Reeling in the ladies

Beirut is saturated with restaurants, but how many are owned by 17 women and two men? That is the story behind Pinocchio, the five-month old $140,000 Italian ‘Pizzeria-Trattoria’ in Ashrafieh. The 140-chair restaurant threw open its doors for business in January, and has since been consistently packed for lunch and dinner. So much so that by mid-may, majority shareholder Saad Kazan, claimed that he and his “angels” had recouped their initial investment. Come autumn, predicted Kazan, he will have doubled his money. By then, if Pinocchio is swallowed by the Beirut whale, he and his co-investors will move on to new pastures. “Doubling your investment in six to seven months is fine by me,” he laughs. “It’s fine by any standards.” Another option is to close for the summer, when the majority of those people who would normally eat out, head to the beach instead. According to Kazan, in order