Fadi Kattan shares his life in food, from his earliest memories to his favourite flavours and culinary inspirations.
Franco-Palestinian chef and hotelier Fadi Kattan has become the voice of modern Palestinian cuisine. Fadi’s approach has been acclaimed by the press and industry peers. After completing his hotel management studies at the Institut Vatel and working in Paris and London, Fadi came back to Palestine to join his family’s business.
However, his love for the kitchen never went away and 15 years later, despite the challenging political and economic situation, he decided to pursue his dream, opening his own restaurant.
Fadi is a partner and the executive chef in the first Modern Palestinian restaurant, Akub, that opened in January 2023 in Notting Hill, London, bringing a taste of Palestinian to the vibrant neighbourhood. In May 2024, he released his book Bethlehem that was received with heartwarming praise. In November of 2024, Fadi co-founded Louf in Toronto, bringing his take on Palestinian flavours to Canada.
He shares with us his life in food.
What are your earliest memories of food?
My earliest memory is tasting Sfiha, this little pastry that is savoury with mince meat, tahinia and pine nuts. Or at least that’s the memory that I’m told from my parents. It seems very young, I was being fed cereal by my mother and a friend of my mother’s gave me a piece of that sfiha, and then my mother tried feeding me those cereals again, and I spat them out, and claimed Sfiha.
How would you describe your relationship with food?
I love food. For me, is the way I live! It’s thinking of what am I cooking, what am I telling as a story through food? It’s honouring the past and celebrating today. It’s celebrating what my mother still teaches me, it’s celebrating what fantastic artisans are producing, it’s sharing Palestinian hospitality with the world.
What was the first meal you learned to cook?
The first meal I learned to cook was very simple. It was fried eggs in ghee, with Sumac on top in my grandmother’s kitchen and I still make that for breakfast and I love it.
How did food become your career?
Growing up in Bethlehem with my grandparents, with my parents, the sense of hospitality was always there. I really wanted to cook, to run a hotel, to run a restaurant. Growing up this is really what I wanted to do. I did my first degree in business and then I did my second degree in hospitality and food, and this is really where I started practicing.
I worked in Paris, in London and then came back to Palestine and worked not only cooking, but for a few years I worked with my father, who imports commercial kitchens. I was also on the physical side of making a kitchen and then in 2015 I opened Fawda in Bethlehem.
Since then I have opened Akub in London with Rasha Khouri, Kassa Boutique Hotel in Bethlehem with Elisabeth Kassis and Louf in Toronto with Nicole Mankinen, and I have also written my cookbook. I worked a lot on Palestinian wines with sommelier Anna Patrowicz and telling all of that story of the land of grapes.
What’s your go-to breakfast?
Labaneh, Olive oil, zaatar, fried eggs, a bit of spicy shatta on the side, some olives and a nice warm bread. It can be a taboon bread, it can be Ka’ek Al-Quds and that for me is the best breakfast ever.
If you’re impressing friends and family at a dinner party, what are you serving up?
Wow, what am I serving up? I’m definitely roasting some lamb. If lamb is the main course, I am going to the market, the farmers market, the souk, finding what herbs are in season that moment and cooking a bunch of different dishes with those herbs. It can be as zaatar salad, it can be a hedge mustard dip, it can be a Swiss chard salad, lots of those dishes that tell the story of the instant, the immediate instant and then I’m usually finishing with a simple dessert, not too sweet. Something that plays around with knafeh, with baklawa. Something Palestinian, but with a twist.
Who’s your culinary inspiration?
I would say, my culinary inspiration is my late maternal grandmother Julia, in whose kitchen I first learned how to cook. My daily culinary inspiration is my mother Micheline. I call her every day to ask her about recipes, about how she cooks this or that, and it’s really honouring those women that are the heroes of Palestinian food. They’re the ones who preserved it, who transmitted it, who cook every day wherever they are, whether they’re in the diaspora or locally. They cook Palestinian food and they preserve this very rich heritage.
What would your last meal on earth be?
We need a few hours for this question. It would involve oysters, raw oysters, nothing on them, maybe a mignonette, maybe some dried moloukhia on them. I used to think that it has to be a very rich meal and I think when I’m asked this question, answering it is going to be even richer than what I would be able to deal with. I would pair those oysters with a wine from Palestine. Maybe a Zeini from Taybeh and then I would have some form of meat, either fat aged steak that I would fat age, in ghee infused with zaatar, or I would have mansaf, which is a traditional dish that has bread, Laban jameed, rice and lamb.
I would have series of small dishes. I definitely would have hummus, I would have lots of warm different breads. I think I will also want to have baguettes with butter and cold cuts, maybe some cured pork loin or some San Danielle Ham. I would have my mother’s lentil soup, I would have cheeses, cheeses and cheeses and cheeses and cheeses and cheeses for hours. Of course, a Mont D’Or, a Reblochon, a Nabulsi cheese fried. I would have chocolate desserts. I would pair that the main course, most probably with a Doer from Ashkar, a Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve from taybeh or a Aida from Jascala, robust wines that tell the story of the terroirs of Palestine. I would have coffee, Arabic coffee then double espresso, that’s my addiction. And then I would have an oak aged Arak from Muaddi, as a digestif, very small portion, I would have a few, many, trying to buy time and cheat time and make this meal not the last meal on earth.
