Beirut Does New York

Two main Lebanon-related reviews hit the New York Times this morning. Thankfully, None of them has anything to do with politics.

Having Mezze Chic at Ilili (Photo: NY Times)

The first is the review of ilili, a new opulent Lebanese restaurant where “Lebanese food gets the sort of stylish trappings accorded to [..] other mega-restaurants around town”. There you can have drinks like “Not-so-bloody-Mary” and “From Beirut With Passion”.

If any of you guys are in the New York Area (and I know many of you are), I’d like you to tell us, Lebanese-to-Lebanese if the experience and food are any good.

The second is a movie review of Nadine Labaki’s Caramel, which will hit New York theatres this evening. Here’s a sample:

“Caramel” has an optimism born not of dreamy romanticism but of resilience and a degree of hard-headedness. Life for these women is not easy or especially fair, and each of them faces moments of humiliation, loneliness and potential heartbreak. But in the best melodramatic tradition, their toughness, good humor and loyalty see them through. Those qualities, and Ms. Labaki’s evident affection for the battered panache of her native city, make “Caramel” hard to resist.