This is a family affaire: when her cousin Claire isn’t covering her shifts behind the bar so she can work on her elegant catering business, Rita-Maria Kordahi, the owner of this very cute little tearoom with hummus-toned walls, is cooking up all sorts of Lebanese sweets with her mom Nada: cookies or brownies swirled with tahini, pain d’épices, nocciolata or pistachio babka, chocolate-halva cake… We also indulged in these swoon-worthy man’ousheh prepared nine different ways, with traditional recipes (za’atar, halloumi, labneh) or more inventive ones – burrata and pesto; peanut butter, cinnamon and banana; nocciolata; halva; hazelnut… And to help it all slide down, there’s plant-milk, banana, Medjool date and tahini smoothies, or sahlab made with milk, orchid root and orange blossom. Beirutiful! // Albert Gredinbar
The hidden gem: A damn delicious little sandwich filled with taouk chicken marinated in Lebanese spices, tahini sauce, pickled turnips, parsley and fresh mint, all served on a bun (€8).
