here’s nothing orderly about Beirut.
The traffic is chaotic, the music loud,
the architecture piecemeal, bearing the
decorative flourishes of 23 years of French
rule – then the wounds of 15 years of civil
war and, more recently, the growing pains
of breakneck development.
This beachside city is my hometown.
It’s also the capital of a country of 6 million
people, nearly a quarter of whom are
refugees and migrant workers. Despite
the occasional difficulties of living here
- against a backdrop of explosive regional
geopolitics and entrenched domestic
political divisions – so many of us Beirutis
couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
It’s where I started an ‘ideas factory’,
Art And Then Some, working on cultural
projects across the Middle East and
publishing a biannual food-culture
journal called The Carton.
In Beirut, your next-door neighbour
might spend an inordinate amount of time
prying into your personal business, yet
never fails to send you a box of apples from
her family’s orchard at the start of each
harvest. A cabbie will throw the book at
you if your car breaks down and blocks his
way, and another will stop his day’s service
to help you fix it. It’s a city of raw energy,
where old-fashioned hospitality is deeply
ingrained, where creativity in the arts,
research and music thrives. And where all
debates are conducted over shared plates
of raw fava beans, mixed nuts and arak.
Here’s a handful of my favourite places
to visit in Beirut, where Lebanon’s food
traditions and the capital’s special brand
of hospitality are a way of life.
BARON
I met Athanasios Kargatzidis, known to
all as Tommy, a decade ago. The Greek-
born chef had moved temporarily – or so
he thought – from a job in China to work
for a restaurant group in Beirut. But then
he married a Lebanese and stayed.
In 2016, he and local business partner
Etienne Sabbagh opened Baron, an
unassuming restaurant in the fashionably
boho neighbourhood of Mar Mikhael,
with the aim of celebrating distinctive
Lebanese produce – such as daily catches
from Tripoli’s fishing boats, sea salt from
Anfeh and wine from Zahlé – in a relaxed
space that harmonises with the eclectic,
creative character of the area. Choice seats
are at the bar, close enough to eyeball the
Baron kitchen team at work, as well as out
on the back terrace.
At least half the menu is focussed on
vegetables and seafood, and all of it is
perfect for sharing. My standard order
is the spiced butter cauliflower, baked
whole then topped with crushed walnut,
pomegranate seeds and rose petals, and
drizzled with tahini yoghurt. Or soujouk
sausage and dates wrapped in pancetta,
dressed with roasted tomato sauce and
pomegranate molasses and sprinkled with
pistachio nuts and herbs. The kitchen
smarts and an extensive list of Lebanese
wine by the glass makes Baron a great place
to introduce visitors to Beirut dining.
tastykitchens.com/baronHANNA MITRI
Widely regarded as one of the city’s finest
booza parlours, this tiny family-run shop
in Mar Mitr has been making its mastic-
based ice cream since 1949. Commonly
referred to by locals as ‘booza arabiye’,
or Arabic ice cream, the sticky, elastic
texture is created by adding mastic resin
and salep to milk and sugar.
One of Hanna Mitri’s most popular ice
cream flavours is ‘milk’, which simply adds
rosewater to the milk-sugar base. Otherfavourites, served in a cup or wafer cone,
are classic pistachio studded with crushed
roasted nuts; almond croquant loaded with
a crumble of dried caramel and homemade
ground almond praline; and amareddine,
based on apricot fruit leather and topped
with crunchy, cold pine nuts. The most
photographed detail in the shop isn’t
theicecream,buttheimpressive1960s
gasoveninwhichthepralineisbaked.
Hanna Mitri Best Bouza Ice CreamKALEI COFFEE CO
When master roaster and barista Dalia
Jaffal returned to her hometown after a
stint working in agricultural sustainability
in Africa, she wanted to make great coffee
and support farmers in the most direct way
possible. In 2016, she opened her specialist
roastery and café in an abandoned 1950s
house in a backstreet in Mar Mikhael,
and has succeeded on both fronts.
In my view, Jaffal and barista Shant
Ghazar make the finest coffee in Beirut,
buying beans direct from growers around
the world and selling their roasts online
as well as in the Kalei Coffee Co café.
They’ve also added a bar offering local
craft beer, a list of small-batch Lebanese
wines, and signature cocktails made
with freshly brewed coffee. The simple
menu includes playful takes on popular
farmhouse dishes, such as awarma- a lamb confit – and ambariz – rolled
balls of fermented goat’s cheese.
I met Jaffal in 2015 when she was
scouting locations for her café and
roastery and I was looking for a place to
open The Carton Shop, a retail extension
of The Carton. Now we share space; The
Carton Shop’s range of small-production
Lebanese wines, our own arak and olive
oil soap, and limited-edition prints fill
what was the original kitchen. A second