Sydney Day 5: Butter Making, Eye Surgery, Jbeil, Nell's Gift, Mar Charbel, SeaSweet Opening, Sushi
When I think that I've explored a country and I'm done. When I think that I've been coming here for 3 months, if we count them, 3 times to Australia. And more. When I think that what else do I want to explore? Lebanese, food, tourism, and more.
And more. Sydney, Australia, the 3rd trip, the 4th day, and there are still many things. Yesterday was a very nice day. Watch the video, watch the rugby, watch the people I'm meeting, the successes I'm seeing here and there, the discoveries that are amazing.
A new day, and today the excitement is increasing more and more. I wake up at 6.30 a.m. and say, ok, challenge of the day. What will happen today? You can't imagine. A new day starts now.
We left the city, went to the bridge, and lost the way. We came back to the bridge. This is our mood, we're happy in the car, listening to music. We'll reach eventually. I met them in Dubai, and I tasted butter that is more amazing than this.
I went to many places in Australia, and I ate this butter and said, oh my goodness, it's not allowed. It's not allowed, how delicious. I used to say that the best butter I have is called Echiré.
Even. I also went back to a butter I love a lot, called Birdizini. And I met Pepe Saia. Let me tell you that many of you don't know that Pepe Saia is a Lebanese friend.
I met people in catering events, in big events, in restaurants that are not related to Lebanon, and I ate this butter, and no one knows that it's a Lebanese friend. I am proud of it. One of the most important butters in the world, made with the highest quality and technology, you can imagine it in the documentaries you see in Europe or France, to the places that give Michelin 3 stars. In the same quality, there is Australian butter, from Sydney, Lebanese friends, they opened the door of their factory or their atelier for me to meet them, and I hope this butter will be from here, from Australia to the world, not from Europe, it comes from Australia. A tour of the factory and breakfast of course.
Let's get straight to the point. The coffee is done, but the coffee later, because I don't want to change the taste of my blood. Let's see if I will take bread or not. But we are here not for bread. Look, this is the butter I am talking about, which I ate in the first video, and in the second video. This butter, these small pieces, for tasting and enjoyment.
This butter, I didn't find a spoon, sorry. I don't need bread. This butter has an enjoyable sweetness of milk, natural milk and enjoyment flavor. A very nice taste, the milk, its delicious smell, it pops in the mouth, a very nice taste of salt. I am eating butter like I am eating labneh, oh my God, like I am eating hummus. The pieces of salt inside are not melted, its softness, its smoothness, it is not chewy at all.
Gourmet, high end. It reminds you of walking in Switzerland, maybe because when we were kids, the butter ads were the Swiss or Danish cows, Australia has butter, one of the greatest that God created. The Lebanese hearts. Hi Anthony, welcome to Pepe Saya in Sydney, we are very happy to have you here. Thank you for coming, we are very happy for you.
My name is Pierre Aissa, I have a company Pepe Saya Butter Company, located in Karimbah in Sydney. My father is Lebanese, I was born and raised in Lebanon, from Amchit area, next to the mountains, I was raised in Lebanon and came to Australia, after working here in hospitality and food, I opened a butter company. The butter that we make is very special in my opinion, because we get the cream from the farm direct, and we add culture ingredients, and what culture does is that it ferments, we take the cream and make it sour, so it becomes like yogurt, then we put it in the churn, and its style is Beurre de Baguette, butter of the churn, and this is something special, you will see it all now. We got into butter because in Australia, all the butter for restaurants was imported from France, because the Australian butter tasted salty and watery. We talk a lot with the chefs, and I got into the industry a lot, and I noticed that they don't use Australian butter in restaurants on the tables.
So I decided that this should be changed, the butter that they use in restaurants should be from the heart of the country. Imagine you are sitting in a restaurant, overlooking the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, and you are eating French butter, why? It should be local, from here. So this started 14 years ago. If a chef puts French butter on a table, and you are overlooking the Harbour Bridge or the Opera House, this is something strange. No, it should be local, you should know where the butter is from, where the farm is from, what the cow is eating.
These are very important. And I think that the Lebanese understand this very well. We grew up eating local food.
During the war, there was no such thing, everything was closed. We used to eat healthy food, we used to go to the cow to get milk, we used to make yogurt. Everything was local, local, local. I mean, local. I love this a lot.
Now, we started 14 years ago, how the style of the butter should be. My father is a French chef, he made me the round molds, so I can put the butter inside them. And the person on it, this is a person, Pepe, Pepe Sayar, is, to tell you the truth, I asked the artist who drew me, to make it a little old-fashioned and a little arrogant. I mean, arrogant in a way, because you trust someone who is arrogant and knows what he is talking about.
So, the label and style of the butter turned out very nice. Like this, round. And it was easier to make a round butter than to make it a curry, I mean, so you can work with it. And we started to market the butter, but it took a lot of time. In the beginning, it didn't work out, because we were competing with the French butter, and the chef in the restaurant or someone who goes to the shops would say, why should I replace the French with this unknown butter? So, it took us a lot of time in the market to be able to start. But, fast forward.
