A day with Eric

The next day was spent on a walking tour of the city with Eric Bunge who, coincidentally, was visiting Beirut for only 2 days. We had breakfast at Chez Paul and then after visiting the newly constructed Downtown we went to the Corniche and had lunch at the Bay Rock Café overlooking the famous Pidgeon rocks. Stunning views, really. Eric had to go to a meeting so I took a taxi to visit the newly opened Beirut Art Center (http://www.beirutartcenter.org/), a much needed venue for progressive contemporary art in Lebanon. The space is generous and cool, with a serious vibe and currently showing some very politically charged work by well-known Lebanese artists Akram Zaatari and Bernard Khoury. The work was not so poetically charged as politically acute, and it was heartening to see a gallery willing to exhibit such tough, unsentimental work dealing with important current events and raw human emotions. That night Eric and his client Lamia took me to have the most delicious dinner at Al Mayass, a Lebanese-Armenian restaurant. WOW!!!! such delicacies one can usually only dream about.

From FOOD and WINE: “This family-owned Armenian-Lebanese restaurant excels at mezes; its Armenian specialties from Aleppo (like manti—dumplings stuffed with lamb in a yogurt sauce) are also a must. The wine list offers top Lebanese wines (Chateau Kefraya, Musar). In a kitschy but endearing touch, an aging troubadour often walks through the room with a guitar, singing songs from Lebanon’s legendary chanteuse Fairuz (as well as the half-Lebanese Shakira) in a beautiful falsetto.”