Beirutista

For the past three years, I’ve been shuttling my kids to and from school. It’s always a treat to greet them as their scholastic day draws to a close and they melt into your arms, eager to head home.  Right up there after that gratifying reunion is the entertainment value you derive from your encounters with other parents milling around the school building threshold in the minutes leading up to end of day. So amusing is the range of characters you’ll meet – whether they be grandparents filling in for parents tied up at work, or parents able to carve out time to pluck up their offspring – that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to blog about it. Here they are in no specific order. Can you relate?   1. The Haughty Mama : her favorite hand accessory is her smartphone, which she’s either holding to her lips transmitting nonstop nonsense voice notes, or scrolling furiously through her Instagram feed. Her hair is perfectly coiffed, with the essential extensions. She’s got those...

Do you remember as a child being prompted with the question, “Who do you most admire?” Apart from my parents, naturally, my role model was Sir Richard Branson, British billionaire, entrepreneur and business mogul who in the 1970s founded the Virgin Group. Today Virgin controls more than 400 companies in various fields. In some way or another, we’ve all been touched by Virgin. I’ll start. Every day I tune in to Virgin Radio here in Beirut, which launched a good decade ago and has easily led its peers in music and content programming. I have flown on Virgin Atlantic (and Virgin America) numerously. We often shop for our electronics needs at Virgin Megastore, which boasts a network of branches throughout Lebanon. Arguably, most people know of Sir Richard, perhaps through one of his many books. My friend once mailed me “Screw It, Let’s Do It” (2006), which he picked up at an airport, leafed through ravenously on his flight, and was convinced I’d appreciate. I did. And I have hung on to it ...

The other day, a friend tagged me in a fun Instagram story, spurring me to divulge 10 facts about myself. Why not extrapolate that to the blog, I thought, the perfect medium for writing listicles. It always intrigues me to see the lengths to which ‘grammers go in order to create elaborate stories, only to have them vanish into oblivion a mere 24 hours later. If I have to jump through hoops, rummaging through photos and matching them to intimate details about me – ten times, mind you! – I’d readily prefer the permanency of this web diary. The purpose of this exercise is two-fold. First, if you’re new to the blog, this is a quick glimpse into the gal behind it. And second, pandemic. I need a bit of a release. Nuff said. Get ready to learn more about me!   (1)     I am the second of three children born to Lebanese immigrants who made their home in Southern California, where I was raised and where my parents continue to be based. I grew up in the 90s watching “Fres...

I had the great pleasure and honor of interacting with Lebanese-British music artist Maya Marie, who recently launched her debut album Antelias in an ode to war-fraught Lebanon. Maya was born and raised in Beirut during the height of the Civil War, and she and her family straddled living between Cyprus and Lebanon before seeking asylum in the UK in 1989. However, the memories and scars of war are indelible, and she invokes them masterfully in Antelias and single “Shelter.” Read on for my exchange with the decorated musical talent, whose work via band New Pharaohs can be accessed freely on Spotify . Maya Marie of the band New Pharaohs (1) You mentioned being half-Lebanese, and that your father continues to reside in Antelias. With what other ethnic background do you identify? What year did you leave Lebanon? Where do you presently live?  My mother is Irish-British, and she came to Lebanon when she was 21 to study Arabic and nursing. She met my father on the ...

If you’re a regular Netflix viewer – who isn’t during these times of quarantine? – you’ll likely have stumbled upon the June 2020 release, “ 365 Days . ” In fact, the erotic Polish drama, which has been compared to the trilogy of “50 Shades of Gray,” occupies the number one spot on Netflix’s Top Ten list. Why, you might ask, when Rotten Tomatoes scores it at zero and critics worldwide are discounting it as “ridiculously campy” ( Forbes )? Two words: Michele Morrone. I’ll wait as you Google images of this godly creature, but make sure you don’t stray for too long poring over his photos. Yes, he’s Italian. Yes, he checks off all parameters in the “tall, dark, and handsome” descriptor. And yes, his physique conjures up a real-life Adonis with perfectly chiseled abs, toned legs, rock-hard biceps, olive-complexion skin, piercing gaze, perfectly chiseled abs…wait, did I mention that twice? Yeah, well, maybe each compartment in that six-pack (or is it 12-pack?) is worthy of individual a...

Let’s be honest here: it’s hard to get excited about two slices of toasted square bread, notwithstanding what goes between them. Am I right? Hardly my idea of a riveting culinary affair, especially when I’ve been making the trite peanut butter and jelly variety since elementary school. Leave it to the epicurean genius of Jad el Hage to set me straight and send the ball hurling out of left field. Managing partner and executive chef at his company Foodlab, Jad is the face behind the concepts of l’Humeur du Chef (Mar Mikhael), La Cabane du Chef (Zaarour), and La Paillotte du Chef (summer popup in Halat). Rewind the chronology, and you’d find him helping to launch Tawlet alongside critically acclaimed food activist Kamal Mouzawak; manning the kitchens at the now-shuttered Talleyrand, once a bastion of enviable haut gastronomy; and flexing his muscles at the Byblos beach resort EddeSands. Jad is a graduate of the prestigious Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland, where he ear...

May 1 marks International Workers’ Day or, more commonly, Labor Day, when all productive members of society are recognized for their achievements. The aim of this blog post is to highlight the endeavors of a number of female entrepreneurs in Lebanon who are slaving over their dreams with nose to the grindstone. While the majority dabble in the food and beverage industry, they hail from completely diverse backgrounds, proof that a mere hobby can evolve into a passionate and gainful enterprise. Here are these women wonders, in no particular order. Laure Schoucair, Laurita’s Bites I may have a sweet tooth, but truth be told, I yearn for simple tea cakes, particularly if they’re healthy and wholesome. Those who  follow me on Instagram  are no doubt privy to the toddler-friendly cakes I bake incorporating yogurt, fruit, and natural sugar – either honey or molasses. Which is why I readily identified with pastry chef Laure’s artisanal cakes counting among them flavors...