After 14 years, you can find butter in Dubai, in America, in Asia, in Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, big markets. And of course in Australia we are very famous for butter and it is very popular because it is something we do in a very pure way. My name is Pierre Aissa but my father decided when I was a child in school that Pierre was not a good name.
It is a very strange name in Australian and in school they did not know how to pronounce it. So he decided to call me Pepe. The same problem happened. It is not good at all. But I liked the name Pepe a lot and I decided that I should call the butter Pepe. And Saya means island. It is the name that comes from the Arabic word Pepe is in an island.
So we dropped the word Pepe and it became Pepe Saya. So it is like an island by itself. So this is the name. And the person liked to give the butter
an image. I am not going to do anything with the image. We decided to create something. This cream comes from Norco. Norco is North Coast. It is even Port Macquarie in New South Wales.
This is the cream. It is 1000 liters. And what we do with this cream is we put it through a pasteurizer and then dump it into the tank. Once it is in the tank we put the cultured ingredients like the yogurt. We make yogurt and it stays for 24 hours to ferment. What happens is that the culture eats the lactose and makes it into lactic acid. It makes it sour. It makes the cream sour. After it is sour,
we put it in the fridge for 3 weeks to make the cream sour. It is beautiful. Imagine how beautiful. It is a water bed. This is the fat of the milk. Imagine how many thousands of liters of milk were consumed in this carton in the supermarket.
The cream goes straight into the pasteurizer and it is heated up to about 72 degrees. Once we get that temperature, it cools it back down to 40 degrees and then it is put into one of the tanks behind me. That is when the culture is added and then it is fermented and then churned.
The milk in Australia or the butter in Australia is yellowish because there is beta carotene in the grass. When the cow eats the grass, the milk turns yellowish because of the beta carotene. I remember the first time I visited a factory that makes Halloumi in Australia. I saw the Halloumi and it was yellow. I said no way.
They understood that I was playing a game. Why is it yellow? At that time, 4-5 years ago, when I came for the first time before COVID, I learned that the cows here have natural fat. The grass of the cows in these green mountains and these vast lands. The cows' milk turns yellowish.
The milk depends on what the cows eat. When they turn it back to white and so on, it is natural. I will tell you. I thought that they only have small ones. Not only small ones. And bigger. And bigger.
How many can I carry in my bag without anyone knowing? Oh my God. Imagine this in butter in the fridge every morning. There are 3 kinds of butter in the world. The butter that we saw today is one of the greatest and the most important. I gave you a small comparison between Echiré and Bertuzini.
This is the butter that you eat on the bread in the restaurant before your lunch starts. There is the butter of the supermarket or the cubes that are advertised on the streets and are made with Maamoul. Wake up son, don't eat butter. It is not good for your health and change it. We know it and we advertise it. There is the butter that you see in villages that is put with milk in a place called Ghassaleh in Lebanon.
It is twisted and its strength is that it spreads the fat on the surface. From it, they make Shanklish in Akkar and the butter is on the surface. There are many kinds of butter. What you are seeing today is the high end butter. It melts on the body's temperature. It is eaten and it is delicious.
It is not processed butter or processed fat. I am not saying it is healthy but enjoy it. You eat it in every moment.
This is the butter and this is the cream. It is as much as if they give me Narbiche. Can I jump? Ok, this is a story. Look Anthony, this is a very nice story.
This machine that you will see now, we bought it from Lavash Kiri. We took it from Switzerland to France to make it round. Watch now. More than 250,000 pieces are made everyday. They go to all the restaurants in Australia and the world. I hope that one day, and very soon, there will be one in Lebanon.
Right Anthony, 250,000 pieces per day. This is the only machine that we have that makes them round and packaging. Everything else is done by hand. Come see. These are the molds that I sold when I told you about them. Everything is done by hand. Anthony, if someone has a patisserie and wants a butter sheet, we have it.
This is without salt. They use it for croissant, vinoiserie, and all the danishes. This is amazing. When you heat the cultured butter, it gives you a nutty flavor. It's incredible. In many stages, the hard butter is pressed and kneaded. It's
homogenized. From behind, it goes to this machine that makes the croissant slices. If you saw the How it's made croissant, you can buy the long butter from France. It's put between the dough. Croissant is a dough made of butter. It's made 12 times and it's a croissant. That's why it's so flaky.
How it's made croissant I will put it in the oven. They even have creme fraiche. This is the normal butter. Oh my God. This is the normal butter. That's what goes in the heart of the church.
It's like nothing I've ever had before in my life. I've never tasted anything like this in my life. We all know that creme fraiche is different. I can't imagine the honey on it, the raspberries on it, the jams. Oh my God. Now you get the understanding that this is what makes the butter.
This. We put this in the churn. So that's why the flavor.
For the restaurants, to put them on the table. Little cones. They look very nice. I didn't tell you about these. How good the butter is, these are even more important.
