Work trips aren’t always fun. But when the trip involves eating and researching with Wassef and Racha Haroun, co-owners of Mamnoon, I have to admit that it sounds pretty damn awesome.
Last month, chefs Carrie Mashaney (Mamnoon) and Jason Stratton (the Harouns’ MBar)
spent a week with the couple touring—and, more importantly, tasting
their way across—Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. The trip was designed
as an opportunity for the head chefs to become further familiarized with
the authentic flavors of the Middle East: a tight schedule that
included a trip to a tahini factory, tours through markets examining
everything from grape leaves to za’atar, and many meals out at
restaurants that inspired the chefs to revamp spring menus. “There’s
only so far research alone can take you,” Stratton says. “We had some
really fantastic opportunities to interact with people who were excited
to show what Lebanese cuisine and culture was all about.”
Stratton
and Mashaney talked of the restaurant scene there, where most places
are preparing the same dishes very traditionally and a few chef-driven
spots are choosing to push the envelope a bit. They loved dinner at Al-Sultan Brahim,
an expansive seafood restaurant for more than 50 years with “a scene
like an American steakhouse,” Stratton says. There, they found
tried-and-true recipes for classic Lebanese dishes, but with a reverence
paid to Beirut’s coastal position and abundance of seafood. In that
way, it’s hard to ignore its similarities to the Pacific Northwest.
Stratton says his menu at MBar already heavily features seafood, and
Mashaney is open to experimenting more with it at Mamnoon.
