Philip Khoury: ‘Dubai Chocolate' becomes his ‘love letter to Beirut'
With an elegant accent that transports us nonstop from Australia to Great Britain, the pastry chef could have made us forget his Lebanese origins. However, just recalling his childhood memories, the details of places and retained aromas, naturally allows his DNA to find its place, momentarily unpacking his emotional baggage."I was baptized in Lebanon," he recalled. "We came as a family every summer until I was 14. I only appreciated the beauty of these villages much later. The scent, the aroma of peaches and figs we picked from trees still linger. I use these two fruits a lot in my creations."After spending much of his childhood and teenage years in Sydney, young Philip Khoury settled in Lebanon for two years. "My father wanted to understand his roots better and share them with us."Bad timing, the 2006 war...
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nahar Net
2 days ago
- Nahar Net
EU rewards journalists from Palestine, Egypt and Syria in Samir Kassir Award
by Naharnet Newsdesk 04 June 2025, 11:58 The Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon and the Samir Kassir Foundation have announced the results of the 20th edition of the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press, in a ceremony held at the Sursock Palace Gardens, in Beirut. This Award, established and funded by the European Union, is recognized internationally as a flagship prize for press freedom and the most prestigious journalism award in the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf region. Since 2006, the Award ceremony has been held annually to commemorate the anniversary of Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir's assassination on 2 June 2005 in Beirut, and celebrate his life, his values, and his memory. The Samir Kassir Award is open to professional journalists from eighteen countries of North Africa, the Middle East, and the Gulf. This year, a record 372 journalists participated in the competition, hailing from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen. 125 candidates competed in the Opinion Piece category, 157 in the Investigative Article category, and 90 in the Audiovisual News Report category. The winner in each of the three categories is awarded a prize of €10,000. Each of the short-listed finalists per category receive a €1,000 prize. The winners of the 2025 Samir Kassir Award are: - Opinion Piece Category: Badar Salem, from Palestine, born in 1980, for her article titled 'On the Normalisation of Sumud in Gaza,' published in Romman Magazine on 19 July 2024. In her piece, Badar critiques the glorification of sumud (steadfastness) in Gaza, arguing that idealizing resilience imposes unrealistic expectations on Palestinians and masks the profound trauma they endure. It calls for shifting from celebrating endurance to recognizing the right to vulnerability, care, and dignity in the face of ongoing violence. - Investigative Reporting Category: Marina Milad, from Egypt, born in 1994, for her investigation titled ''I Have Become Shameful': Syrian Women Leave Prison with a "Stigma"', published in Masrawy on 25 February 2025. This report reveals that after enduring torture, rape, and dehumanization behind bars, many Syrian women emerge into a society that greets them with stigma, rejection, and renewed trauma, instead of empathy and genuine support. - Audiovisual News Reporting Category: Khalil Alashavi, from Syria, born in 1983, for his report titled 'Syria: Children in a Never-Ending War', produced by Tiny Hands and launched on 15 March 2025. The report focuses on the continued plight of Syrian children in their war-torn country, and the years of stolen innocence, which a regime change alone cannot address. Speaking at the ceremony Tuesday, the Ambassador of the European Union to Lebanon, Sandra De Waele, said: '50 courageous journalists have received the Samir Kassir Award since 2006. Journalists who, despite the risks, have used their voice to hold the powerful accountable, to expose corruption, and to give a voice to the voiceless. Yet they persist, because, like Samir, they believe that the truth matters and the public has the right to know. And this is what the Samir Kassir Award stands for. More than a recognition of excellence, it has become a platform that brings powerful stories from the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf to the world, that sparks difficult but necessary conversations, and that creates a space where journalists can support one another in their mission.' Malek Mrowa, Acting President of the Samir Kassir Foundation, said: 'Over the past two decades our region has endured uprisings, revolutions, counter-revolutions, wars, and exoduses. The targets of oppression keep shifting: one year it is protesters in the street, the next it is women demanding bodily autonomy, the next it is reporters who dare to film a checkpoint. But the core struggle has never changed: the right to think freely, to speak openly, and for citizens to know what is done in their name. That struggle is embodied in every entry we receive for the Samir Kassir Award.' An independent seven-member jury from the Arab League and European Union member states selected the winners. This year's jury gathered Ali Amar (Morocco), editor-in-chief of Le Desk, Antoine Haddad (Lebanon), vice-president of the Saint George University of Beirut and the Samir Kassir Foundation's representative in the jury, Mina Al-Oraibi (Iraq), editor-in-chief at The National, Jean-Pierre Perrin (France), political writer, Paul Radu (Romania), co-founder of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Natalia Sancha (Spain), journalist, photographer, and communication expert, and Lina Sinjab (Syria), Middle East Correspondent at BBC.
