Sumac Magazine

“There is nothing like the smell of freshly baked purslane and spinach pies, Za’atar wild thyme mnaeesh pies and akkawi cheese pies in the morning. I grew up spending summers at my grandparents’ home in Abrine, Lebanon. Some mornings my teita would bake, some she would heat up the sajj dome and make sajj mnaeesh not only for us bur also for the entire village. Breakfast was a community event. Anyone passing by was welcome to stop in and join us; strangers, neighbors, all were welcome, as she would yell “howlou,” which means stop by, from her front porch. My teita’s breakfast would feature all the traditional Lebanese favorites: a plate of vegetables picked from her garden; bayd balade w awarma- organic eggs cooked with lamb fat; fatteh- layers of garlicky yogurt, chickpeas, fried pita chips, and pine nuts from the pine tree that outgrew her house; homemade labneh- a creamy, thickened yogurt; makanak sausages, and of course, her famous variety of baked goods. You would come hungry and leave with a full stomach, the day’s village gossip, and a surprisingly accurate reading about your future from your Turkish coffee cup. Teita celebrated her 104th birthday last year, and still welcomes all into her very same home, in our quaint village, as she has, for the last 85 years.” - Tina Lattouf Chamoun ( ), 34-ish, founder of and , Cleveland, Ohio

Today’s Christmas vibes & food memories brought to you by Willem Dafoe. 📸: Alvaro Urbano

“When I was about 11, my father used to manage a small but private airport on the outskirts of my hometown, Albuquerque, NM. On the weekends, my sisters and I would often go with him to work. While they would hang out harassing the koi fish outside the main office, I headed upstairs to the tiny diner they had for the transient pilots coming through. I hung out in the kitchen with the chef prepping for breakfast service which consisted of cracking eggs, and making pancake batter (in other words, adding water to a dry ready-to-mix product). Then, I would go front to be the diner's sole server and cashier. I loved getting to hear the stories being told across the tables by people from across the country randomly intersecting in this mile-high desert city. I mostly loved the cash tips I took home. Once the chef learned about it, he made me split with him. At 11, I felt rich in community and finance, one of which I would learn to love losing later in life by working in kitchens, the other which keeps me grounded and motivated to continue cooking. (I'll let you guess which I am still connected to)” - Eric See (), 38 (“but look 37”), Chef/Restaurant Owner, Brooklyn, NY

Edward Hopper’s Food Memories: Drawn to restaurants as settings for his stylish avatars of American anomie, deliberately avoided giving them anything to eat. He was far less discriminating about his meals. He generally ate in cheap neighborhood restaurants, although for most of his career he could afford better. When he could cajole his equally ungastronomic wife, Jo, into cooking, their meals often centered on what they described as “the friendly bean.” They reciprocated dinner parties at friends’ homes with invitations to tea and served store­bought cake. His preferred cuisine was ordi­nary American. In Hopper’s world of diners, tearooms, restaurants, and cafeterias, food is noteworthy by its absence. His subjects’ clothes are far more telling than their meals.

From left to right:
i) New York Restaurant, 1922
ii) Tables for Ladies, 1930
iii) Sunlight in a Cafeteria, 1958
iv) Early sketches of his famous work, Nighthawks
v) Self Portrait, 1952

Edward Hopper's New York at  can be seen Until Mar 5, 2023.