Beirut Tops Number One Spot in New York Times '44 Places to Go in 2009' List

"From the Aegean Sea to Zambia, this year’s most compelling destinations are awash in sublime landscapes, cutting-edge art, gala music festivals, and stylish new resorts. With a recent (though perhaps tenuous) détente keeping the violence in check, the capital of Lebanon is poised to reclaim its title as the Paris of the Middle East. Two hotels scheduled to open later this year are raising the luxury quotient — the Four Seasons Hotel Beirut and Le Grey, the latter from the people behind One Aldwych in London — and a clutch of high-profile restaurants are transforming the city’s culinary scene.

"Lebanon is poised to reclaim its title as the Paris of the Middle East"

Traditional Lebanese cooking finds its apotheosis at the cozy Al-Ajami restaurant, while the glitterati settles into Hussein Hadid’s Kitchen, run by a nephew of the Zaha Hadid. But nothing symbolizes the city’s gastro-political awakening like Souk el-Tayeb, Beirut’s first farmers’ market. The market, founded in 2004, reconciles Lebanon’s warring factions through their common love of their country’s food."