I took 2 from Dubai, I packed them under the pillow at home. I didn't let anyone touch them. Caramel. They have other things as well.
Buttermilk. Look at the packaging, how beautiful. Before I leave, I want to tell you, I am not waiting for my bravo, but I am proud, honestly, an honor. What can I tell you? Amazing. The way it is done, the work that is done, the precision, the details, the high standard, it opens the heart. Bravo.
Thank you. It is an honor to meet you. Thank you so much. Send me a lot of these to Lebanon. Success stories, success stories, not only in food and restaurants, not only in F&B.
Success stories, people visited and visited, we met and did surgeries, no one else did them, a lot of names. I will introduce you today to Dr. Doumet Azar, whom I met 6 months ago in ALF, and what is Lebanon doing. Today, we will talk about surgeries, medicine, and not only that, we will talk about helping Lebanon in 100 possible ways.
He is waiting for me in the hospital, I hope his surgeries are not finished, so we can film a surgery together. My name is Marcel, I work here as an admin. I am from Lebanon, I love Lebanon a lot, but again, I love Australia too.
I saw Anthony, I am so happy. I smelled the Lebanese smell in him. You are from Zgharta. I am from Zgharta. The letter R is Zgharta.
Men to the left, because women are always right. And we are good to go. I haven't done a surgery for a long time.
I missed these days. Looking good, man. Thank you. You are welcome. Hi, I am Amita.
Amita is one of our scrub nurses. This is Dr. Anthony Raphael, he is here to watch some cataract surgery. This is the operating microscope.
This machine helps us do the surgeries, to remove the blue cataract. I will remove the blue cataract, and then we will insert a new needle, which is in the box. Everything we see, I look at it through the microscope.
Everything that is visible to you, is on the screen. My name is Dumit Azar, I am a specialist eye surgeon. I am the head of the department of eye surgery at a major teaching hospital here in Sydney. I am a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney at the medical school.
I perform over 2000 surgical and laser procedures each year, out of my private practice in Campsy. I am here in the operating theatre today to perform some surgeries. I hope you enjoyed the cataract surgery. Amongst other things, I am also the president of the Australia Lebanon Foundation, which is affiliated with the University of Sydney. We have partnered with Room to Read, which is a wonderful non-profit, non-government organisation, looking to improve childhood literacy in Lebanon. I look forward to telling you more about that, maybe after this case.
I am born here. My wife, who is actually born in Ireland, we have been married for 15 years, and we have five young kids, with number six on the way, in a couple of months. She is a specialist doctor too, she is a radiologist. Before we had kids, we travelled the world. We have been through Africa from the top to the bottom. We have seen the top of Mount Everest.
We have been through the deserts of the Middle East, through the jungles of Central America, and yet, I have never been to Lebanon. That is because I always dreamed of taking our kids there, and we share that dream, and we look forward to that. Happening one day, hopefully soon. So I am born here.
My parents are from the north of Lebanon. Mum was from Hardin. She was one of four, and her father, my late grandad, was one of 16. My dad is from Ardeh, Hizd al-Gharta, in the north.
He is one of eight. He came here alone at the age of 20 in 1966, and worked factory jobs and that sort of stuff, to get myself and my three siblings through school. My mother was here a couple of years earlier in 1964, at the age of 16, with her parents and her family, her siblings. So they have been here half a century and a bit more. They met and married here in Sydney at Mar Maroon in Redfern in 1969. We have been very blessed to be here, but Lebanon is always in our hearts.
I look forward to seeing it in person soon one day. Ed's got a cataract. So the Australia Lebanon Foundation began life as an organisation that was a foundation under the University of Sydney.
But we've since grown and we've since gained independence from the University of Sydney, and it was founded by the University of Sydney and the University of Sydney Foundation. It was founded by Professor Fadie Hossain, who is an inspiration to all of us. Up until recently, she was the president, and I've taken that role up in the last couple of years.
Really, the aim of the Australian Lebanese Foundation is to foster a strong relationship between academic institutions in Australia and those in Lebanon, because we believe in the power of education, and we believe that we can do that. We believe in the power of education, and we believe that this is the way of the future if we are to succeed in the future. So we do what we can in our small way to support those sorts of endeavours of educational enhancement in Lebanon. Something new for you, but I really like this. I remember all the years I worked with them and did surgeries with them.
It's unbelievable how nice the surgery room is, how nice it is to have a person who loves surgeries, who is thinking about helping someone, serving someone, removing pain from someone, a person like this patient who is in pain, who is in pain, who is in a coma, who will be able to get out of here. How amazing. The restaurant is not a bit of a mess, on the contrary. Enjoy the moment.
It's really nice, very few cameras can film it. And see something outside the restaurant and the food. So Anthony, the first thing I'm going to do is make a little wound. I'm going to make his wife.
I'm still learning. So that's a perfect new lens implant placed inside the eye. And then all I have to do is remove some jelly and this man will be seeing like a hawk in the morning. Perfect surgery, Ed. Perfect surgery. Perfect operation. Finished. So from about October 2021, for 12 months after that, about 700,000 Lebanese kids were not in school.
