Chef Salam used to say “My dream has always been to become a chef”. Aside from a charming ambience, Bait Maryam takes regional flavors, and plates off the family table, and brings them into a restaurant setting as part of her personal homage to Middle Eastern cuisine. In the past, having hosted her own cooking show back when she resided in Saudi - she was a star brimming with passion and authenticity, while her fans inspired her to embrace her true skill set. Fiercely proud of her heritage, Dakkak says her biggest achievements are that Bait Maryam is being recognised as a Palestinian restaurant and that she is helping to introduce her native country's cuisine to the world.

More than a restaurant, what Dakkak has created is a sanctuary in a city largely populated by expats, where diners long for a taste of nostalgia. “Bait Maryam is a place where people can come and feel at home, no matter where they are from. Those who miss that home-away-from-home feeling are the reason we opened the restaurant,” she says. Her efforts have been rewarded as the city’s first recipient of the MICHELIN Guide Welcome and Service Award and a Bib Gourmand.

Join us at 4.00PM on Sunday, 7 May at Warehouse 46, Alserkal Avenue.

The talk will take place in Arabic.