Love it or hate it, spend all your spare time searching for the cheapest one-way ticket out of here or declare your die hard devotion to sitt-el-dunya Beirut, #livelovelebanon or #haterforlife...we all agree that no place pleases our taste buds more than Lebanon's capital. Nothing beats your mama's cooking, except for maybe your neighbor's mama's cooking, and most of the time, you have a hard time deciding where to go for date night because the options are too many and too good.
That soft spot you have for a city you love to hate, or hate to love, just got some international recognition. One of the most influential travel brands on the Internet, Travel and Leisure, has named Beirut the Best International City for Food.
Beirut beat Paris (3rd), Florence (4th) and even Rome (6th). The web magazine recommends farmer-market-turned-farmer's kitchen Tawlet as a favorite.
This is far from the first time that Beirut's culinary wonderland has received international praise. In 2006, CNN's celebrity chef visited the city for an episode called "No Reservations." Amazingly, the shoot took place in the midst of Lebanon's July war. When Bourdain reflected back on the visit in a 2015 article, he opened with this poignant line:
"I briefly considered naming my daughter 'Beirut.'"
He then said, in no uncertain terms: "EVERYONE should visit."
You could argue that Lebanon's culinary delights mirror the country's social fabric. Sweet as its Riz bLabban, bitter as its Matté, diverse as its mezze, and often leaving you with the heavy feeling of your grandma's tabeekh .
With that, we leave you with some Lebanese #foodporn: