Crazy in Gemaizeh

ENAR

Unless you have been in a coma for the past two years, you will know that Gemaizeh has become arguably the most in-demand commercial location in Lebanon. Ten years ago, it was a lower-middle class Christian quarter, patronised by Bohemians and edgy foreigners who liked its authenticity. They could eat for next to nothing at Le Chef, hang out with the backgammon-playing old-timers at the equally distressed Glass Coffee Shop (or qahaweh il a’zez) and listen to stories about how the residents had to walk on the west side of the street to avoid the Murr Tower sniper. But that all changed in 2000, when the BCD became a cohesive urban whole, rather than the world’s biggest building site and Gemaizeh began to stir. Things became even more exciting when restaurant tsar, Bechara Nammour located his company headquarters at the entrance to Rue Gouraud, Gemaizeh’s main thoroughfare across the road