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Anissa Helou delights in the Lebanese capital’s good living and healthy eating
PHOTOGRAPHY TANYA TRABOULSI
Beirut is undoubtedly the capital of dolce vita. The weather is gorgeous. You are never more than a few minutes away from the sea. The people are very hospitable and the food is excellent. Whether it is at a street food stall, in a simple restaurant or in a fancy one, you will always eat well. However, there isn’t much culinary innovation going on yet in either Lebanese cooking or European. Some chefs are playing around with presentation and combinations but they remain individual efforts, and have not yet translated into a proper movement. But then, who needs innovation when the traditional cuisine is so delicious, and healthy.
Breakfast of champions
Fattet Al-Soussi
Lebanese breakfasts are savoury affairs on the whole. You can have manaqish (flat breads topped with zaatar and olive oil), wrapped around labneh and salad vegetables, raw sheep’s liver, or fatteh, a multi-layered dish made up of toasted pitta, boiled chickpeas, yoghurt and toasted pine nuts, my favourite. And there is no one who makes a better fatteh than AlSoussi who, like Hajj Tabbara, has been boiling chickpeas in huge pots and serving fatteh, as well as humous and fuul, for years to faithful customers.
Downtown, +961 1 999 955
Great catch
Chez Sami
The fish at Chez Sami is always incredibly fresh, because it is supplied by fishermen who only fish for the restaurant. The catch is displayed in refrigerated counters at the entrance, in the old vaulted part of the restaurant. You choose your fish, and say how you want it cooked. Then you settle at your table – if you are lucky enough to know the maitre d’, you will be given one on the edge of the terrace with the sea right beneath you (it’s like being on a boat), to enjoy your meal as if you were on the beach, but with all the comforts of a great restaurant. Maameltein, Jounieh Old Road, Keserwan, +961 9 910 520, www.chezsamirestaurant.com
Ottoman setting
Casablanca
If Gruen is le tout-Beirut’s lunch meeting place (see page 110), Casablanca fulfils the same role at night. It is possibly the prettiest restaurant in Beirut, set in an old Ottoman house right on the Corniche, with fabulous sea views of the Mediterranean. The restaurant is owned and run by Johnny and Sin Farah, who specialise in excellence. Whether it’s the food (Asian fusion), the style (modern while accommodating the old fabric of the building), or the service (charming), everything at Casablanca is perfect.
Ain Al-Mreisseh, +961 3 856 111
Armenian quarter
Varouj
A tiny restaurant in a narrow street in Burj Hammoud, Varouj offers the best and freshest Armenian food in town. Try manti (baked dumplings served with a spicy yoghurt sauce), spicy potatoes and pasturma (cured beef). Burj Hammoud, +961 3 882 933
Private dining
Hussein Hadid’s Kitchen
One of Beirut’s best caterers, Hussein Hadid, has come up with a great formula for his kitchen. Not only is it an efficient place where he cooks wonderful meals for well-heeled Beirutis, but you can also hire it for dinner parties. The dining section, with one long table that seats 30, is decorated in a charming rustic style and has an atmosphere that is more New York (Hussein trained at the French Culinary Institute and then worked in the San Domenico Italian restaurant there) than Beirut. +961 1 816 120, www.husseinhadid.com
An old flame
Abu Hassan
I left Beirut just before the war, and the city has changed tremendously since. However, there is one place where I feel as if everything has remained the same: Abu Hassan, a traditional, informal Lebanese/Syrian café/ restaurant with a few tables out on the pavement. Sitting here, and watching the locals (some elegant and some less so) while nibbling on delicious mezze and various charcoal-grilled kebabs, never fails to take me right back to my teenage days, when Beirut combined Parisian chic with local colour.
Karakas Street, +961 1 741 725
Saturday morning market
Souk Al-Tayeb
Beirut’s first farmers’ market is the place to go to buy local organic produce, as well as home-cooked food (meat pie mona zatarisfiha is a must) and various specialities, such as jams, pickles, extra virgin olive oil, dried herbs, grains and so on. The excellent produce and the convivial atmosphere (everyone seems to know everyone – which is very Beirut) make it the meeting place on Saturday morning.
SaifiVillage parking, www.soukeltayeb.com
Frozen in time
Hanna
There may be better-known names for ice cream but Hanna is simply the best. Old Hanna Mitri has been serving freshly made ice cream in the same little shop in Achrafiyeh for nearly 60 years, with his faithful wife by his side. The choice is limited to a few flavours: rose water, pistachio, almond, milk, lemon and seasonal fruit. Every single one is sensational.
Immeuble Fianeh, rue Mar Miter, Achrafiyeh
Beirut, California
Gruen
Nayla Audi is known for her Oslo ice cream and patisseries, which you can buy from a counter at the entrance of Gruen, her Lebanese-Californian eatery. It is where fashionable Beirut meets for lunch to eat supremely fresh local ingredients given a Californian twist. The choice ranges from pizzas, through wraps made with markouk (ultra thin saj bread) to salads and hamburgers. Gruen also offers a light menu for those on a diet, and can deliver to your home.
Gefinor Centre, Hamra, +961 1 737 344
This stall or nothing
Falafel Tabbara
Falafel has gone global now and you find good falafel in London, New York and Paris, but none is as exciting as the falafel made in this small, modest stall in a side street down from the Bristol hotel. The owner, Al-Haj Mohammed Tabbara, mans the till, while his falafel maker, who’s been with him for very many years, makes the best sandwich ever, filled with falafel prepared à l’egyptienne, ie with broad beans only, and generous amounts of fresh herbs and pickles.
Hamra, +961 1 350 871
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