And about 1.3 million were affected by significant school closures. And that was due to the very widely publicised confluence of events, including COVID-19, the economic meltdown, political turmoil, the Beirut port explosions of 2020, etc., etc. And there were kids who, on average, over that 12 months, had only 21 days of schooling. So we've got a situation in Lebanon now where kids who were in second and third grade are reading at kindergarten level, which to me is unacceptable. It's unacceptable to me that the literacy rate amongst children in Lebanon in 2023 is in all likelihood lower than it was when my parents were kids 70 years ago in Lebanon.
So as president of the Australia Lebanon Foundation, we've partnered with Room to Read, who are a wonderful not-for-profit organisation, who've opened up their programme in Lebanon. And what they are doing is joining with local, non-government, apolitical, not-for-profit groups such as LOST, which is the Lebanese Organisation for Skills and Training, to help set up libraries and to provide books and books and books and books. So for example, there's a two-year programme where we hope to provide 120,000 books and set up 50 libraries to reach 52,000 kids who are in non-formal education. So these are kids who are not even in school. And the idea is to transition them to have appropriate and accurate to be able to get into the public school system and get back on the trail of their education because they're missing out. So far, of the 52,000 kids that we're trying to reach, 483 0:30:11,380 --> 0:30:03,421 literacy skills.
Room to Read have done a wonderful job and we've reached 6,000. Of the 120,000 books we aim to provide, they've provided 30,000. Of the 50 libraries they aim to provide, they've set up 15, which will all open up in the next few short weeks. So it's a wonderful start. The program is aiming to end December
2024. So if you think that childhood literacy is important, if you think that the education of our current children will make a difference to the future of Lebanon, then please look up Room to Read and donate to their Lebanese program because they're doing an amazing job and they need our support. Thank you so much for having me.
Today, we learned three things, if you'll allow me. First, humility. Second, professionalism and how successful Lebanese are in Lebanon and the world and how much we learn from each other. Third, if you're not born in Lebanon, you speak Lebanese. And still, Lebanese people walk in your heart and are proud of you and you're working for Lebanon and you're supporting Lebanon and you're working on everything related to Lebanon. And fourth, I forgot to tell you that I'm going to get you something delicious because our food brings us together.
I really really really thank you so much. You're amazing. We will meet again, I promise. We will meet again to work together for Lebanon. And here, we will meet again. Thank you so very much.
Pleasure. Hello! Welcome. Oh, smells good. Smells so good. There's a smell of dough. The smell of thyme. The logo is nice. Jbeil Bakery. It's time
for lunch. Welcome to Australia. No worries. My wife loves Anthony. My dear Anthony. Welcome.
Wait a minute, I thought of a bakery, a small restaurant. I don't know if it's a snack. I didn't know what to expect. And then, boom! The decor is amazing. The details are very nice.
It's a true Lebanese restaurant but without the Lebanese village. It has class, finesse, upscale. It's like you're in Europe, Australia. The green colors are Lebanese, the words are beautiful, the colors are Lebanese. It's refined in a very nice way.
It's called Jbeil, it's divided into several parts. You have the bakery on one side, the restaurant on the other, the individual booth on the other, the private room on the other, and the function space on the other. Huge! And the guys are on the way. Welcome! We will start in the kitchen. Because we will meet the guys and ask where are they from.
Come on in! Charles Obe, my name. I was born here in Australia. I come from the north, from a town called Imor. I've pretty much been here all my life. I visit Lebanon here and there. I started this business with a partner years ago and I'm doing my own thing now.
I love the hospitality industry. I love serving people, I love meeting people. I actually work on the floor here pretty much every weekend.
I really enjoy it. It's hard hospitality but it's rewarding at the same time. It's really good meeting people. I've met a lot of people, including Nagan. And yeah, it's pretty much my life. That's all we know how to
do. I'm Chef Mohamed from Baalbeck, Lebanon. I learned in Lebanon, I graduated in Lebanon, and I moved to Australia. We came to Jbeil restaurant. We started in Jbeil from A to Z. We serve Lebanese food, pastries. All my family works in pastries.
We started with Lebanese food and we started in the restaurant here. I've been in Australia for 8 years. We've been in this business for 2 years now.
Thank God. Welcome to Jbeil in Australia. He's telling me that he works in pastries and the pastries look really good and crispy. I'll feel at home. I'll take 2 pieces, no one saw me, and the oven is spinning. We'll put them in the oven, heat them a bit, and start eating so they can prepare the kitchen.
The rest is left. Hello. Don't trust any chef. My name is Nour Karash. I live in Birj Hammoud, Sadr. We came to Australia when I was 16, but I lived in Sweden for 22 years. I'm very happy in Australia. I'm happy with Antoine because I missed him.
I've been here 3 times, but I missed him a lot. My wife and I always watch you, Antoine. There's no one like you. I'm Ekthemal from the menu.
