Is it still considered bad luck if you're entering a church?

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The Unlikely Well-Paying Job in Beirut

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Last week, I slipped into a Careem car. For those of you residing outside the Middle East, Careem is the #1 ride-hailing app in MENA, Pakistan & Turkey, with operations spanning 100 cities and 14 countries. I was first exposed to Careem (which means "kind" or "generous" in Arabic) two years ago while in Amman, when I discovered it would cost me a whopping 50 Jordanian dinars (US$ 70) if I booked a cab from my hotel at the Dead Sea to Queen Alia International Airport versus a meager 20 JOD (US$ 28) via Careem. I even scored a rookie’s discount of 5 JOD, and that inaugural trip paved the way for my incessant addiction to the transportation network company here in Beirut.
A social creature by nature, I like to strike up conversations with Careem captains. One unmistakable pattern I’ve noticed is that many of them are well-educated, multilingual, and worldly. I kid you not. On this particular trip, Fadi* opened up genuinely about his profession.



I asked how long he’d…
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Raw Café Delivers a Fresh, Natural Culinary Experience

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If you ask me, it’s unfortunate that cafes in and around Beirut have no recourse but to brand themselves as arguileh hangouts in order to effectively draw a crowd. Yes, I vehemently oppose second-hand smoking. Yes, I strive to avoid settings where smoking sullies the breathable air. I’m there for the food – am I part of a dying breed?

While newly opened RAW Café, sibling venture of the nightclub RAW next door, may boast Lebanon’s favorite pastime, the hookah, I have news for you, folks: their cuisine doesn’t cut corners or make compromises on taste, quality, or aesthetics. Even the menu prices are an ode to affordable dining out, something the F&B industry is finally starting to promote in this wretched economy we live in.



Last Saturday, we pushed past the large glass doors and into a space whose industrial motif, high ceiling, lightweight aluminum chairs, and all-glass façade found us hopeful that maybe, arguileh aside, this café would dazzle on the alimentary side. Joanna, our gen…
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Beirutista Featured in UK Best-Selling Magazine

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A couple of months ago, I was contacted by an associate editor at Psychologies magazine, the UK’s biggest and best-selling mindful living publication. They wanted to feature me in their Blogger Spotlight, on a page capturing Feasts of the Middle East.

The October 2018 was just released, and for those of you who manage to get your hands on it, find me on page 126, alongside cool kitchen tools and various cookbooks detailing our region’s cuisine. It’s a rare honor to see my name adjacent to that of chef, restaurateur, and food writer Yotam Ottolenghi, whose book Simple was recently launched. To be singled out among the rich roster of food and culture bloggers in this neck of the woods instills immense pride, so I am thankful for the reach you as readers help foster when you share my articles or interact with my posts.



Along that train of thought, I felt inclined to check the blog’s page views by country, which since inception has attained nearly 1,100,000 hits! The majority of readers are…
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