Local chef Rawia Bishara pens her first cookbook
A day of snow that snarled traffic and kept many New Yorkers home from work did not deter fans of the Middle Eastern food cooked up at Bay Ridge’s Tanoreen from making the trek to the restaurant to celebrate the launch of owner Rawia Bishara’s first cookbook, Olives, Lemons & Za’atar: The Best Middle Eastern Home Cooking (Kyle Books, $29.95).
Nibbling on a selection of Bishara’s specialties – from tightly furled grape leaves to falafel to petite spinach pies – the guests – friends and customers — toasted Bishara and her cuisine, lining up to buy books as Bishara, ready with a pen, autographed them.
“This book has been a labor of love for my mother, myself and the entire family,” remarked Bishara’s daughter and partner Jumana.