Levantine Cuisine : a mezze of cultures in your plate
Closely related to Mediterranean cuisine, Levantine cuisine is characterized by spice blends and flavorful seasonings, based on olive oil, lemon juice and fresh herbs. These simple ingredients, cooked to perfection, are served with generosity. You'll find them in colorful dishes, sprinkled with zaatar, sumac, pomegranate seeds and coriander.
These are the mainstays of Levantine cuisine, with recipes straight from the Middle East — Chakchouka, Roasted Cauliflower, Baba Ganousch, Stuffed Vine Leaves, Chawarama, Falafel and Hummus… The great thing about this cuisine is that it's accessible to all, vegetarians, flexitarians, vegans and so on, there's something for everyone. But above all, cuisine that's all about sharing, with mezzes, large dishes, big tables and great diversity on the plate.
Still little-known 10 years ago, Levantine or more generally Mediterranean cuisine, has undergone a major boom, spurred on by a handful of chefs social networking stars or authors of best-selling books, such as the famous Anglo-Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi, who is behind the tidal wave of Oriental flavors in the West, chef Assaf Granit, the 1st Israeli chef to receive a star in the Michelin Guide in 2021, and Franco-Lebanese chef Alan Geam, also a Michelin-starred chef.
True success stories for these citizens of the world, who invite us to share a lot of flavors in dishes that tell the story of their backgrounds, traditions and identities, in which cultures that have always coexisted are intertwined.
Focus on the chefs
Yotam Ottolenghi
Yotam Assaf Ottolenghi was born on December 14, 1968 in Jerusalem.
After completing his military service in Israel as an intelligence officer and obtaining a Master degree in comparative literature at Tel Aviv University, he moved to Amsterdam with his partner in the hope of earning a PhD in comparative literature, only to change course and go on to study French cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu in London. He then became head pastry chef at three London restaurants. Then, in 1999, he made the decisive encounter with Sami Tamimi, a Palestinian chef who grew up in the Old City of Jerusalem. Together, the duo founded the Ottolenghi delicatessen in the Notting Hill district and offer inventive dishes, mainly based on vegetables cooked with local spices such as zaatar, rosewater and pomegranate molasses. The Ottolenghi brand expands and two new grocery stores are opened in Kensington and Belgravia, followed by a restaurant in Islington, the NOPI brasserie in Soho and finally Rovi, a vegetable restaurant that opened in 2018 in Fitzrovia.
The Israeli-English chef embodies both a political revolution (successful association with Arab-Israeli chef Sami Tamimi), sociological (gay, married with two children) and gastronomic, bringing together c e n t u r i e s o f E a s t e r n , E u r o p e a n a n d Mediterranean influences. He is also the author of culinary bestsellers whose success is based on an ultra-polished aesthetic. His recipes are often plant-based, in which he celebrates vegetables and simplicity.
The Chef's emblematic recipes
Assaf Granit
“I was born and raised in Jerusalem and I love this city”. These are the words of chef Assaf Granit website, who seduces the whole of Paris with Levantine flavors thanks to his Shabour, Balagan and, more recently, Tekés. In his family, cooking is handed down from grandmother to grandmother and, under the toque of this Israelite chef. For, if the Holy City inspires this accomplished chef at the helm of 14 establishments, it's because it's home to an immensity of diverse cultures. Moroccan, Yemeni, European... A multitude of culinary traditions from here and abroad and elsewhere that have nurtured his cosmopolitan universe. He says he remembers his grandmother, he cooks with his windows open, and talks with his neighbors about recipes from origins. This openness to the world is undoubtedly the foundation on which the creativity of great cooks.
Self-taught, Assaf Granit launched himself into the world of gastronomy, working in the kitchens of Jerusalemite and European restaurants before opening his first restaurant in the City of David. The Israeli serial chef soon opened two restaurants in London, five in his native country, and now boasts three Parisian restaurants, including Shabour, which will be awarded a Michelin star in January 2021, always surrounded by his Dan Yosha, Uri Navon and Tomer Lanzman. He recently inaugurated Tekés, a new rendez-vous where nature, emotion and roots resonate. His magic formula: "Give back to the earth what it has been kind enough to offer", by making plants the star of the plate. He revisits it, exploits it, perfumes it, but above all, handles it with love and respect. In this new restaurant, the flame sparks in the eyes of diners — open kitchen and ancestral cooking, offering an unforgettable olfactory spectacle. Until now, but this month the restaurant will offer a lunch break, a take-away and a juice and cocktail bar. A moment of exile memories of the chef who has made his origins his culinary trademark.
The signature recipe
Alan Geaam
Alan Geaam is a chef who commands admiration. Born on January 1, 1974 in Monrovia (Liberia), he had a troubled childhood. From the age of 4, his Lebanese parents decided to flee the country, which was hit by a coup. In Lebanon, the civil war was also in full swing. "We lived half in the house and half in the cellar we used as a shelter during the bombings", he confides. Fortunately, his mother's cooking cheered him up, with delicious dishes for the whole family. When he was awarded his first Michelin star in 2018, Alan Geaam hardly dared to believe it. “It's not just all about the American dream”, says this smiling, affable chef, adding — “Me, I lived the French dream."
And yet, his beginnings were fraught with difficulties. In 1999, after completing his schooling in the United States, where a large part of his family is expatriate, he arrived in Paris with 200 francs in his pocket. He found himself on the streets, sleeping on the benches of the Champ de Mars. He and self-taught French and cookery, devouring books by the great French chefs he discovered on TV shows. He found a job as a dishwasher at a Lebanese caterer, replacing the cook one day when the latter didn't show up. A real stroke of luck. A vocation was born. In 2007, Alan Geaam became a genuine alchemist of flavors between East and West and retook the restaurant of another renowned alchemist, Nicolas Flamel. Today, Alan Geaam is the Michelin-starred chef of his eponymous restaurant AG Les Halles and owner of several Qasti bistros, dedicated to Lebanese cuisine in Paris.
Alan Geaam's cuisine is not complicated. It's a clear, precise French cuisine in which he injects a few notes and flavors from the gastronomy of the Cedar country. A nicely revisited falafel, a perfectly cooked tuna with ultra-fresh, and duck lacquered with carot juice and vanilla vegetables.
The chef's signature dishes