I know everything you like. Things without onions, garlic, thyme, crispy. You sit and you'll find everything ready. Welcome. We have fattoush, kafta, homemade, we make it from the factory.
We have labneh dips, fresh tabbouleh, everything fresh daily. Very good quality. The pasta is starting to get in the mood. Taste from here.
I went to the kitchen and saw this. Lebanese bread, thyme inside. Since I started, I go to Lebanese restaurants. The decor is this beautiful. Chef Waez welcomes you. Welcome. I want to cut you one second.
Raw kebbe, fresh. Even raw kebbe is here. Look at the color. When you see the Lebanese spirit, it's clear.
When you feel Lebanon, it's clear. As we said, the decor is nice, upscale, trendy, modern. But we're back to the traditional Lebanese food. Labneh, hummus, tabbouleh, and things that we won't call fusion.
We'll call it a bit advanced. Tahini, cauliflower, the beautiful flower that's not soaked in oil. Kebbe, olive oil, and look at the shine. The color of the great meat. Neat.
And then, the Labneh, the cucumber, the cubes. This bread is amazing. Good food. Hot potatoes, without garlic. Wow. Cubes, potatoes, not toasted, not crunchy.
The hotness, the sweetness, that makes you swallow in a beautiful way. Tabbouleh, you saw how it was mixed by hand, with a special spirit. This lady that came from north Lebanon. Parsley, lemon. Chef, wow, your meat is great.
Where should I continue? This special hummus. This special Baba Ghanouj, chili with garlic. You feel the Baba Ghanouj, you feel the roasted eggplant. The chili, other than the hot potato.
The hot potato burns here, the chili burns on the tongue and the edges. It's a different experience. And then, hummus with shrimp.
Each plate has a taste, each plate has a stickiness, each plate has the right spices. As I said, there is a modern Lebanese cuisine without being sophisticated and philosophical. There is delicious food. And this is the simplest plate.
Unbelievable. Good job. Very good job. Very very good job. Spicy fish. Oh, that's my favorite.
That's definitely my favorite. Do you know how hard it is for a person like me not to eat spicy fish because all the spicy fish they make is mashed and has garlic more than fish? You should meet someone who makes you spicy fish. It has a taste, it has fish, it has sauce, it is spicy, it has nuts, it has the exceptional crunch of almonds.
Wow. This is what you are finishing. The taste of the tahini in it.
Chef Mohamed Behannik. Behannik. His name is Jbeil. Of course, Lebanese people enjoy it. But there can be an example for non-Lebanese people to come and see our culture, culture, colors, generosity, and plates. Before I leave, I want to thank you for your beautiful efforts.
I want to thank you for all these plates. I made them without onion or garlic. I woke up very early. I put on the table the best and tastiest plates. There is passion in each plate.
There is a good job. There is love for food. There is love for food. Welcome. God bless you, you and the team. You enlightened Sydney.
Welcome. Anytime, come to your place. Thank you very much. Good food. Good people. Welcome.
Ok. Good to go. We finished with Jbeil. What do we have now? Where are you going? There is still a lot of roads. We are still in the middle of the day. We don't know where.
I want to taste something new. Where are you going? I am going to the market. Are you ready? Cheese. Cold cuts, sliced.
Pastrami. Some crackling, cheese, and it is toasted on top like Knafeh. I will go back in. I will give you something.
Let's have dessert. Yes, you can bear it. You go from here and I will come from here.
You can bear it. Of course, we will come back to it. They even put very delicious ice cream.
Sweet ice cream. Wow. Their ice cream is very important.
French toast. You are strong boy. Really. I am going to eat. Oh my God, how delicious.
Not only that, we brought with us a thyme Manoucheh. Where did it disappear? Today, we didn't do a Manoucheh challenge or Manoucheh of the day. We agreed to eat Manoucheh every day and every year to support the Lebanese thyme and the Lebanese economy. Today, since I ate and had a very good lunch with my stomach full, David will eat a thyme Manoucheh from me. I am not joking. They also have a bakery, their thyme is light.
The dough is very soft. We took it to the road. How much did it take? I lost my appetite. God, calm down. I am telling David that I am full and I didn't have lunch.
Come on. You will open your mouth again for a thyme Manoucheh. Come on. This is a bonus stop. I was passing by here and I have a meeting appointment.
I did it here. I found out that George Café is a Lebanese restaurant or it is a Lebanese friend. So we sat and ate chicken, butter chicken with potatoes. Actually, it turned out to be very delicious. There is no garlic, no onion, no mushroom.
Super tender chicken. Very nice thick chips or fries. I enjoyed my lunch. Next.
We have this voucher. We have this voucher. Our gift to the world.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. What am I thinking? I am thinking of choosing something like this for your wife. Very nice.
Of course, gold. 18 pieces of gold with a touch. I am thinking that if she saw the video today, how can I leave a surprise for 22 days to go.
But she already knew. She knew, right. She already knew. I am giving you a very nice gift, my life. From the heart. From Adnader.
