Mind Soup

On Wednesday July 13th, a bunch of tweeps and I had the pleasure of attending Feast for Change, the first official food & wine event in Lebanon by the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Night-Clubs & Pastries in Lebanon that took place at Sursock Palace Gardens. The event was hosted under the patronage of Lady Sursock Cochrane who will donate a percentage of proceeds to her foundation for protecting natural sites and old buildings in Lebanon APSAD . The event featured around forty restaurants and drink vendors including attractions such as a live grill, chocolate fountain, ice-cream cart, cotton candy machine, and many other food and drink stops. The event also featured live performances with singers, opera vocalists and bands that made the event very light-hearted and interesting. I'm not going to express my admiration to the beauty of the venue, it was simple gorgeous. With more that 1400 invitees, the event was highly organized and the food was extremely del...

Annahar's Hiyam al-Kosayfi Photo Credits: Youtube/AnnaharTV MIND SOUP : Journalist for the Lebanese daily Annahar, Hiyam al-Kosayfi, expressed her anger about being denied wine in a hotel restaurant in Down Town Beirut during Ramadan. This hotel which was "founded by a Maronite Christian and blessed with sacred water by a priest" has made it a policy not to serve any form of alcoholic beverages during the month of Ramadan, where Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset on food, drinks, and sex, and usually abide strictly to Islamic Law during this month. According to al-Kosayfi, she said the that waiter recommended a good bottle of wine, but then embarrassingly apologized and took back the wine glasses from the table after realizing the policy. The (Christian) writer and her crew made a fuss about this incident until a manager approached them and offered to serve them wine in blue tinted glasses, as not to alarm the Muslim customers who were having breakfast (iftar)...