Nahar Net
3 days ago
- Nahar Net
Lebanon on bumpy road to public transport revival
by Naharnet Newsdesk 03 June 2025, 11:14 On Beirut's chaotic, car-choked streets, Lebanese student Fatima Fakih rides a shiny purple bus to university, one of a fleet rolled out by authorities to revive public transport in a country struggling to deliver basic services. The 19-year-old says the spacious public buses are "safer, better and more comfortable", than the informal network of private buses and minivans that have long substituted for mass transport. "I have my bus card -- I don't have to have money with me," she added, a major innovation in Lebanon, where cash is king and many private buses and minivans have no tickets at all. Lebanon's public transport system never recovered from the devastating 1975–1990 civil war that left the country in ruins, and in the decades since, car culture has flourished. Even before the economic crisis that began in 2019 -- plunged much of the population into poverty and sent transport costs soaring -- the country was running on empty, grappling with crumbling power, water and road infrastructure. But public buses, now equipped with GPS tracking, have been slowly returning. They operate along 11 routes -- mostly in greater Beirut but also reaching north, south and east Lebanon -- with a private company managing operations. Fares start at about 80 cents. - Pre-war tram, trains - Passengers told AFP the buses were not only safer and more cost-effective, but more environmentally friendly. They also offer a respite from driving on Lebanon's largely lawless, potholed roads, where mopeds hurtle in all directions and traffic lights are scarce. The system officially launched last July, during more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah that later slammed the brakes on some services. Ali Daoud, 76, who remembers Lebanon's long-defunct trains and trams, said the public bus was "orderly and organized" during his first ride. The World Bank's Beirut office told AFP that Lebanon's "reliance on private vehicles is increasingly unsustainable", noting rising poverty rates and vehicle operation costs. Ziad Nasr, head of Lebanon's public transport authority, said passenger numbers now averaged around 4,500 a day, up from just a few hundred at launch. He said authorities hope to extend the network, including to Beirut airport, noting the need for more buses, and welcoming any international support. France donated around half of the almost 100 buses now in circulation in 2022. Consultant and transport expert Tammam Nakkash said he hoped the buses would be "a good start" but expressed concern at issues including the competition. Private buses and minivans -- many of them dilapidated and barreling down the road at breakneck speed -- cost similar to the public buses. Shared taxis are also ubiquitous, with fares starting at around $2 for short trips. Several incidents of violence targeted the new public buses around their launch last year. - Environment - Student and worker Daniel Imad, 19, said he welcomed the idea of public buses but had not tried them yet. People "can go where they want for a low price" by taking shared taxis, he said before climbing into a one at a busy Beirut intersection. Public transport could also have environmental benefits in Lebanon, where climate concerns often take a back seat to daily challenges like long power blackouts. A World Bank climate and development report last year said the transport sector was Lebanon's second-biggest contributor to greenhouse gas and air pollution, accounting for a quarter of emissions, only behind the energy sector. Some smaller initiatives have also popped up, including four hybrid buses in east Lebanon's Zahle. Nabil Mneimne from the United Nations Development Program said Lebanon's first fully electric buses with a solar charging system were set to launch this year, running between Beirut and Jbeil (Byblos) further north. In the capital, university student Fakih encouraged everyone to take public buses, "also to protect the environment". Beirut residents often complain of poor air quality due to heavy traffic and private, diesel-fueled electricity generators that operate during power outages. "We don't talk about this a lot but it's very important," she said, arguing that things could improve in the city "if we all took public transport".
Nahar Net
22-05-2025
- Nahar Net
War takes center stage as Lebanon's theaters are back
by Naharnet Newsdesk 22 May 2025, 14:26 As Lebanon suffered a war last year, Ali Chahrour was determined to keep making art, creating a performance inspired by the plight of migrant workers caught up in the conflict. Months after a ceasefire largely halted the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Chahrour's work premiered in Beirut in early May with plans to take it to stages across Europe including at France's famed Avignon Festival. "This project was born during the war," said the 35-year-old playwright and choreographer. "I did not want to stop making theatre, because I don't know how to fight or carry weapons, I only know how to dance." On stage, two Ethiopian domestic workers and a Lebanese Ethiopian woman speak, sing and dance, telling stories of exile and mistreatment in "When I Saw the Sea", directed by Chahrour. The play pays tribute to the migrant women who were killed or displaced during the two-month war between Israel and Hezbollah which ended in November, and the year of hostilities that preceded it. Hundreds of migrant workers had sought refuge in NGO-run shelters after being abandoned by employers escaping Israeli bombardment. Others were left homeless in the streets of Beirut while Lebanon's south and east, as well as parts of the capital, were under attack. Chahrour said that "meeting with these women gave me the strength and energy to keep going" even during the war, seeking to shed light on their experience in Lebanon which is often criticized for its poor treatment of migrant workers. - 'Escape and therapy' - The war has also shaped Fatima Bazzi's latest work, "Suffocated", which was shown in Beirut in May. It was revised after the 32-year-old playwright was displaced from her home in Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold heavily bombarded during the war. The play originally portrayed a woman dealing with her misogynistic husband, and was reshaped by Bazzi's own experience, forced to escape to Iraq until the ceasefire was finally reached. Determined to continue the project the moment she returned to Lebanon, Bazzi had kept in contact with the cast in video calls. "We took advantage of this in the performance, the idea of separation and distance from each other, how we worked to continue the play," she told AFP during a recent rehearsal. At one point in the play, the characters are suddenly interrupted by the sound of a bomb and rush to their phones to see what was hit this time, with their reactions becoming scenes of their own. To Bazzi, working on the play has allowed her and the cast to "express the things we felt and went through, serving as an escape and therapy". - 'Children of war' - Theater stages across Lebanon did not lift their curtains during the war, and though they are now back, the local scene is still burdened by the effects of a devastating economic crisis since 2019. "We postponed an entire festival at the end of last year due to the war," said Omar Abi Azar, 41, founder of the Zoukak collective. The group runs the theater where Bazzi's latest piece was performed. "Now we have started to pick up the pace" again, said Abi Azar, whose own play was postponed by the war. "Stop Calling Beirut", which Abi Azar created with his collective, tells the story of the loss of his brother more than a decade ago and their childhood memories during Lebanon's civil war, which ended in 1990. Zoukak itself was born out of a crisis during a previous war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. "We are children of war. We were born, raised and grew up in the heart of these crises," said Abi Azar. To him, "this is not a challenge, but rather our reality". "If this reality wanted to pull us down, it would have dragged us, buried us and killed us a long time ago," he added, seeking hope in art.
