"Blessed Journeys with Friends" for VIE February 2023
Suzanne Pollak
“I ate at Lebanese restaurants every Sunday during my eighteen years of growing up in Africa, and I’m still convinced that Lebanese food is the best anywhere in the world. Known as the ‘land of milk and honey’ for its natural abundance, Lebanon’s fish is always freshly caught, its coffee is so strong your brain stands to attention, and its falafel is unlike anything in America.
One late afternoon in Baalbek, we wandered into the only open restaurant—empty except for a table of men playing backgammon. They looked up with shock when two women entered. Autumn asked for food, but we were offered only water. It seemed the place wasn’t open after all (it may not have even been a restaurant). Still, in a gesture of hospitality not often seen in the West, one man from the table came over and arranged to have roast chicken, hummus, salad, yogurt, olive oil, French Fries, and Pepsi brought to us from a place nearby. He then motioned for me to move over so he could play backgammon with Autumn, playing like a military commander. We learned enough from him to beat most people in the US. He turned out to be a member of the politically militant group Hezbollah.”
Read more in the February 2023 issue of VIE Magazine HERE!