From the heart. Congratulations. I hope that next time we meet, he will bring you with him to Australia. I hope.
Yes. You will give me the ticket. I remind you that in Sahara, he gave the first prize, the most important one, which helped him reach the target of 100,000 for education in Lebanon.
I bought the ticket but I didn't win. It's ok. We contributed. So he gave the gift to Nell and hopefully, it will be.
You will like it, I hope. A ring will come down and you will tell me to travel more. Hi Anthony, so you're back. I am just preparing the valuation for your gift. It was a pleasure meeting you the other night and I hope you have a great time in Australia this time around. Our shop is located at Westfield, Burwood, in the city of Burwood.
Whoever would like to come and visit us, welcome. We are here 7 days a week. This gold, Anthony, comes from the land of Tedros Nader from Kfar Zayna.
They make it and put it in a bottle of Nader Jewels and they give it to all our customers who come to the shop and buy it. So not only, in all Lebanese pride, you give them Lebanese olive oil and finish the production of Lebanon. Yes. I came from Lebanon and I bring back with me Lebanese olive oil.
It is necessary to clarify that I can't accept that my daughter takes something. So I have the small e for Enya in Aqdo. For your next gift, the place. Nader Jewels Burwood.
That's it. See you soon. Welcome Anthony. You came back to us from Lebanon and thank you. It is an honor for us to have you with us. My name is Anthony Bazouni from Hachet.
My family is originally from Hachet. I was born here and about 4 or 5 years ago I made my first trip to Lebanon. I am a lawyer. Our company has a office in Burwood, New South Wales, in Sydney. There is also an area in Melbourne called Burwood, but in Sydney.
Most of our customers are Arabs, Lebanese, Iraqi or Syrian. We are very happy and we can take care of them. We work with them and we speak Arabic with them. We have about 20 employees.
Most of them speak Arabic so we can take care of them. Most of them were born here but they still follow us and speak their language. They are happy and very proud. I have been a lawyer since 1998. I was born here but Lebanon is in our blood. take care of them.
Sometimes we do extra to take care of them and take care of each other. Because Lebanon is in our hearts, in our hearts, in our blood. 820 0:50:12,000 --> 0:50:05,444 When I have a Lebanese or an Arab customer, I am very happy to When we finish a call, we go have lunch with the barista, the lawyer. We go to Lebanese restaurants. There are restaurants here in Sydney, in the city, that take great care of Lebanese food.
We go and take the Australian to see what our food is like and they enjoy it. They are happy. This is something that encourages us.
When we see others happy, we also enjoy and we become even more proud. We are now in the office in Burwood. There are also many Lebanese here in Burwood and we have a lot of relations with them. This is something that makes us very proud. We are sending containers to Lebanon. I am also under the leadership of Bishop Antoine Charbel Tarabay and I have a company called Marronaut K. Marronaut K helps the
Lebanese community in Australia. I am very happy. I put my hand and I help my community and help the Lebanese. Hand in hand, we keep taking care of each other.
This is important. We keep taking care of each other and we have the ability to take care of the Lebanese community here in Sydney and in Lebanon as well. My name is Brooke and I am from Anfay. My name is Anthony and I am from Sout El Gharb.
My name is Omar and I am from Bab Ar Omar. My name is Adrian and I am from Hachet. My name is Asad Lahoud and I am the President of the Mar Charbel House in Australia in Punishpole. I am a Lebanese Marronite monk. I have been here for almost 9 months in the Mar Charbel House in Punishpole.
I have lived in Lebanon for a long time. What is the importance of the house here? First of all, Mar Charbel. I always say that Mar Charbel is the head of the house here.
The house here gathers almost all the Lebanese. We are here almost, contrary to the CNN's classification, the largest active parish in the world. That is why if you come here you will find that the house is busy, the parish is always active, and always with the blessing of Mar Charbel.
We have not been given any favor here because Mar Charbel is what really brings people together. We are not just workers. We are the people of Mar Charbel and God willing we will be able to do our duties with our parish and with our families. We will bring them to Christ as we did with Mar Charbel. In addition to the parish, we also have a school with about 1,200 students, about 150 between teachers and workers, and we have a nursing home with about 90 beds, or almost two. This nursing home has been here for three years.
The school was established in 1983 and the house here was established in 1972. My name is El Abdelweiss El Farikh. I was born in Dar Jinnin, Akkar.
Then I joined the nuns when I was 12 years old at the Kaslik University, an internal school. In 1980 I left the university and went to study and specialize in the United States. I started in Philadelphia and did a Master's in Public Relations. Lebanese is not open-minded, he knows the languages.
Then the basis of his success is hospitality. He was successful in his relations with the Lebanese and his hospitality and intelligence. He was successful and they are the kings of America and the princes of Latin America. In 2013 I was elected to the office of the Public Relations in Bkirki. There I achieved my dreams. I did a great program because I was
inspired by the idea that Lebanese are a positive value to the society in which they live. This added value cannot continue to be added value unless it is connected with Lebanon. In 2016 I was elected to be the president of Australia.
