The collaborators behind restaurants in Vancouver and Toronto have Palestinian, Jewish and Israeli roots, and acknowledge they donB次元官网网址檛 always agree.
B次元官网网址淚magine 38 tastings for a falafel, and they would end up with like, blowups,B次元官网网址� co-owner Fadi Hakim says.
The team behind TorontoB次元官网网址檚 Haifa Room now have a new venue, Bar Haifa, in downtown Vancouver.
It opened on Nov. 24, just a few weeks after attacks in Israel by Hamas and the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
Hakim says he and fellow restaurateurs Waseem Dabdoub, Mark Kupfert and Joseph Eastwood had always talked about opening a Middle Eastern restaurant, but they didnB次元官网网址檛 set out thinking their collaboration was B次元官网网址渁 Palestinian-Israeli thing.B次元官网网址�
The two restaurants, their menus and ingredients do, however, represent B次元官网网址渁 love letter to where weB次元官网网址檙e from and how we grew up and how we ate,B次元官网网址� he says.
B次元官网网址淔or us, we were content with just having a place that we could eat at all the time, eat our parentsB次元官网网址� food, literally, and just eat really good Middle Eastern food.B次元官网网址�
HakimB次元官网网址檚 Palestinian father hails from the coastal city of Haifa. DabdoubB次元官网网址檚 father is Palestinian, while Kupfert is Jewish from Montreal and Eastwood was born in Israel.
The team has also recruited executive chef Jason Hemi, who cut his teeth in French fine dining establishments but found his culinary home working at a Tel Aviv restaurant with B次元官网网址渒ibbutz-styleB次元官网网址� communal tables.
Hakim says the team originally planned to open Bar Haifa earlier last fall, but they ran into snags before finally setting the late November date.
The opening came in the wake of the attacks in which Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostage in southern Israel.
Israel has responded with airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, insisting its attacks are intended to take out Hamas and its supporters, not civilians. The health ministry in Gaza, which operates under Hamas, says more than 24,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
The Bar Haifa team members have family living in the region, and Hakim says they struggled with what to say about B次元官网网址渢he worst thing that could possibly happen.B次元官网网址�
They came up with a public statement.
B次元官网网址淭he Haifa Room is owned by both Palestinians and Israelis and we have many family members living in Israel and Palestine,B次元官网网址� they said on Instagram. B次元官网网址淥ur hearts and thoughts go out to all the innocent civilians in the land we love. We are heartbroken.B次元官网网址�
But they declined to speak with reporters who showed up in Toronto seeking comments about the Oct. 7 attacks.
B次元官网网址淲e politely turned them down B次元官网网址� We serve humus,B次元官网网址� says Hakim. B次元官网网址淎ll we can really say is just, come in, come one, come all, break some bread.B次元官网网址�
There are some B次元官网网址渄iffering opinionsB次元官网网址� among the team members, Hakim says, but they have to work together, and ultimately, theyB次元官网网址檙e like B次元官网网址渂rothers.B次元官网网址�
Chef Hemi had been working at another Toronto restaurant for just a few weeks at the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic, when he heard the founders of the fledgling Haifa Room were looking for a chef specializing in Middle Eastern cuisine.
He hadnB次元官网网址檛 been looking for a change, but he couldnB次元官网网址檛 pass up the opportunity.
B次元官网网址淚f I was going to make a dream menu, it would be this menu anyways,B次元官网网址� he says.
Hemi has since relocated to Vancouver, becoming a co-owner of Bar Haifa. He says the new offering is a B次元官网网址渇iner serviceB次元官网网址� than its more laid-back counterpart in Toronto.
The menu features an array of side dishes and small plates, from the seasonal humus B次元官网网址� currently served with Brussels sprouts, pistachio gastrique and zhug, a hot sauce with roots in Yemen B次元官网网址� to roasted root vegetables with smoked labneh.
ThereB次元官网网址檚 also shakshuka and sabich B次元官网网址� a pita packed with fried eggplant, cabbage and a soft-boiled egg B次元官网网址� as well as a rotating fish dish, several offerings with chicken, and shipud, a strip loin skewer with caramelized fennel and shallots.
Hemi is particularly proud of the boneless lamb shoulder, cooked sous vide for 24-hours and served with shawarma spice, herb tahini and garlic sauce.
Hemi says heB次元官网网址檚 never before had customers thank him for opening a restaurant, but people have come into Bar Haifa, saying, B次元官网网址渢he world needs this, the city needs this.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭hey believe in what we believe in,B次元官网网址� he says.
Mostly, though, Hemi says they just want to serve delicious, thoughtful meals.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 cool that we work together and we all come from different backgrounds, but also, we want to have a good restaurant.B次元官网网址�
As for that contentious falafel recipe for the Haifa Room? B次元官网网址淓verybodyB次元官网网址檚 mom has the best falafel recipe, the best humus recipe,B次元官网网址� Hakim says.
The discussions were heated, he says, but B次元官网网址渢hatB次元官网网址檚 what family does.B次元官网网址�
READ ALSO:
