A passer-by on Hamra Street on Nov. 18 in front of blinds bearing the words “Lebanon does not want war.” (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
If one were to distill Ahmad Khatib’s mood into a single word, it would undoubtedly be nostalgia. Sitting with a pint of beer on Nov. 5 at Bayati, the new cultural nightspot he had quietly opened just days earlier, the musician’s weary expression brightened only when he reminisced about the Hamra of his childhood.“When I was young, we would go to the Piccadilly Theater, where my uncle ran a muwashahat troupe,” he recalled, referencing the classical Arabic poetic-musical art form. “At the time, it was one of the most important theaters in Lebanon — perhaps even the world!” He spoke enthusiastically about the storied theaters, cinemas and sidewalk cafes of a bygone era.By choosing to open his own musical restaurant in the midst of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, which broke out at the border since Oct. 8, Khatib sought to honor the...
If one were to distill Ahmad Khatib’s mood into a single word, it would undoubtedly be nostalgia. Sitting with a pint of beer on Nov. 5 at Bayati, the new cultural nightspot he had quietly opened just days earlier, the musician’s weary expression brightened only when he reminisced about the Hamra of his childhood.“When I was young, we would go to the Piccadilly Theater, where my uncle ran a muwashahat troupe,” he recalled, referencing the classical Arabic poetic-musical art form. “At the time, it was one of the most important theaters in Lebanon — perhaps even the world!” He spoke enthusiastically about the storied theaters, cinemas and sidewalk cafes of a bygone era.By choosing to open his own musical restaurant in the midst of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, which broke out at the border since Oct. 8, Khatib sought...