World-famous actor brings to life a restaurant destroyed by the Beirut explosion

One of the most famous restaurants in Lebanon and the Middle East, it emerged from the rubble of the destruction that befell it from the Beirut port explosion, and the dust from the rubble cleared it and came back to life thanks to a sudden donation that came of those who did not visit Lebanon, and had never heard of a restaurant whose original name was Le Chef, and he is the actor and producer. Russell Crowe, whom we have met in 16 famous Hollywood movies and others, including Galdiator, in which he played the role of the wrestler “Maximus” and won five international awards for him, the most important of which is the Oscar.

The restaurant is popular and small, so cheap that it is possible to have lunch or dinner at a price that cannot exceed $ 7. Its owner, Francois Basil, opened it in 1967 in the tourist district “Gemmayzeh”.

It is noteworthy that the famous restaurant among Lebanese at all levels, witnessed over 53 years of many events that have resisted its dangers, but the doors have been legislated, even during the 15 years of civil war.

However, “Le Chef” did not survive the explosion of 2750 tons of “ammonium nitrate” on 4 August last in the port. The explosion destroyed most of it and paralyzed it to the ground, thereby destroying a residential and commercial area 8 kilometers across the Lebanese capital. Therefore, the owners of “Le Chef” and the addicts He was in a fundraising campaign, part of which is narrated by Charbel Bassil, the son of the late founder of the restaurant, in an interview they conducted a week after the explosion, and we see part of it in the featured video.

Basil, who was born two years after the restaurant famous for its “homey” style opened, was hit on the head and legs when the explosion occurred. However, two restaurant employees were taken to the hospital, one of whom is still recovering, while the second returned to service after the restaurant opened this week. Thanks to the campaign, he raised $ 17,800, of which 5,000 came from actor Russell Crowe.

Crowe, who was aware of the restaurant’s plight from two New York-based Lebanese, also participated in the donation drive and learned from what he wrote that his friend, American journalist Anthony Bourdain, known for his investigative tours of restaurants around the world, visited the restaurant in Beirut and dined there, then talked about it and his “ delicious dishes ”. In one of his documentaries about cuisine and gastronomy.

And because the 56-year-old New Zealand actor was affected by what he learned from the Lebanese and their drive to donate, he rushed in and donated to help save the restaurant, which had to reduce the number of its employees. from almost 16 to half, and his donation was in honor of the friend according to what I read “Al Arabiya.net” in His biography, who committed suicide by hanging himself two years ago in a hotel room in which he was a guest near the city from Colmar, in the far northeast of France, leaving no message explaining why he was brought to his final resting place.