Beirutista

Anyone remember the Golden Age our parents and grandparents so often recounted about pre-civil war Lebanon? Surely we’ve all heard it: the rich presence of arts, music, culture and theater; the unsurpassed hospitality and lavishness of the Lebanese people; the lack of any real consciousness about religious sects and confessions; and above all, the fact that Lebanon served as the financial hub of the Arab world. The expressions “Paris of the Middle East” and “Suissra-el-Charq” illuminate just how cultivated and prosperous Lebanese society was. Fast forward to 2019, a momentous year that will surely enter the annals of history of our little Mediterranean plot of land. By momentous, of course, I mean complete and utter catastrophe on the banking and finance front as well as deep-seated political gridlock, both of which show no promise of letting up. Seriously, how much worse can it get when you have no access to your hard-earned deposits at the bank? When your credit card gets declined ...

The culinary scene in Lebanon has been capsized by a trend sweeping its way through every major restaurant chain. Can you guess what it is? The latest sensation is the “skillet,” which in layman terms is merely a frying pan. Think of how fajitas are typically presented: in a cast-iron skillet. This ensures the meat continues to sizzle and cook even while off the stove top, nestled in front of you and titillating your senses. Perhaps the credit of streamlining skillets in this country belongs to Swiss Butter, a two-outlet-strong restaurant that does one thing and one thing only: what I like to call meat - frites , French fries with your choice of either beef, chicken, or salmon. The meat comes swimming in a pool of secret sauce containing 33 herbs and spices, kept warm inside a skillet. The skillet is flanked by fries, sliced baguette bread, and a mesclun salad all neatly arranged on a wooden breadboard. For 22,000 LL ($14.67), you can have a superb dish cooked to your specifie...

The other day, I was scrolling through the extensive directory of restaurants published on my blog . By no means is this an exhaustive list of every eatery in Lebanon. It is merely a compilation of the places I’ve (1) visited and (2) felt utterly compelled to showcase. To be sure, the list counts hundreds of food institutions in and around Beirut. But as I was skimming over the roster, I realized an update was in order, for a vast number of these joints have gone out of business. A reliable source in the food and beverage industry recently confided that 741 establishments shuttered in the past year alone. That number is at once record-breaking and crippling. Indeed, the one constant in Lebanon is change, and more often than not, it’s anything but positive. Our dilapidated roads, the poor urban planning, telecom and mobile service, pollution of the environment, economic stagnation, unemployment, unreasonably low wages…the banes afflicting this nation are too numerous to recount...

They say sometimes the best things in life are right under your nose. You’re just too busy looking up at the clouds to take notice. What can I say, living on the 8 th floor naturally promotes head-in-the-sky syndrome! Jokes aside, I discovered a gem of an eatery right around the block from where we live. After stumbling upon Les Chanterelles , I was content that at least a first-rate pastry destination was a stone’s throw from home. But now, a diner, too? The stars were really starting to line up in my (foodie) favor, I thought. I’d heard of Sandwiched long ago. In fact, my husband and I were among the inaugural delivery customers of the eatery some seven years past, when we pored over the menu tucked inside the door of my father-in-law’s Zalka office. I distinctly remember “The Mighty,” two thick slices of pan-grilled sliced bread sandwiching barbecue chicken breast, barbecue bacon, deli turkey, sautéed mushrooms, caramelized onions, melted Swiss, and sweet, bold BBQ sauce...

For Angela Sawan, a nutrition and dietetics graduate from the American University of Beirut, healthy eating might seem second nature. But the 30-something food science expert, who formerly worked in operations at Classic Burger Joint, will readily admit that what they teach you in the classroom holds little water in real life. The cookie cutter method that often forms academic curricula is not only tedious, it doesn’t apply to every human being. Each body is metabolically unique, and it’s important to tune in to its needs so that you become the healthiest version of yourself. Armed with that knowledge, she and her long-time friend Cynthia Farhan, a media manager, made vast strides to eat clean, wholesome, and nourishing foods. The two started experimenting with sourcing their own produce directly from Lebanese farmers and were appalled by how readily available and affordable so-called trendy foods are. Kale, baby gem lettuce, cage-free eggs, grains, microgreens, dairy – they’re al...

Last weekend, I took my toddler for a stroll in downtown Beirut. It dawned on me as we were scaling the corridors of Beirut Souks that it had been nearly a year and a half since I last graced the area. Mir Amin Mosque in downtown Beirut (captured on my Instagram  stories) I worked in the Riad el Solh stronghold of a leading local bank for exactly five years. Believe me when I say no one has paced the historic downtown as often as I have. I’d arrive a good half hour before the 8 AM business day commenced, packing in a brisk 3-km walk from Zaitunay Bay and into Minet el Hosn, weaving through Beirut Souks before I crossed over to Banks Street. At lunch time, I would pace the shop-lined streets of Foch and the Souks, sloughing off hours of sedentary movement intrinsic to any office job. And after work, in a bid to avoid rush hour traffic, my feet would yet again retrace many of the paths I’d exacted during the day, as I tucked inside the TSC Signature gourmet supermarke...

If you’re in the business of staying in business, you should become good friends with a little thing called innovation. The only constant is change, as the saying goes, so if you intend to continue carving out a slice of the market doing whatever it is you do, it’s important to stay relevant. The folks over at Deli.co know it all too well. As the name suggests, Deli.co was established primarily as a delicatessen , serving up all types of North American sandwiches, like smoked meat from Montreal, lobster rolls from New England, roast beef, and a slew of other meaty (and veggie) delights. The sandwich roster was complemented by four massive pans of daily rotating salads, conceived by Executive Chef Dory Masri, who trained under the UK’s finest – the world’s, rather – Mr. Gordon Ramsay. Breakfast also figured into the menu, paying homage to eggs Benedict, pancakes, fresh in-house baked goods, and juices. And that about wrapped it up (pun intended). The food scene as we know i...