What’s my go to comfort foods?
Moloukhiya, the stew made with mallow, with lamb meat or chicken. Served with rice topped with crunchy bread, deep fried bread slivers, onion and lemon juice. But the one done by my mother is the best. The only difference is I would serve chilli on the side, which she doesn’t.
What’s the go-to quick meal you cook when you’re tired and hungry?
My quick go-to meal is like many things I do, zero waste, so it’s whatever’s in the fridge that I would cook. Very often it’ll take the form of a sandwich if it’s really quick go-to. I will use shrak bread, which is very thin, large bread that looks a bit like a big crepe and I would stuff it with whatever’s there. It could be leftover meat, and I would do a shawarma, and if I have left over herbs I would maybe fold them into some labaneh, a bit of olive oil and that’s it.
What is one food or flavour you cannot stand?
I can’t stand cooked oysters, I can’t stand marmite, I can’t stand badly made wines.
Hangover cure?
Hummus with meat, diced meat that’s been sautéed in ghee and pine nuts — and a nap!
Sweet or savoury?
Savoury!
Fine dining or pub grub?
Fine dining!
Favourite restaurant in Ireland?
JP McMahon’s Aniar in Galway.
Best coffee?
Difficult one. Best coffee, I would say Palestinian Arabic coffee from Orient Mills in Bethlehem Tewfik. The roaster and spice master knows exactly the blend I enjoy, we say it’s 2/3 dark roast, 1/3 light roast and cardamom. The other best coffee I would say I have good memories of Blue Mountain Jamaica.
What are your thoughts on the food scene?
Oh, the food scene, it’s challenging, it’s challenging. It’s beautiful, there’s beautiful people in this world of food doing great stuff all over the world. There’s people I am lucky to admire, to consider friends, all over the world doing fantastic fantastic things. But it’s also a scene that’s still in need of a lot of work.
We need to tackle the remains of sexism, we need to tackle the remains of unconscious mass production. We need to tackle the silence about the genocide in Gaza. We need to tackle food security because we are part and parcel of it, and I don’t buy the idea that food is not political. The food scene has to face up to the fact that food is political, how you dispose of food, your waste in a restaurant is political, how you source your produce is political. That is universal, it’s one universal stance, and I think our food scene really needs to stand up to it.
What’s your favourite thing about cooking?
Sharing that joy, sharing the joy of food with people, whether they’re guests at home, whether they’re people I am cooking for in a restaurant, whether they’re people that are cooking a recipe I wrote. It’s that joy of sharing the stories, sharing the pleasure of food with them.
What does food sitting down to a meal with friends, mindfully prepared a meal, nourishment, etc. mean to you?
It means a moment of community, a moment of healing, a moment of pleasure that brings all of us together to celebrating its beauty, and it’s a moment of gratefulness for what we have.
What are some areas for improvement within the food restaurant and hospitality scene?
I think the food scene is doing fantastic work. Its people are really becoming aware, so people, as in guests, are becoming aware of the quality. There’s really a knowledge of origin of produce. I’m very proud of how the food scene is changing, I’m happy to be part of this community that is trying to change things.
Chef’s kiss, tell us about one stand out true experience you’ve recently had?
That’s also a difficult one, but I would say it may have been in Killary fjord, in Ireland a few months ago, tasting the mussels and the oysters that are from there.
Meeting Kate and Simon, thanks to JP McMahon, I remember the taste of those oysters that were phenomenal, and that’s why I can’t wait to be back to Ireland to taste some more of those.
As for an exceptional food experience, I would say: I got stuck for a night in Switzerland, the flight got cancelled, there was a storm in Heathrow and for the second night in a row, I had traditional Swiss food. I had raclette as a starter, a fondue as a main course, and a meringue with Gruyere cream as a dessert. Oh, and in between, I had a platter of cheese! I loved it.
Compliments to the chef, now is your chance to sing the praise of a talented Chef, beloved restaurant or particularly talented foodie family member?
I would say Mohammed Orfali in Dubai, I would say Massimo Bottura in Modena, I would say JP McMahon in Galway, I would say Asma Khan in London, I would say Walter al-Najar at the Refettorio in Geneva, I would say Vanika Choudhary in India, I would say Reem Assil in California, Joseph Shawana in Toronto, who is phenomenal, an indigenous chef and somebody I admire a lot.
They’re all exceptional, each in their own style, each with their own story. I would say all of those friends are each in tune with their identity, in tune with what they’re doing. The list is long, so I don’t even know where to finish!
The secret ingredient. What in your estimation makes the perfect dining expense?
The balance. It’s not about a novelty. I don’t think novelty makes a dining experience, I think it’s a balance of everything. Good food. Good wine. Good service. I think it’s that balance of people that are passionate for what they’re doing when a waiter, a sommelier, a chef, a bar person tells me stories of the food and drink, it is exceptional, and that is a secret ingredient. I think that’s really the passion of what we do.
Imagery sourced from Chef Fadi Kattan on Instagram.
Chef Fadi Kattan will appear at the Ballymaloe Festival of Food over the three day event happening Friday 16 May – Sunday 18 May. See www.ballymaloegrainstore.com for more.
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