interview (in 2004) with Ra'ed Sa'adeh, an electrical engineer who is the Managing Director

 

The building's history:

There are several different stories. Parts of the building are over 300 years old. That was before people lived outside the Old City of Jerusalem, so the theory is that this building originally held animals like sheep and horses. Later on, according to a Greek priest, it was a Turkish army office during World War I. In the 1920's it was a school, and then a house, owned by the Sharaf family, the current owners. In the late 40's it was turned into a hotel. My father (Sami) ran it from 1960 til 1980 when he became ill and went under different management. I took it over in 1990, and brought it back to its nature. Then Palestinian activity centered around Jerusalem and there was freedom of movement, so it made sense to start with a restaurant.

 

About the design and renovation:

The whole hotel is designed to emphasize the building's character and history in context of the surroundings. I prefer Andalusian themes, and the place also includes Turkish and Mamluk themes with furniture and woodwork that are Bedouin, Egyptian, and Syrian. I designed everything myself, except the gardens which are maintained by a gypsy from the Old City. The downstairs is called Diwan, the traditional hospitality room supplied by the mukhtar of a village. The restaurant is designed with the theme of a village and is therefore simple, without fancy décor and includes elements typical to villages. A grapevine climbs over the ceiling, because in every Palestinian village grapes are important and are used for shade. A traditional taboun oven is in the corner. A taboun is dome-shaped, made of yellow clay with stone housing, has a hole on top, and is covered with a lid. It is heated from the outside by smearing the leftovers of the olive press on the outside and igniting it. Bamboo is on the ceiling – because it is used in villages to create fences and other things because it is cheap.

 

About the cuisine:

I tried several things. I wanted Palestinian gourmet cuisine – meaning first and second course, appetizers, desserts…but it didn't work well so I reverted to Mediterranean cuisine such as Palestinian, Lebanese, Greek, Tunisian and Moroccan. When times were better we had a special of the day. By the way, most of the cuisine considered indigenous to this area is originates from Turkey and came here through the Ottoman influence as is the case with the cuisine of other places in the region. I also like good olive oil. Generally people consider olive oil from the north to be best because it is less acidic, but it is not more tasty. I personally prefer oil from the Bir Zeit area, which is more acidic, has a distinctive smell and a good taste.

Customers' favorite foods:

Arabs and tourists like "mazeh" – traditional salads, and something from the grill. Local foreigners like those from NGO's prefer light and healthy foods and sometimes order snacks.

 

Owner's favorite foods:

Fresh light lemon sauce on chicken breast and arugula salad with apple and pear sauce.

 

Customer's favorite drink:

Palestinian Taybe beer is our bestseller. Turkish coffee is the favorite hot drink.

 

About the coffee:

We use a mix of dark and light ("blonde") Turkish coffee mixed with cardamon.

 

About the clientele: About fifty percent are local and fifty percent are from NGO's, from places such as Italy, Norway, Sweden, France, the U.S. and the Netherlands.