Tony Bourdain returns to Beirut, Lebanon to finish the episode he planned to film in 2006, before the cast and crew wre stuck in the middle of an intense conflict. Tony has been longing to visit Beirut to make things right after the conflict, and to visit the people and restaurants he planned to visit before the fighiting broke out.
Tony tells the viewers there is a mix of people in Beirut, including 150,000 Armenians, 1000’s of Pakistanis and Iraqis. Tony tells the audience the Armenians have a big influence on the food in the region. Tony and Ramsey visit ONNO restaurant, featuring Armenian food. Tony narrates, telling the viewers this is not a light snack meal. The dishes start pourig out of the kitchen: cracked wheat with chili paste, a kibbeh style dish made with lentils instead of lamb, Armenian cheese in phyllo dough, hummus, stuffed grape leaves with olive oil, spicy potatoes, and a meat and cheese dish. Lastly they receive dishes of Armenian sausages, chicken livers, a rare dish of soft bone marrow (one of Tony’s favorites), lamb in sweet cherry sauce, and whole cooked and seared baby sparrows, tossed in butter and spiced. Tony goes crazy for the baby sparrows, calling them meaty and delicious, then commenting “Oh, they’re cute. It’s the crunchy heads that make them good.” Tony loves the baby sparrows and the bone marrow best. Tony says the food is “Delicious, good flavor and good spices, very good.” After the meal Tony stands outside the restaurant and says “I’m ready to be rolled into a drainage culvert right now, which might block outflow for the entire city at this point.”
As the camera follows Tony through various scenes from the current peaceful Beirut episode and past war torn Beirut episode, Tony laments “This country seems to have it all, incredible food, good wine... and yet they just can’t seem to catch a break.”
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