{"id":23418,"date":"2017-03-17T03:33:31","date_gmt":"2017-03-17T10:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=23418"},"modified":"2017-03-14T14:15:23","modified_gmt":"2017-03-14T21:15:23","slug":"fundraising-with-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2017\/03\/17\/fundraising-with-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Fundraising with food"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israeli business owner and chef Yair Yosefi helped spearhead a fundraiser for Syrian refugees. (photo from Yair Yosefi)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A Tel Aviv restaurateur and bar owner wanted to do something about the dire situation of Syrian refugees, so he turned to what he knows best \u2013 food.<\/p>\n

Yair Yosefi is the owner of Nahalat Binyamin restaurant Brut and bar Extra Brut. Thinking about how he might be able to help, Yosefi connected with his friend Ronit Vered, who is a food journalist. Together, the two created Kitchen Without Borders, which raises awareness of the plight of and funds for Syrian refugees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you see what\u2019s happening on the other side of the border, we have to do something,\u201d Yosefi told the Jewish Independent<\/em>. \u201cWe don\u2019t have enough power. We aren\u2019t politicians. We thought, if we have to do something, we will cook.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Yosefi said he would gladly go to Syria to cook, his Israeli passport doesn\u2019t allow him to do so. \u201cIt was a dream of mine to go to Haleb,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I was living in France, I had friends from there … very interesting cuisine. But, having an Israeli passport, it\u2019s impossible. Syrians can go into Israel, but Israelis can\u2019t go into Syria…. So, we just decided we\u2019d do what we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

They have raised funds by selling Syrian-inspired dishes at their restaurants and by getting other restaurants to join in the fundraising efforts.<\/p>\n

Yosefi started Brut and Extra Brut with partners two-and-a-half years ago, soon after he returned to Israel from Paris, where he had been living and working for 10 years. He is now married and has a four-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n

Of the restaurant, Yosefi said, \u201cI\u2019m co-chefing with my best friend, Omar Ben-Gal. I\u2019ve been cooking for the last 20 years, since I was 20. We were born and raised in Tel Aviv. It\u2019s the heart for Israel, heart of cultural life in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being the father of a young child, Yosefi feels especially concerned with the situation women and children are facing in Syria. With his friends in the restaurant industry, he wanted to help, but the question was how.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery restaurant decided on a dish \u2013 either one inspired by Syrian cuisine or, if that wasn\u2019t possible, like with Thai or French restaurants, they\u2019d choose a signature dish,\u201d said Yosefi. \u201cAll the revenue from this, which ran for a few weeks, went to a foundation called Karam, based in the U.S. and created by ex-Syrians. Karam uses donations to help, especially, kids … education…. It\u2019s very important.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe forget, because of the war, they haven\u2019t gone to school or kindergarten … so they\u2019re helping the women and the kid refugees with basic things like food, tents, clean water, education … everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Restaurants throughout Israel joined in the effort to raise the funds, many in Tel Aviv, as well as some Arab and Palestinian restaurants, from large restaurant chains to small mom-and-pop operations, said Yosefi.<\/p>\n

About how much was raised through the project, which ran Jan. 15-31, Yosefi explained that he and the other organizers decided ahead of time that every restaurant would donate directly to the foundation. \u201cWe trust each other, so we\u2019re not even asking,\u201d he said. \u201cWe decided not to count the money. Everybody gave what they made. I know it was quite an important amount … but, most important, it was an issue that was spoken about in Israel and the money obviously helped them \u2013 the refugees.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the Karam Foundation, we\u2019ve heard two things. First, that it was a nice amount. And, secondly, that it was very heart-warming … [that] people from [across] the border, Israelis, chefs and bakers, gave money.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the Israeli customers enjoying this special cuisine, Yosefi said, \u201cPeople came and were looking for a certain dish from each restaurant devoted to the cause. It was very, very nice actually. It\u2019s very nice when you go out, eat and drink, and you know that the dish means you\u2019re donating money. Patrons are very generous.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Brut, they decided to make a spin-off dish, called Duhul Safadi, the recipe for which they were given by a Palestinian friend from Nazareth, though they called the dish A Night in Halab. Slow (overnight) oven-cooked lamb served on foraged vegetables cooked in yogurt, Yosefi described it as \u201cour take on the Palestinian-Syrian dish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brut chose this particular recipe because the ingredients are locally sourced, something they put an emphasis on with all their food.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead for other ways to help, Yosefi said, \u201cWe\u2019re going to do something, but we don\u2019t know what yet. We want to see the reaction first.\u201d<\/p>\n

In September, Yosefi and his team will be going on the road for a few events in the United States, with stops in Charleston, Nashville and New York. They have been invited to Tokyo this April to do a pop-up booth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d love to bring our cuisine to Vancouver,\u201d said Yosefi. \u201cIt would be fun. We\u2019ll bring our knives and you bring your Canadian whisky. It could be a good match.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebeca Kuropatwa <\/strong>is a Winnipeg freelance writer.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Israeli business owner and chef Yair Yosefi helped spearhead a fundraiser for Syrian refugees. (photo from Yair Yosefi) A Tel Aviv restaurateur and bar owner wanted to do something about the dire situation of Syrian refugees, so he turned to what he knows best \u2013 food. Yair Yosefi is the owner of Nahalat Binyamin restaurant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4329],"tags":[4330,1942,1959,6851],"class_list":["post-23418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-israel","tag-israel","tag-syria","tag-tikkun-olam","tag-yair-yosefi"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}