Category Archives: Restaurant review

Kamal Mouzawak, food visionary for Lebanon

My first encounter with Kamal Mouzawak occurred seven years ago; my cousin Isabelle had taken me to meet  the top fashion designer Rabih Kayrouz, in his Gemmayzé showroom (Beirut); Kamal stopped by, casually announcing that   he was on his way to Yemen, to teach classes in macrobiotic cuisine. I remember being jolted by his [...]
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Kaak (street bread)

My first and last day in Beirut is always the same: I have to get some kaak. Kaak is the street bread that Beirutis love more than anything, it is our pretzel, our simit, our croissant; you get my point. This time, my new friend, Hind, took me to a bakery in Basta (the neighborhood [...]
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Flatbread with thyme leaves and olive oil(man’ooshe bel-zaatar)

First morning in Beirut and what does a Lebanese expat want more than anything? A fresh man’ooshe with zaatar (flatbread with thyme), that’s what!  Zalfa, my (darling) sister-in-law, had raved about a new man’ooshe  item on the menu at Zaatarwzeit, the one-stop in town for yummy, fresh and speedy man’ooshe. Made with a multi-grain dough, [...]
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Mayrig (Armenian restaurant)

Mayrig means “little mother” in Armenian. It is also the name of a fabulous restaurant in the neighborhood of Gemmayze in Beirut. Tucked away on Pasteur Street, inside a small courtyard, the authentic Armenian restaurant is housed in a magnificent old house, with stained-glass windows and painted concrete floor tiles and cut stone walls. This [...]
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