Last month we took a trip to Lebanon -- the first time in just over 10 years. We had so much to do: family to visit, wineries to tour, suppliers and dear friends to catch up with. It was a whirlwind. We will be dining off of this trip for some time, but I'll start the recap here with our long-time suppliers and dear friends, a cornerstone of our trip.
We visited Yousef of Zejd Oil. Zejd makes high end extra virgin olive oils along with a beautiful line of olive oil body products and a delicious range of dips and spreads made with oil. Yousef is extremely knowledgeable about his products and gave us a terrific tutorial about how to taste the oil, what you are looking for in terms of color, consistency, and taste. He explained how to swirl the oil in your mouth and which taste receptors it would hit. It was fascinating and informative. As a retailer, I was impressed with his gorgeous and very welcoming shop.
Then, Yousef took us to visit Fadi from Good Times, our zaatar supplier. This was another gorgeous shop packed with interesting hand-crafted unique zaatar variations, including a fabulous chocolate version. I can’t wait to try it on Manaeesh! Here we tried zaatar liquor, which was wonderful (more to come on that from Caitlin of Sahadi Spirits). He also had lots of beautiful gift items and a special treat: zaatar ice cream! For dinner, they took us to Em Sharif, a lovely seafood restaurant on the Beirut marina. A wonderful day.
A few days later we had the pleasure of seeing the Saifan Olive Oil factory and touring with Sami Saifan. I have known Sami for decades and my dad bought oil from his father. He has vast fields of olive groves, and his production facility is just amazing. Most importantly, the connection between our families is very special. Knowing his love for tradition, his extra virgin olive oil is just as terrific as it was a generation ago. We treasure these relationships, and it was great to see the factory in action. He produces many varieties of olive oils as well as pickles, accompaniments, and of course fabulous olive oil soap. We then had the pleasure of having dinner with his family and meeting his children for the first time. On this trip, we made memories that will last for future generations.
