Hariri Foundation Community Kitchen (Center)

 The Hariri Foundation Community Kitchen is a social and recreational center committed to empowering and engaging locals, particularly women, of Saida in the culinary and touristic sectors through capacity building. 

The community kitchen is located in a historic 3-floor building at the waterfront of Saida’s historic district. The restaurant is special for its hospitable environment and exquisite spaces with a panoramic view overlooking the city’s fishermen port. 

The Hariri Foundation established the kitchen in 2016, in a joint project supported by with the Ministry of Social Affairs and funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy and UNDP. Ever since, and up until the COVID pandemic, the center hosted Tawlet Saida, Souk El Tayeb’s farmers’ kitchen in Saida, specializing in homemade agro-food cooking skills and the marketing of traditional products. 

In 2023, the community kitchen was reopened to host the private business, “Kahwet Saida,” with the sustained objectives yet different specialization. The center strives to enhance the competitiveness of the tourism sector by reviving nearby relevant businesses and heritage sites. The community kitchen relies on the nearby fishery as well as other local food and handicraft markets in its own food production and space furnishing and accessories. 

Through the community kitchen, tens of participants have been staffed and received tailored training and capacity building on traditional food processing, sales and marketing management, branding, pricing, and other relevant topics.