The legendary Parisian market Fauchon is set to open in Gemmayze soon.
An institution of French gourmet excellence for over 125 years, Fauchon provides delicacies from all over France and the world for that matter, and is divided into different sections with a section for items such as preserves and exotic canned goods, another for breads, pastries and chocolates and another for items such as cheese, pate and terrines. [Link]
Fauchon already has branches in Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE. [Link]
I noticed yesterday while passing by Kaslik that Eatalian has closed down and moved next door to Casper & Gambini’s. That’s actually a smart move as Eatalian wasn’t doing that well and Casper & Gambini’s branch is relatively big when compared to other Casper branches, add to that the fact that Olio Pizzeria opened across the street.
Anyway, I went down to check it out and have a lemonade. The place looks practically the same except they brought in Eatalian’s tables and chairs to replace the couches and cozy chairs on the right section of the restaurant.
Once I sat, I noticed Casper & Gambini’s was marketing its new light delivery menu. The dessert on the picture looked really delicious and I assumed it would also be available but as it turns out, it’s only for delivery. Isn’t it usually the other way around? Items on the menu are not available for delivery?
It’s not a big deal but I think it’s silly that you market light items or any items inside the restaurant that customers can’t have. It’s like “Excuse me, can I have this dessert on the picture? It looks delicious†and the waiter goes “I am sorry it’s only available for deliveryâ€. The minted Lemonade was great by the way.
Margherita Pizzeria will be opening soon in ABC Achrafieh instead of Outpost Grill. For those interested, you can check out Chahe & Mark’s review of Margherita.
This being said, we will have two Pizzerias in ABC Mall Achrafieh now, Napoletana and Margherita.
The Hezbollah paintball team: Picture taken by Bryan Denton
If that’s not some cool PaintBalling, I don’t know what is. I played once with a group of guys who had their own suits, masks and even walkie talkies. And for the record, it’s not just with Hezbollah guys but with every Lebanese who’s been at some point engaged in a militia. I was told once by a friend about an ex-Lebanese Forces Special Units member (an expat now) who beat 4 foreign army men in a paintball game all by himself.
I wish they’d told us what’s the name and exact location of that paintball place. All they mention is that it took place ‘in a grungy, bunker-like basement underneath a Beirut strip mall”.
As my eyesight returns and readjusts to the dim arena light, I poke out from my position behind a low cinder-block wall. Two large men in green jumpsuits are bearing down on me. I have them right in my sights, but they seem unfazed—even as I open fire from close range, peppering each with several clear, obvious hits. I expect them to freeze, maybe even acknowledge that this softie American journalist handily overcame their flash-bang trickery and knocked them out of the game. Perhaps they’ll even smile and pat me on the back as they walk off the playing field in a display of good sportsmanship (after cheating, of course).
Instead, they shoot me three times, point-blank, right in the groin. [Link]
BEIRUT: On the occasion of World No Tobacco Day, the Health Ministry launched a multimedia campaign Thursday to usher in the final phase of the law which, come September, will ban smoking in all public places.
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The final phase, which comes into effect Sept. 3, will also ban smoking at all restaurants, bars, clubs, cafes, theaters and hotels (save for 20 percent of rooms), to be accompanied by “No Smoking†signs at these venues also. [Source]
Lebanese authorities have decided to ban football fans in Lebanon from attending the first game of the last World Cup Qualifying round that will be held in Beirut and will oppose Lebanon to Qatar.
The reason for the ban is that local authorities are worried that some fans might insult Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad Ben Khalifa, which might damage the relationship between the two countries. [Link]
It looks like the last Qatari threat wasn’t a rumor after all.
The Lebanese designer Karim Habib has been named the new design chief at BMW. He’s the guy behind the new 7-series which I think looks great and reminds me of the older beemers from the 80s. The fact that a Lebanese is in charge of the design at BMW is pretty cool and fitting. Who loves their cars more than us? More info available [Here]
At Ro Ro’s Chicken — a famed Lebanese joint in Hollywood — the manager says shawarma sales jumped 80% in the days after the movie opened. We’re told the same thing happened a few years back when a baba ghanouj joke was featured in “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.” [Link]
Boubouffe (Achrafieh) should consider opening a branch in LA soon. This place has the best Shawarma you’ll ever taste.
Game 5 between Anibal Zahle and Sporting club was cancelled tonight because Riyadi fans blocked the roads leading to Manara and invaded the Riyadi basketball court. Game 5 will be played tomorrow in Antranik at 4pm.
I think it’s time to penalize Riyadi and kick them out of the semi-finals, maybe then they will learn to control their fans.
Two stand-up comedians have been detained for breaching public morality. Edmond Haddad, known for his role on al-Jadeed television’s Chi.N.N. comedy show, and Rawiya al-Shab, who is a theater and film actress, were detained for a stand-up show they presented in 2009 at a pub in Gemmayzeh. [Naharnet]
The article says that a local media outlet was covering the event and reported that their act had violated public morals. In fact, during the sketch, Haddad showed some of his underwear, much to the disappointment of the unnamed media outlet.
Does anyone know which media outlet they are referring to? So what if he showed his boxers? With everything that’s happening in Lebanon, this is the only thing considered as a breach of public morality?
The funny part is that the Beirut judge in charge of the case “has held Haddad and al-Shab on charges of breaching public morals based solely on the newspaper article that initially made the complaint, said al-Akhbar. The judge did not even consider viewing a dvd recording of the comedy show, it added.”
