Beirutista

There may be no shortage of Italian eateries in Lebanon, let alone in Beirut, but as the saying goes, “più siamo, meglio è.” (You caught me. I merely Google-translated “the more, the merrier” from English to Italian. Cunning, am I not?) The latest is Paper Moon, modeled after the iconic restaurant in Milan which for decades has been the haunt of fashion, business, sports, and entertainment personalities. Paper Moon’s pillars include fresh Italian cuisine, smart service, a cozy ambiance, and a gallery of legendary Hollywood celebrities in B&W strung from the walls. Three months ago, the Abdel Wahab quartier in Achrafieh welcomed Paper Moon to its neighborhood, transposing a house into a modern, chic space complete with bar, wood-fired oven, and terrace. While perhaps one too many tables occupies the interior, this is likely in the vein of the Milanese parent institution, which insists that all elements be preserved and reproduced across the entire family of restaurants (t...

Precisely one year ago, I received an email from the Netherlands which I nearly discarded as spam. It originated from the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development, which since 1996 has been supporting cultural activities and outstanding cultural practitioners and organizations. According to the email, the Fund had received a confidential nomination and wanted to solicit my input, based on my experience via Beirutista and formerly Beirut.com , on the work of a Lebanese chef and entrepreneur.  Who, I asked with great intrigue?  Kamal Mouzawak. Kamal Mouzawak pictured inside his kitchen concept Tawlet  in Beirut (photo source: http://www.dotwnews.com/) For those of you who are not aware, Mouzawak is quite easily responsible for the organic food movement across Lebanon. In 2004, this food visionary founded Lebanon’s first farmers market “ Souk el Tayeb ” (Arabic for “the good market”). The aim is to share knowledge of food as a basic and i...

The dining scene in Lebanon suffers from an acute imbalance of cuisines. Italian and French you’ll find aplenty, but search high and low for foods from Southeast Asia or the Indian subcontinent (sushi exempted), and your options are numbered. Just last week a friend was asking me for recommendations in Thai cuisine, and besides a few solitary dishes the delivery specialist Jai boasts, there really is no such eatery. If your idea of traditional Asian grub merges with P.F. Chang’s offerings, I admire the bubble you live in. Umai Wok in Mar Mikhael is a fast food joint that can accommodate at best eight guests along its barstool-studded wall. Located along the same street as Smoking Bun, C.R.P Factory, and Taco Milagro, Umai Wok (translating to “good taste” in Japanese) stir-fries your selection of ingredients, beginning with a rice or noodle base, moving on to protein and veggie add-ins, and finishing with sauce. Fried rice with shrimp, sirloin and a medley of veggies st...

As a Lebanese-American taking up residence in Beirut, I love comparing notes with my fellow breed on life in these parts. The ubiquity of third culture kids in Lebanon owes to the mass emigration during the Civil War, when our parents set sail in pursuit of safer, more stable existences abroad. The Lebanese-American crowd is a unique bunch, because even though we hail from a country encompassing 50 states and 9.83 million km 2 (that’s almost a thousand times more expansive than Lebanon!), we understand each other. We all love Costco, laned highways, coupons, astronomically fast Internet speeds, sales all year long, See’s Candies, generous portion sizes, and, more recently, poke bowls. We thrive on all-you-can-eat buffets; we enjoy standing in line (no, we do not use the word “queue”); we believe bigger is better (hence Costco); and the only food delivery we’re aware of is pizza (and Chinese, if you reside in NYC). Anissa Rafeh, in her second book titled Beirut to the ‘Bu...

The first time I had Armenian cuisine was exactly six years ago, when I'd recently transplanted to Lebanon. My friends raved of a cozy corner newly opened in Mar Mikhael, and in no time, we became regulars. The novelty of bulgur-intensive itch , kebab with cherries, and the dumpling-yogurt-sumac trifecta called mante left me totally speechless. As my knowledge of the Beirut culinary grid improved, I branched out to more established footholds, namely Mayrig. Soon thereafter, sibling venue Batchig launched in Antelias, boasting a modern interpretation of classic dishes at more affordable prices. By the time Onno expanded to Hamra and Badaro in the format of a franchised bistro, I could start to discern differences in taste , method of preparation, and presentation across Armenian eateries. My opinions on which did what better had evolved to confident conclusions. And this was one of them: authentic, inexpensive, downright delicious Armenian food is hard to come by in Be...

Some of the fondest memories of my year in Paris were at a little crêpe station in the Quartier Latin. Situated along the quaint Rue Mouffetard a stone’s throw from a cluster of fondue eateries, Au P’tit Grec attracts locals and tourists alike for its cone-shaped cr ê pes, folded thus to accommodate an uncharacteristic generosity in ingredients. Anytime a guest from out of town came to visit me, we exacted the pilgrimage to the Greek cr ê pe house. In fact, nearly the first thing I did on our trip to Paris last November was make a beeline for P’tit Grec to reverence its immutable marvels. Cone-shaped crêpes at Mathieu Since my move here, I have been on an endless hunt for decent cr ê pes, not just those in the style of P’tit Grec’s but the traditional galettes sarrasins crafted from buckwheat flour. While a few shops once boasted the latter (Bar à Thym, Café Diem--both since shuttered), the former I have never been so fortunate to find. That all changed last w...