How to Eat a Falafel in Lebanon
Pull up at roadside stand. Be happy you’re with people who speak Arabic.
Pull up at roadside stand. Be happy you’re with people who speak Arabic.
Unbelievably, I was able to fit in not just two breakfasts, but two lunches on my first full day in Beirut. After za’atar croissants and puffy khobz, we headed off to Ichkhanian, to watch the bakers rolling out and baking L’ahm b’ajeen.
Whenever I’m at home, all I want for breakfast is coffee, orange juice, and some bread and butter – and I’m good. But going to the Middle East, when they start bringing out all the fresh salads, candied fruits and jams (such as eggplant and another made from unripe walnuts, just below) and all sorts of beautiful fresh cheeses and pickles, I am helpless to…
I continue to be amused by the debates about food, and who owns what. I think the Chinese might have something to say about noodles being Italian, a recent delivery of Montreal bagels prompted some followers to say that they were happy I have found the true bagel (I think a few Eastern Europeans might have something to say about that…) And coffee may have…
I was perched on the fence, whether to say yes to staying home to work, and no to Champagne. And, well, I guess I don’t need to tell you that I simply could not fight the battle of the bubbly. And so I headed out for a quick day and night in Reims, where Champagne is made. Fortunately the city of Reims is just a…
I had kind of a crummy day yesterday. I was invited to a restaurant opening that didn’t go as I had hoped. It was something that was a new concept for Paris, based on something uniquely American. And while people here are very good at embracing “concepts”, I almost felt the need to remind people that having a restaurant and serving food are about: 1)…
Okay, show of hands – who likes guacamole more than I do? Guacamole is one of my favorite things, and nobody is happier than I am when I make it in Paris. French people like guacamole too, and you’ll see it all sorts of guises, including frozen at the chain-store, Picard. In French, often the last part of a word isn’t pronounced, so guacamole is…
[Update: 6 Paul Bert is now closed. The restaurant is currently a pop-up space, featuring different chefs, known as Le Bistrot Tontine. Visit them on Instagram to find out the latest news about chefs cooking there.] It’s rare that I find a restaurant where I wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t consider myself picky or a tough customer (others might say otherwise); it’s just my…
I’ve been a busy boy the last few weeks, hunkering down finishing a project that’s I’m working on night-and-day. And unfortunately, it’s not even allowed me time to go to the market to do much food shopping. Quelle horreur! So I’ve been raiding my freezer (which is actually a good thing…) and rummaging through my cabinets in search of things that I can sustain myself…