothers opened up Z&Z 15 years later.

“We would run into customers who are like, ‘Oh my God, I didn’t realize you guys were related to the Chicken Tonight guys — I used to love going there,’” Dubbaneh said.

“We had a lady come here that was like, ‘I used to be here all the time when I was pregnant and this is the son I had.’”

Both of those shops specialized in fried chicken and steak and cheese. They know a lot of Philadelphians get “hot under their collar” whenever anyone claims to serve a steak and cheese that doesn’t originate in Philadelphia, or if they don’t call it a “cheesesteak,” Dubbaneh said. But “steak and cheese” is just what his family always called it.

The idea of serving the food of their family’s homeland stuck in the brothers’ mind over dinners and gatherings. They started Z&Z in 2016 and popped up at farmers markets. They left their white collar jobs in 2018 to dedicate their careers to the business.

Blending this history of their elders’ shops with their own vision has been really special, Dubbaneh said. They don’t yet have any firm plans to bring back the steak and cheese more permanently, but he said it’s possible it will return in other limited engagements. But the pleasure of fixing up sandwiches on one of the store’s off days was simpler than tracing a family tree.

“For us, it was my favorite food to eat growing up — a steak and cheese with all the fixings on it,” Dubbaneh said, citing specifically onions, green peppers and mushrooms.

“Like, who doesn’t love bread, meat and cheese?”