For the opening of the Israeli-Palestinian restaurant at Consulat Voltaire, paper doves decorated the cultural center in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. TIMOTHÉE CHAMBOVET POUR M LE MAGAZINE DU MONDE
Set on banquet tables, the earthenware bowls overflowed with hummus, carrots seasoned with cumin and labneh. Saturday, October 11 was a festive day at Consulat Voltaire, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. About 100 people came to raise a glass at the launch of Sababa, le goût de la paix ("the taste of peace"), the capital's first pop-up Palestinian-Israeli restaurant. The new venue is housed beneath the industrial-style nave of a former electricity generator, now an independent cultural center. Here, people from the Northeast Paris neighborhood could sample maqlouba made from rice, meat and fried vegetables or chicken shawarma – dishes enjoyed as much by Israelis from Tel Aviv as by Palestinians from Gaza.
The brains behind this unique restaurant are a duo comprised of a French-Israeli, Edgar Laloum, age 78, and a French-Palestinian, Radjaa Aboudagga, age 58. The two met a year ago, united by this small gastronomic and political utopia, convinced that the pleasures of culinary arts could bring their peoples closer together.