I accepted the mission and came to Australia. This was my big dream, to return to the house that I contributed to the construction of. The Lebanese community in Australia is the leading community in the world of popularity. In the 60s and 80s, Latin America was the leader in the Lebanese community. The ideas and meetings were held there.
Since the 80s, Australia is the leading community in the world of popularity. Why? Because we live in a close region. This proximity and distance make the Lebanese people always gather.
In churches, in associations, in all things, religious and social celebrations, you find them all together. Half an hour, the farthest one, half an hour, you have the celebrations. They gather the most Lebanese people.
Then you have something, most of them are 80% from the north. The north are known for their generosity and love for the church. They are known for preserving the tradition. Most of them come from the villages. They love the villages and have a strong relationship with the villages.
There are many stories that make the Lebanese community in Australia one of the most important communities in the Lebanese media. Because Australia is my promised community, Australia is generous. In this situation, I visited Australia, I thanked the Lebanese people who are all over the world for their standing by Lebanon, for helping their villages, helping their families and relatives. I thanked them on behalf of all the Lebanese people because without them we wouldn't have been able to survive.
The Lebanese people are the hope of our survival in this country, Lebanon, so that we can continue to bear witness to our faith and our beautiful Lebanese traditions. I said to them in the church, on behalf of every sick person, on behalf of every poor person, on behalf of every family, we want to thank you. I asked them to stand up and we thanked them, we thanked all the Lebanese people in the world because thanks are very important.
The beautiful traditions are very important. It encourages you to give and to give. So they say, thanks are always welcome. So I thanked them and we should always thank them for their standing by Lebanon because without the spread, we would have really been in poverty.
There is still more. And next, from the factory to the branch, to another branch, and more, and good food, and great Knafeh, and amazing sweets. C-Suite in Australia is still growing and growing, and it is still here, me and here. They are still here and me and here. I am joking.
A new branch is opening. We are invited to the opening. Welcome. We are at my favorite sweet place in the world, the Bar Lebanon. We are here in Australia at C-Suite.
Come on through for an exclusive. What are we going to eat first? I do not know. But I can assure you, I am going to jump on that Knafeh in the corner because I have been eye-balling it. The Batliwa chef has over 30 years experience just making Batliwa. Tell me. No, I am serious. Tell me. It is crunchy, low sugar, fresh. Wow.
You feel like you are in Lebanon. Wow. Wow. Now, there is... It is crazy. Tell them it is crazy. It is crazy. 100%. There is a taste.
I do not have the dimples, but dear wow. Knefeh tomorrow 978 1:00:05,000 --> 1:00:02,000 Today there is no Knefeh They are laughing behind me What is he doing here I came to eat I am enjoying the revolution I am going to eat Most importantly, I can't find sugar Very nicely flaky Very good quality Very good quality Genuinely good Wait wait wait Do you remember in the previous episode We went to the kitchen and took the Kaake We put cheese, cucumber and tomato I ate an amazing sandwich with Kaake cheese At that time without sugar and sugar I removed the Kaake with sesame I put cheese, cucumber and tomato I am going to eat I am going to eat I hope no one will follow me I like it Nice to see you You too The first day's Manoucheh Hi I was really busy Welcome to the opening of our 5th store at C-Suite in Australia We are very proud Lebanese of Lebanese background We are fortunate enough to be at one of our major headquarters here opening We opened this store in March just before Ramadan and Easter We were very very busy We thank Anthony for being here gracing us with his presence in Australia We are looking forward to sharing with you the success of C-Suite in Australia with our 5th opening of our store in Greenacre in Sydney, Australia Welcome to our store We are very very fortunate C-Suite is 50 years old this year Since 1973 the Manoucheh family in Lebanon developed the business of C-Suite and we took the concept and took the name rights from the Manoucheh family to open up in 2007 in Australia So it's 15 to 16 years here of C-Suite in Australia and we look forward to many many many prosperous stores in Australia sharing all things that are Lebanese and Middle Eastern and bringing it to the dyspora around the world We have a very very loyal dyspora of people around the world that come to Australia and visitors and tourists that come and I love the authentic taste It's all authentic first principles, proper manufacture proper ingredients we don't compromise on anything and we look forward to sharing that further with everybody Amazing vibes tonight The people here the crowd, the first time I meet them from a trip to the past, the one who thought I still have a long way to go that someone comes back to Australia twice in 6 months a month ago, a month now the one who thought I'm sharing the old videos, the one who I met and filmed and said wow, thank you, we passed by Zaatar from the first day the vibes are really really amazing and I told you I took this with me Imagine the Knafeh bread with goat cheese so delicious the sesame gives it all the difference Welcome to the opening of our fifth store for C-Suite in Australia As you would know, we're very very blessed to have many many people that understand and know our business for many many years for over 15 years and we thank those that are here and those that have contributed to the success of our business for that time I wanted to say only a few words, there's no long speeches there's nothing here, it's more about yourselves and the entertainment that we