Latest news with #Baladi
CairoScene
12-04-2025
- Business
- CairoScene
Public & Group Transportation Fares Rise by 10% Across Greater Cairo
Standard bus tickets will now cost EGP 10, while air-conditioned buses will charge EGP 20. Apr 12, 2025 Following the recent rise in fuel prices, public transport fares across Greater Cairo have been increased by 10%, with some routes seeing a rise of up to 15%. This adjustment, which affects both buses and minibuses, aims to address the increased operational costs faced by transport services due to the higher prices of gasoline and diesel. Under the new fare structure, standard bus tickets will cost EGP 10, while air-conditioned buses will charge EGP 20. For group transport, the price of regular minibus tickets will rise to EGP 16, while air-conditioned minibuses will now cost EGP 19. The fare hikes are in line with the rising cost of fuel, which saw a price increase of 11.7% to 33% across various retail fuel products. Despite the rise in transport costs, the price of subsidized Baladi bread will remain fixed at 20 piastres per loaf for ration card holders. The Ministry of Supply has assured the public that the subsidy will continue despite the increasing production costs associated with fuel. The adjustments are expected to impact both passengers and transport operators, with clear signage displaying the new fare rates to maintain transparency at terminals.
Al-Ahram Weekly
11-04-2025
- Business
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Egypt raises public transport fares after fuel hike but maintains bread prices - Society
Cairo Governorate announced a 10 percent increase in public and group transport fares across Greater Cairo, while the Ministry of Supply announced keeping subsidized bread prices at their present rate. The announcements follow the Petroleum Products Pricing Committee's decision to raise gasoline and diesel prices starting Friday. The governorate increased fares on average by approximately 10 percent for most routes, with fares rising to 15 percent for longer routes. Tickets for buses operating on Public Transport Authority lines will be EGP 10 for standard and EGP 20 for air-conditioned buses. Meanwhile, group transport companies operating on other lines have raised the price of tickets for standard minibuses to EGP 16 and EGP 19 for air-conditioned minibuses. Cairo Governor Ibrahim Saber stated that the new fares consider the length and number of trips on each route to ensure fairness. He also noted that the Cairo governorate coordinated with neighbouring governorates with shared routes to standardize pricing and prevent commuter exploitation. Furthermore, Saber emphasized that the updated fares balance the interests of passengers and drivers, adding that banners and stickers displaying the new fare prices have been prominently placed at the entrances of all transport terminals to ensure transparency for passengers. Similarly, other governorates announced similar fare increases in public and group transport. Meanwhile, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Sherif Farouk affirmed that the price of subsidized Baladi bread remains fixed at 20 piastres per loaf for ration card holders. He noted that the ministry carefully considers all cost components and subsidized bread production inputs, including updated diesel prices. On Thursday, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources raised the prices of all types of gasoline, diesel, industrial mazut, gas for brick factories, and butane by 11.7 to 33 percent, effective Friday, 11 April. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Miami Herald
02-04-2025
- Miami Herald
This kosher restaurant in a North Miami strip mall might be the best Israeli spot in town
From the outside, the modest strip mall in North Miami resembles a thousand others around town, with a long parking lot, a couple of restaurants and numerous small businesses. There's a fish market and a hair salon as well as a money transfer service, just in case you need cash. But at this particular set of shops on Northeast 123rd Street, there's also something of a culinary miracle in the making. The restaurant stirring up this magic is Mutra from Israeli-born chef and owner Raz Shabtai, a veteran of kitchens from Tel Aviv and New York, and discovering its charms is a revelation. Shabtai, who has worked at such restaurants as Nur, Alenbi, Rafael and Basta in New York, leans on Levantine, Galilean and Baladi (Egyptian) influences in his cooking. Mutra's menu is packed with flavorful dishes that live up to their poetic, expressive names: A fisherman and a farmer walked into a kitchen (Mediterranean-style sashimi). The best thing to happen to you today (burned eggplant, boiled egg, sage butter potatoes, Israeli salad, tahini foam and pita chips). Eat the mountain (tender sous vide chicken breast with baby corn, purple cauliflower, corn polenta cream, broccolini, Galilean succotash, sumac, porcini and wild mushroom jus). There are many good Israeli restaurants in and around Miami, most recently Philadelphia chef Michael Solomonov's Aviv, which opened in March in Miami Beach, as well as the chic Abbale Televivian Kitchen in Aventura and local favorite Motek, which has locations around the county. But Mutra is special. The restaurant, which is kosher, opened in February. Since then Shabtai and his team have been cooking and creating, establishing a space where diners feel relaxed and at home, happy to chat with each other, the chefs and servers at the restaurant's L-shaped counter. Though there are tables as well — the restaurant seats 60 — eating at that big counter makes you feel part of a community. That sense of home and hospitality is crucial to Mutra, Shabtai says. Home is a place you are taken care of, and that's what he wants to do. 'When you're a kid in Israel, you understand the meaning of food,' he says. 'You come home from traveling, they feed you. You come home from the Army, they will feed you. Shabbat is a festival of food.' Mutra, which translates to 'rain of blessings,' is named for Shabtai's beloved grandmother, his inspiration and biggest influence. She suffered from diabetes and eventually lost a leg and her sight, but her insistence on feeding her family, friends and neighbors is something that has stuck with Shabtai, 40, even after her death. 'I saw people's reactions when she gave them the food she made,' he says. 