Are the Lebanese Shy With Their Food?

The New York Times’ Florence Fabricant is so excited that many world class gourmet restaurants are opening in Beirut, but is baffled by the Lebanese apparent timidity in experimenting with their own cuisine:

While some Lebanese might dare to try Mr. Robuchon’s eel with foie gras, when it comes to their own cuisine, tradition rules.

Why? Here’s a stretch of a theory:

We’re more behind the scene when it comes to experimenting with our food than with our wine,” said Naji Saikali, the brand manager for Ixsir. “We hesitate to innovate. Perhaps it’s because we’re living with risk.

I call BS. The author obviously hasn’t been to restaurants like Locanda in Jbeil, where very creative variations of Lebanese cuisine can be sampled.. But I guess we can be even more adventurous..