Do you long for a home cooked meal? Do you dream of your grandma’s recipes? Do you want to savour regional specialties right here in the heart of Beirut? Do you want to rollup your sleeves and get to work in the kitchen giving a hand to Suzanne from Ehden, shaping kebbeh, or to Jamileh from the Beqaa, rolling vine leaves? 

T h e n S o u k e l T a y e b ’ s Tawlet ‘kitchen table’ is the place for you. 

The story so far 

Dedicated from its inception in 2004 to celebrate food and traditions that unite communities and support small scale farmers and producers, Souk el Tayeb (SET) has evolved in the last five years from an experimental farmers’ market to a vibrant organisation working nationally and internationally. 

The journey began by bringing the rural to the urban with weekly Farmers’ Markets, then taking the urban to the rural with Food and Feast one day regional festivals. Awareness of Lebanon’s culinary heritage was further reinforced through SET’s educational campaigns, Souk @ School, El Tayeb Newsletter, the Kitchen Workshop and Souk el Tayeb Press.

Taking its campaign nation wide, SET worked with the International Labour Organization to develop the concept of Communal Homes of Tradition (CHT) an ambitious project to establish culinary, craft and hospitality centres throughout Lebanon. At the same time plans were drawn up to build a permanent Eco Market in Beirut. 

Through its Farmers’ Exchange programme and an effective publicity campaign, SET succeeded in achieving international recognition for Lebanese food and producers. 

Now with a growing “family” of over 70 producers, Souk el Tayeb has created Tawlet – the Kitchen Table – a place to taste and savour authentic “home made” dishes – cooked by producers from throughout Lebanon, using family recipes that have all but disappeared in frenetic 21st century Beirut. 

The Concept 

Bringing fresh produce and cooked food to the weekly market was not enough. SET wanted to capture the taste of the food and to experience the lives of its producers, farmers and cooks on a daily basis. Since there is no way to travel to a different part of Lebanon each day, SET decided to invite each different ‘region’ to serve at its Tawlet in Beirut. 

Tawlet, is like home away from home, where friends gather round the table to enjoy a cooked meal. It’s a place to meet people and share food, news and ideas in a relaxed atmosphere with the added advantage of knowing you have some of the best cooks in Lebanon working for your pleasure. 

Each day, from an open buffet, diners will explore different regional specialities. No two days will be the same – there are no menus - this is the antithesis to upmarket restaurants where the same food is served day after day. Here seasonal food and recipes rule – and Lebanon has four seasons – so variety is guaranteed, along with freshness and taste. Where else does one eat fruit and vegetables garden picked by a producer in the morning and cooked and served in the heart of Beirut by lunch time? This is what Tawlet offers, along with fine Lebanese wines, excellent Arak, delicious juices and syrups and yummy desserts. 

The Place 

Situated in the heart of up-and-coming Mar Mikhael in a unique, high ceilinged space that will make you gasp, Tawlet exudes an atmosphere of elegant simplicity. With its stainless steel open plan kitchen, simple wooden tables and retro chairs, this is a canteen-with-a-difference, characterised by the sheer ingenuity of its concept and the philosophy that underlies its creation. . 

More than lunch….. 

The a la carte breakfast features organic eggs cooked in a variety of ways including eggs awarma and eggs with kishk – available all day long – along with organic laban and labneh, jams, honey, zaatar etc. These mouneh products can also be bought at SET’s Dekenet. 

Once diners have developed a taste for Tawlet food, they will be delighted to know that a take away service will soon be available, along with the even more exciting option of hiring Tawlet for do-it-yourself private dinners, your own home cooking in Tawlet’s kitchen. Failing that, Tawlet will cater your event for you.

For More Information: 01 448129

http://www.tawlet.com