The collaborators behind restaurants in Vancouver and Toronto have Palestinian, Jewish and Israeli roots, and acknowledge they don91裸聊视频檛 always agree.

91裸聊视频淚magine 38 tastings for a falafel, and they would end up with like, blowups,91裸聊视频� co-owner Fadi Hakim says.

The team behind Toronto91裸聊视频檚 Haifa Room now have a new venue, Bar Haifa, in downtown Vancouver.

It opened on Nov. 24, just a few weeks after attacks in Israel by Hamas and the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Hakim says he and fellow restaurateurs Waseem Dabdoub, Mark Kupfert and Joseph Eastwood had always talked about opening a Middle Eastern restaurant, but they didn91裸聊视频檛 set out thinking their collaboration was 91裸聊视频渁 Palestinian-Israeli thing.91裸聊视频�

The two restaurants, their menus and ingredients do, however, represent 91裸聊视频渁 love letter to where we91裸聊视频檙e from and how we grew up and how we ate,91裸聊视频� he says.

91裸聊视频淔or us, we were content with just having a place that we could eat at all the time, eat our parents91裸聊视频� food, literally, and just eat really good Middle Eastern food.91裸聊视频�

Hakim91裸聊视频檚 Palestinian father hails from the coastal city of Haifa. Dabdoub91裸聊视频檚 father is Palestinian, while Kupfert is Jewish from Montreal and Eastwood was born in Israel.

The team has also recruited executive chef Jason Hemi, who cut his teeth in French fine dining establishments but found his culinary home working at a Tel Aviv restaurant with 91裸聊视频渒ibbutz-style91裸聊视频� communal tables.

Hakim says the team originally planned to open Bar Haifa earlier last fall, but they ran into snags before finally setting the late November date.

The opening came in the wake of the attacks in which Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostage in southern Israel.

Israel has responded with airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, insisting its attacks are intended to take out Hamas and its supporters, not civilians. The health ministry in Gaza, which operates under Hamas, says more than 24,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

The Bar Haifa team members have family living in the region, and Hakim says they struggled with what to say about 91裸聊视频渢he worst thing that could possibly happen.91裸聊视频�

They came up with a public statement.

91裸聊视频淭he Haifa Room is owned by both Palestinians and Israelis and we have many family members living in Israel and Palestine,91裸聊视频� they said on Instagram. 91裸聊视频淥ur hearts and thoughts go out to all the innocent civilians in the land we love. We are heartbroken.91裸聊视频�

But they declined to speak with reporters who showed up in Toronto seeking comments about the Oct. 7 attacks.

91裸聊视频淲e politely turned them down 91裸聊视频� We serve humus,91裸聊视频� says Hakim. 91裸聊视频淎ll we can really say is just, come in, come one, come all, break some bread.91裸聊视频�

There are some 91裸聊视频渄iffering opinions91裸聊视频� among the team members, Hakim says, but they have to work together, and ultimately, they91裸聊视频檙e like 91裸聊视频渂rothers.91裸聊视频�

Chef Hemi had been working at another Toronto restaurant for just a few weeks at the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic, when he heard the founders of the fledgling Haifa Room were looking for a chef specializing in Middle Eastern cuisine.

He hadn91裸聊视频檛 been looking for a change, but he couldn91裸聊视频檛 pass up the opportunity.

91裸聊视频淚f I was going to make a dream menu, it would be this menu anyways,91裸聊视频� he says.

Hemi has since relocated to Vancouver, becoming a co-owner of Bar Haifa. He says the new offering is a 91裸聊视频渇iner service91裸聊视频� than its more laid-back counterpart in Toronto.

The menu features an array of side dishes and small plates, from the seasonal humus 91裸聊视频� currently served with Brussels sprouts, pistachio gastrique and zhug, a hot sauce with roots in Yemen 91裸聊视频� to roasted root vegetables with smoked labneh.

There91裸聊视频檚 also shakshuka and sabich 91裸聊视频� a pita packed with fried eggplant, cabbage and a soft-boiled egg 91裸聊视频� as well as a rotating fish dish, several offerings with chicken, and shipud, a strip loin skewer with caramelized fennel and shallots.

Hemi is particularly proud of the boneless lamb shoulder, cooked sous vide for 24-hours and served with shawarma spice, herb tahini and garlic sauce.

Hemi says he91裸聊视频檚 never before had customers thank him for opening a restaurant, but people have come into Bar Haifa, saying, 91裸聊视频渢he world needs this, the city needs this.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淭hey believe in what we believe in,91裸聊视频� he says.

Mostly, though, Hemi says they just want to serve delicious, thoughtful meals.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 cool that we work together and we all come from different backgrounds, but also, we want to have a good restaurant.91裸聊视频�

As for that contentious falafel recipe for the Haifa Room? 91裸聊视频淓verybody91裸聊视频檚 mom has the best falafel recipe, the best humus recipe,91裸聊视频� Hakim says.

The discussions were heated, he says, but 91裸聊视频渢hat91裸聊视频檚 what family does.91裸聊视频�

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