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Rima, a tribute Lebanese restaurant in Barcelona

On Dec. 7, 2023, Soraya Hatem and two other partners opened Rima, a Lebanese restaurant in Barcelona, named after her mother who passed away 20 years ago.

Rima, a tribute Lebanese restaurant in Barcelona

Soraya Hatem, surrounded by Oliver Sarkis (right) and his cousin Karl. (Credit: People photographed)

Soraya Hatem, passionate and attached to the country where she grew up, wanted and tried to stay until the Aug. 4, 2020 explosion.

“I grew up and lived my whole life in Beirut,” she said. “I left after the August 2020 explosion against my will, but circumstances forced me to leave,” she added.

After studying arts at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts, where she said she fell in love with textures and colors, observing details “like never before,” she joined Matisse Events and its founder Lynn Sawaya, close to all employees and collaborators in this events company.

“This several years-long experience introduced me to the world of service, hospitality and customer relations,” she said. Thanks to these happy years, she embarked on her own journey. “I set up my flower business, Wild Willow, an art I had learned professionally in London. I still practice this craft in Barcelona for 5-star hotels and events all over Europe,” she said.

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In early 2021, Soraya Hatem moved to Spain and, in 2022, chose Barcelona to start a new life. “And since then, my search for ‘home’ has begun. Having grown up in the streets of Achrafieh, knowing everyone in the neighborhood, from the old man on his wooden chair sitting in front of the garden of Saint-Nicolas to my uncle who lives in the same building as us, to Mr. Samaha from whom I bought my first cigarettes, I needed to hold on to something. To find a home,” she added.

“Nothing is like Beirut,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, Barcelona is a great city and I’m lucky to be able to live there, but I miss Beirut every day. Honestly, one thing led to another and the opportunity to open a restaurant came to us like a bolt from the blue. With my husband Oliver Sarkis, who is very passionate about flavors and products, we quickly jumped at the chance.”

Today, with her two partners, her husband Oliver Sarkis and his cousin Karl, “we wanted to create a place that could remind us of home,” Hatem explained.

“We worked on decorating the restaurant to make it look like our grandmothers’ house: The mouneh [staples], the tetkhiteh [attic], the chandelier, the plates in which we serve the meals, the glasses, even our plants are bougainvillea and gardenias. Everything has been carefully chosen to allude to our sophisticated Lebanese grandmothers. Even our playlist is one of Rima’s strong points, including Fairuz and Dalida,” she said.

“We named our restaurant Rima to refer once again to our Lebanese mothers and grandmothers … Rima was my mother’s name, whom I lost over 20 years ago. Today, her memory, her soul, lives again within the walls of our restaurant; this name is said and repeated by everyone around us, always with a smile on their lips. This detail is one of the most important to me, as you can imagine,” she said.

The restaurant’s inquisitive, self-taught executive chef Oliver Sarkis said, “When I started cooking, I didn’t even know how to fry an egg. I had too many questions. What I didn’t know at the time was that questions never really stop. They change and evolve as we develop and grow.”

“Playing with and improvising our favorite dishes became natural. I was exasperated at not being able to find modern Lebanese cuisine wherever I lived. I couldn’t bear to come across another hummus dish with the imprint of a fork sprinkled with paprika. Or falafels on a bed of shredded lettuce that would go straight from the plate to the garbage can. Thus were born the seeds of Rima,” Sarkis added.

Each dish is prepared, weighed, tasted and served with a smile. (Credit: Rights reserved)

So there’s no room for improvisation or guesswork. Every dish on the menu is prepared, weighed, baked and fried with all the attention it deserves. The menu, created in collaboration with Melissa Nassif, the restaurant’s consulting chef, “reminds us of home-made dishes but with a new pep, a touch of youth, traditional flavors presented uniquely. We like to call it ‘new Lebanese’.”

The arak-based cocktails, the names given to the glasses, the amreddine flavors in their mocktails and the white coffee served at the end of meals: “Everything takes us back to teta’s house on a Sunday with the family,” said Hatem nostalgically.

“When you arrive at Rima, you are welcomed by Karl, who takes care of each customer, serves you himself, prepares your drinks, tells you stories about Beirut, explains how the dishes are prepared and makes you feel at home,” she added.

The taste and nostalgia of Beirut on every plate. (Credit: Rights reserved)

This task is accomplished naturally, although Karl Sarkis comes from a world far from gastronomy. “Growing up in a family of basketball players and being very close to the golden days of Sagesse Club made me fall in love with the sport. All I wanted to do as a child was pick up the ball, go out on a basketball court and play,” he said.

At 17, Karl left Lebanon for the US, where he underwent a year of intensive training and graduated from high school. “After returning from Houston, I began a 14-year-long career in professional basketball, representing Lebanon with the national basketball team in numerous tournaments.”

“Over the years, my ambitions went beyond sports. I explored many other projects.” He founded the ProAm Basketball Academy, Ventro Sports Production (a sports production house), and Thin Line. “Unfortunately, the economic crisis hit in 2019 and I lost everything. For two years, I actively participated in every street movement, advocating for the Lebanon I had always dreamed of. But amid the chaos, I had nothing and wanted to rebuild everything from scratch.”

Like many disillusioned young people, he decided to fly to Barcelona and opened Rima with Oliver and Soraya. “Our hospitality, our generosity, our love for people, our diversity and, above all, our delicious cuisine are all elements I sought to embody through this project.”

“Soraya is the driving force behind everything else. I had no professional experience,” said the executive chef., Oliver had “a job where I sat in front of a computer all day. Today, I wouldn’t trade my new business for anything.”

Resto Bar Rima, 3 Carrer De Vilamari, Barcelona.

Instagram @rima.bcn

This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour and translated by Joelle El Khoury.

Soraya Hatem, passionate and attached to the country where she grew up, wanted and tried to stay until the Aug. 4, 2020 explosion. “I grew up and lived my whole life in Beirut,” she said. “I left after the August 2020 explosion against my will, but circumstances forced me to leave,” she added.After studying arts at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts, where she said she fell in love with...