Crowe helps ravaged eatery reopen
One of the Middle East’s most famous restaurants, destroyed in the Beirut port explosion, has returned from the dead thanks partly to an unexpected donation from actor Russell Crowe.
Le Chef has been a fixture in Christian East Beirut for more than half a century with its white plastic tablecloths, basic decor and cheap recipes as hipster coffee shops moved in around it.
Its record of surviving numerous Lebanese crises since opening in 1967, including the 15-year civil war, came to an end when 2750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored at the port exploded on August 4.
Charbel Bassil, the restaurant’s owner, and two of his staff were injured in the blast, which destroyed buildings across the city. Bassil was wounded in the head and legs but drove two waiters to hospital. One is back at work, while the other is still recovering.
This week, Bassil reopened Le Chef, something he once thought would have been impossible. A crowdfunding campaign raised the US$17,800 (NZ$25,200) needed – helped by an unexpected donation of US$5000 from Crowe, who has never dined there.
‘‘Without that, I would still be at home, having a rest,’’ Bassil said after serving a meal of cauliflower with tahini, hummus and mince with a beer, for about NZ$6.
Crowe’s attention was drawn to the plight of Le Chef by two former Beirut residents living in New York City. The
New Zealand-born Hollywood star’s donation was in memory of his friend the late Anthony Bourdain, the American food and travel writer who featured Le Chef in one of his TV series.
‘‘Great to see them back in business,’’ Crowe tweeted after the reopening. ‘‘I send Charbel and the Le Chef family my best wishes.’’
The restaurant’s longevity has established its place on Lebanon’s tourist map. Francois Bassil, its founder and
the owner’s late father, is said to have hidden Muslim staff from marauding Christian militias at the outbreak of sectarian fighting in the 1970s.
Le Chef was one of the restaurants and cafes on Gemmayze, where wellheeled young Beirutis gather, to be devastated. The city was already suffering from a financial crisis and repeated coronavirus lockdowns. Bassil had been forced to reduce his original staff of 16 by more than half.