This week was splendid. As you may remember, we’re staying with our friend Jodi here in Lebanon. After fairly brisk pace the last couple of months, we are sitting still (mostly) and getting some R&R.
Turns out, we picked the right city, but not for the reasons you might think. Beirut is a distressed city, a city very recently war torn, a place where many people-groups live at odds and in close quarters, a place where it’s easy to spot buildings still wearing machine-gun bullet holes on their walls.
But in part because of Beirut’s history of unrest, it has developed a culture of “oasis,” where there are countless places of rest, food, drink, and relaxation behind the rather disorderly store front streets. Thanks to Jodi and several other new-found friends, we have been introduced to delicious mezze, carrot cake perfection, and beer from the only micro-brewery in the Middle East.
Speaking of the microbrewery, thanks to our new friend Wade, Bethany and I had the chance to get an up-close and personal tour with the Founder and CEO of 961 Beer. Alas, it was too good to share everything in a weekend update, so stay tuned to hear about how one of Lebanon’s finest entrepenures started 961 in his kitchen, while Beirut was being bombed, and how he is taking on the only other “local” beer, owned by Heniken, and offering Lebanese a “brave” alternative to the beer of their grandparents…
Mazan Hajjar, 961 Founder
Yes, stay tuned for more stories.
In the meantime, we’re out this weekend exploring the Cedars of Lebanon with new friends, Jimmy and Madeleine.
Wishing our dads a happy father’s day! Happy weekend to you, too, wherever you are in the world….
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-Ted