'She hosted a lot of people. And they ate that food, and they were happy. I think you get addicted to that feeling.' Don't be surprised, if you're sitting at the counter, to find Shabtai watching you as you take your first bite. If you don't seem to love what you're eating, he'll ask if everything was OK. If he spots you closing your eyes in ecstasy, well, you have just made his night. 'It's something you cannot explain, how fulfilling that is,' he says, laughing. Realtor Noa Figari, who runs the operation and business development of Gourmet Hospitality Group, Mutra's parent company, said the whole team's goal is complete diner satisfaction. 'We really do want to see the smile when you put the food in your mouth,' she says. 'We strive to see it touch you in some way. We really want to provide the best experience.' Though the menu will change frequently, depending on what's available and Shabtai's restless, wild imagination, chances are you're likely to finish everything on your plate. Even basics like chicken liver are transformed by Shabtai's touch, in this case served with silan date honey, shallots, pistachio crumble, cornichon and grilled bread (Shabtai calls it 'Chicken liver dreaming to become foie gras'). Beet 3-way salad offers a surprising riot of tastes, with vegan tzatziki, pickled beets, grilled beets, beet crema, torched clementine, chermoula salsa, arugula, tiny radishes, kalamata powder and candied almonds. Maitake steak — not meat but an earthy mushroom roasted in a brick oven and served over polenta cream — wound up on the menu because customers couldn't stop eating it. Other main courses include lamb kebab with tahini, roasted red onion, harrisa, Uzbeki apricot salad and a Jerusalem breadstick as well as fresh seafood (depends on what the fishermen bring) and chef's cut steak. You'll even find pasta on the menu, perhaps Galilean-style tortellini stuffed with pumpkin, or a red sauce with lamb that Shabtai has created because of an abundance of, say, tomatoes. All the menu items are kosher, of course, but this is not a difficulty for Shabtai, who finds himself inspired by the limitations. 'A cook thinks: How can I break the boundaries? How do I turn it into something beautiful when I can't cook it the usual way?' he says. 'Cooking kosher, you need to explore, and you learn a lot.' The North Miami address draws from Jewish neighborhoods all over northeastern Miami-Dade, Figari says, citing customers from the surrounding neighborhood as well as Surfside, Miami Beach, Aventura and Hollywood. But Mutra draws a non-Jewish clientele as well, even though it's closed Friday and Saturday, traditionally the most popular nights for dining out. Shabtai welcomes the mix of people. 'It's so fun to see religious and traditional people with non-Jewish people who don't even know what kosher is,' Shabtai says. 'Everyone is welcome here.' Whoever you may be, the chef wants his food to evoke your best memories, of childhood, of family, of eating the best thing you ever ate and never forgetting it. 'You take a bite of something that reminds you of a specific moment, and it brings back those memories,' he says. 'That's why I say food is holy. It brings back memories. People go to cooking schools, but none of them can teach you the meaning of memory.' Mutra Where: 2188 NE 123rd St., North Miami Hours: 6-10:30 p.m. Sunday-Wednesday; 6-11 p.m. Thursday; closed Friday-Saturday Reservations: Resy More information: or 786-860-1213
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Middle Eastern Chamber of Commerce aims to build support network for underrepresented community
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The Middle Eastern Chamber of Commerce launched this week with the soft opening a Mediterranean market in southwest Bakersfield. The announcement comes amid the grand opening and ribbon cutting of Blue Fig Farms Feb. 15. The grocery store specializes in all things Mediterranean and is located on Stockdale Highway in the Fashion Plaza Shopping Center. The chamber's mission is to represent and be a voice for all Middle Eastern owned businesses in the Golden Empire, Middle Eastern Chamber of Commerce of Kern County President Mai Shawwa said. Blue Fig Farms to host grand opening for SW Bakersfield store Several Middle Eastern businesses have opened up throughout the county, which Shawwa says have been underrepresented. 'Middle Eastern businesses contribute greatly to the community. We need to create an environment where we create the network, the support, any kind of help that our businesses need in Kern County and we want to be that support system them.' Blue Fig Farms is a Palestinian owned and served as the host for the MECCKC's announcement. The ceremony included giveaways, food and pastry samples. 'We want to share our food and culture with the community,' Blue Fig Farms store manager Khalid Mansour said. Wellness Wednesday: Horiatiki Mansour said the supermarket's name derives from a rare tree that only grows in select areas of Palestine. 'Growing up, my grandparents had a blue fig tree in at their house and it resembles strength. It's a rare tree and the fruit of it is so valuable. That was the main idea behind Blue Fig Farms,' he explained. Some of the goods provided at the store include halal meat, which is a rarity in Kern County. The store also features a fresh bakery, coffee bar, spices, sweets, produce section, as well as, goods from India, Turkey, Asia and around 10 Middle Eastern countries. The supermarket's coffee bar offers selections you won't find at a Starbucks. 'We offer a variety of specialty lattes from a date tahini mixture, that I call Suhoor. We also Palestinian coffee that has notes of olive oil, and fig in it called Baladi. We also have hot sand Turkish coffee. It's really popular and really strong,' barista Natalie Mansour said. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Blue Fig Farm's grand opening ceremony is happening Feb. 15 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 4901 Stockdale Highway. The first 100 guests to attend will receive a free goodie bag with a $25 gift card inside. You can also enjoy a traditional musical Dabke performance, as well as food and drink samples throughout the day, along with special deals. For more information visit their website or call 661-735-7535. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