wish to give you and to thank those that have really contributed to this particular store I want to thank some people that are very dear to us that have done many many things that are very well appreciated I want to thank our staff they're the foremost importance of our business the loyalty that they show to the business is untold working in a business of 365 days a year from 7 in the morning to 11am 11pm every night there's no holidays there's no weekend, there's weekend rosters there's day rosters the ones that work in the factory in the bakery that work tirelessly to supply all of the stores for the families that also put up with the long hours that they need to put during festive seasons when it's either Ramadan or Easter or Christmas or any other festivities through the year New Year, they're working to supply and look after our customers which are the backbone of our business we are an authentic Lebanese Middle Eastern pastry business, we like things authentic, we don't take shortcuts, it's all about the ingredients and it's all about first principles and we thank our suppliers we thank the people that built this store it was built in probably pretty much about 8 weeks to get it ready and we want to thank the many landlords that we've got, I mean John Gibran for the long time that we had next to Gibran just around the road at Mount Lewis without his patience as well then we would be nowhere as well, so I wanted to thank him for his patience and his input into the success of our business applause applause as many would know, I own the Apollo joinery group and a lot of the joinery people that are here, we had to turn this around within a very short period of time and I thank them for doing that but I want to thank you guys for coming out for you for taking the time for the chambers of commerce that support our business, whether it's Australian Lebanese Chamber of Commerce whether it's Canterbury Bankstown Chamber of Commerce we thank you for your support, for your propagation for your acknowledgement and we want to thank those that actually have made this day a success I want to thank my wife Elsie and for Ellie and the team for doing such a magnificent job in getting this business especially for today's event applause applause applause applause I don't want to say too much other than thank you for coming the C-Suite story will continue, we've got a lot of lot in the pipe works we're always discussing future endeavours, interstate as well all I can say is that there's a lot happening in the background and there's many more success stories to come, so we look forward to continuing it would not be possible without our amazing team a special thank you to our loyal and dedicated team of chefs and employees across the factory and stores applause applause applause Without you this would not be possible thank you for your hard work and dedication I want to thank Peter and Elsie for giving me this opportunity if it wasn't for your vision to bring C-Suite to Australia, none of this would be possible I look forward to the future of C-Suite and hope to witness it grow and succeed further shout out to the foreign media, I wouldn't say Anthony, you're not foreign anymore, you're an Aussie so Anthony's been here numerous times and we thank him for his propagation and for the stories, I'm sure people have seen your YouTube videos of our factory behind the scenes and thank you for coming and making this evening today on your most recent visit, so we look forward to many more occasions. 3, 2, 1 We are going to the hotel.
Change of plans. We will make a visit to our friend Jebran who opened a sushi place. He told us that it is delicious. Who is Jebran? Jebran Cuisine, you know him from the last time. We had a very nice lunch with the rugby team.
And... Ayu, Aji Shihek, Japanese cuisine. Anthony, nice to see you again. Anthony, nice to see you again. I am happy to see you in C-suite. You can't come to the restaurant and not have dinner here.
This is a Japanese restaurant, you haven't tried it yet. Tonight, we will have a Japanese whiskey with Jebran. Welcome. We don't only have Japanese dinner.
I discovered that Jebran made whiskey for himself. Made in Tasmania. 48% 2019. I started one after the other.
I will taste them one by one. You know that you should taste the whiskey first. You take a cup, put a bit and smell it.
You will see a very strong smell. If you want an intense alcoholic smell, you put a drop of water and then you smell it and drink it. The water opens it all together. You move the experience from hard liquor to a wine experience. And then you decide if you want it with or without ice. I think that people thought that the best I think that people thought that the best whiskey in Scotland until they discovered Tasmania. I think so.
I think so. It doesn't mean that Scotland is not tasty. It is very important. But Tasmania, this abandoned land, down, down, down, in the land, down, under, hasn't been given its right in whiskey yet. I believe it's going to rock and roll the world. That's good stuff. Jebran is a bottle for the seller.
At Jebran, wow. Bottle. I am going to drink this.
I said I don't want to film the night. But we can't not film the night. I said I don't want to film the night. The sushi in the end, with some fish rice, yes, no, it's not rice and it's not fish.
We are talking about high end fish. We are talking about very amazingly done fish, spices, sauces, decoration, quality of ingredients. The real deal. Japanese flavors, Japanese know-how, Japanese chef.
Cheers. Jebran's king. Quality, quality, quality. Amazing quality.
The fish is unbelievable. Quality. There is no fuss, no rush. Quality. We ate sashimi. Quality. Top notch quality. Overview of the day. A great day. We are going up a level.
We are going up, we are going up. We are diving in the culture of Australia, Lebanese and more. I hope we will expand to Arabic and more.
You are seeing and discovering Australia as you can't imagine it was or is never in your life. First trip, second trip, third trip, and we are still in 4 days. Thanks for watching. If you followed the first 3 days, you are missing a lot.
2023-06-17 07:21
