This report addresses: MBS and Saudi Arabia's vision of 2030

(Royal Hashemite Court/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Jordan’s King Abdullah Calls for a ‘Middle East NATO’

The monarch previously called for a ‘Sunni crescent’ to oppose the ‘Shiite crescent’ being built by Iran

King Abdullah II of Jordan said he backs the establishment of a West Asia military alliance similar to NATO, and that it can be assembled of like-minded countries.

We're proud of the dozens of young students we've trained in our Press and Policy Student Program who will form the vanguard of the next generation of journalists to the benefit of countless millions of news readers.

The outlet is a full experience of shopping, entertainment, international and local restaurants, and children’s areas in the heart of the Kingdom.

1 to 14, and these will be part of the ‘Enjoy Saudi Arabia,’ one of the initiatives of GEA.

This also determined the Saudi date of Eid ul Adha as June 16 and the Day of Arafah as June 15, during the pilgrimage.

Details of the process and further updates can also be found on the official Ministry of Hajj Twitter and the Nusuk Hajj platform pages.

This report addresses: MBS and Saudi Arabia's vision of 2030

Title:

Content: The Media Line led over twenty years ago in pioneering the American independent news agency in the Middle East, arguably the first in the region. We have always stayed true to our mission: to provide you with contextual sourced and trustworthy news. In an age of fake news masquerading as journalism, The Media Line plays a crucial role in providing fact-based news that deserves your support.

We're proud of the dozens of young students we've trained in our Press and Policy Student Program who will form the vanguard of the next generation of journalists to the benefit of countless millions of news readers.

Look out for exciting new additions as we enter 2022.

We thank our loyal readers and wish you all the happiest of holidays.
The Media Line

Non-profit news needs public support.
Please support us with your generous contributions:
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (C), Jordanian King Abdullah II (L) and and King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (R) meet as part of tripartite summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on June 19, 2022. (Royal Hashemite Court/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Jordan’s King Abdullah Calls for a ‘Middle East NATO’

The monarch previously called for a ‘Sunni crescent’ to oppose the ‘Shiite crescent’ being built by Iran

King Abdullah II of Jordan said he backs the establishment of a West Asia military alliance similar to NATO, and that it can be assembled of like-minded countries.

The kingdom works actively with NATO and sees itself as its partner, having fought shoulder to shoulder with the alliance’s troops for decades.

“I’d like to see more countries in the area come into that mix,” he said. “I would be one of the first people that would endorse a Middle East NATO.”

But Oraib Rantawi, the founder and director-general of the Amman-based Al Quds Center for Political Studies, told The Media Line that the king’s statements are “confusing” and “came as a surprise to Jordanian public opinion.

“Jordanians are in a constant confrontation state of mind regarding Israel against the background of Israel’s policy in the occupied territories and escalation in Jerusalem, in particular the systematic Israeli targeting of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Hashemite custodianship of Al-Aqsa Mosque and repeated Israeli statements that are destroying the two-state solution,” Rantawi said.

He questioned the timing of the “talk of a Middle Eastern alliance,” wondering what has changed for Jordan that it wants to join such a group.

Abdullah, in an interview with CNBC on Friday, said the coalition must have a clear and defined role.

“The mission statement has to be very, very clear. Otherwise, it confuses everybody,” he said.

Rantawi said, “The king in the interview did not reveal any details. The conversation was vague. But just talking about a Middle Eastern NATO, you put things in the context of targeting Iran in an alliance with Israel.”

He added that other Arab governments had made their positions on such a pact clear.

“What is remarkable is that we do not see similar enthusiasm on the part of the Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates, or Arab states like Egypt, which previously announced that it would not be a member of an axis or alliance against a particular country,” said Rantawi.

Washington held a secret meeting of top military officials from Israel and Arab countries to “explore how they could coordinate against Iran’s growing missile and drone capabilities,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing officials from the US and the region.

The talks were held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, bringing Arab and Israeli military officials together for the first time, according to the report.

The Journal added, “The UAE is not aware of any formal discussions relating to any such regional military alliance.”

A new diplomatic and security alliance would be part of reshaping the Middle East as former enemies seek to establish a united front to contain a common foe, Iran, at a time when the perception in the region is that Washington is abandoning them as it shifts it attention to China, while both Beijing and Moscow work to fill the gap left by the US in the region.

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine beginning in February and the subsequent need for new sources of energy to fill the vacuum left by sanctions on Russian oil and gas, the Biden administration is looking eastward toward the Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia to increase their output.

But the Gulf states had been furious with the US over its diminished role in the region, and the fear that Washington may be willing to sign a nuclear deal with Iran that doesn’t take into account their concerns.

Biden is scheduled to visit the region next month, with stops in Israel, the West Bank, and a crucial two-day meeting in Jeddah with Saudi, Gulf, and other Arab leaders as he tries to repair tense ties with Riyadh and bridge the gap between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Some observers say the Middle East is on the cusp of major changes, arguing that with Iran being a common threat to many Arab states and Israel, this may lead to the creation of a new alliance that includes them against their enemy.

Abdullah was the first to openly talk about this alliance. He previously warned publicly against the formation of the so-called Shiite crescent composed of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, suggesting the response should be to form a Sunni crescent.

However, Rantawi said talk about a new alliance that Amman is behind or supports is concerning and confusing to many Jordanians.

Retired Iraqi Maj. Gen. Majid al-Qubaisi told The Media Line that Biden’s expected visit to the region will largely focus on this topic.

“Talks are taking place and it is expected that this alliance will include Gulf states, in addition to Israel, Iraq, Egypt, and Jordan. Its goal is to form a frontline to confront Iran’s interference and expansion in its neighboring regions in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon,” he said.

But establishing this alliance, which is strongly supported by Israel, will not be easy, the general continued.

“This alliance has many obstacles, and the two most important countries to focus on are Iraq and Oman. Oman is a neutral country and it has relations with everyone, and it has no animosity with anyone as it has good relations with Iran and the United States of America,” Qubaisi said.

Although Oman does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, then-Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited the country in 2018.

The Iraqi parliament passed a law last month that makes it a crime to normalize relations with Israel, and violations can be punishable by death or life imprisonment.

“Iraq is well-known for its [difficult] political situation, and it is known that Iran has a great influence in Iraq, and it is one of the pivot countries for Iran. This means that entering such an alliance would face political and security challenges in Iraq,” said Qubaisi.

Such an alliance would “not be homogeneous in the long run,” he said.

There are also countries that have good economic relations with Iran, such as Qatar and the UAE.

“Until now, this issue is still ambiguous, but we are looking forward to Biden’s visit to the region next month until things become clearer,” Qubaisi said.

Israeli defense analyst Amir Oren told The Media Line there’s another roadblock that could prevent the military pact’s creation and hamper cooperative efforts in the region.

“This is not going to happen as long as Israel holds occupied territories and doesn’t have recognized permanent borders on its eastern and northern boundaries,” Oren said.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said his country is building a US-sponsored regional air defense network, the Middle East Air Defense Alliance, which will include some Arab countries.

“That means collaboration in intelligence and information sharing, radar early warning. Perhaps the acquisition of some weapon systems,” said Oren.

Gantz did not name the Arab countries that might join the air defense alliance.

Many observers say its creation will face major resistance.

“Kuwait and Oman are not about to enter into an axis against Iran alongside Israel, and the Kuwaiti position on normalization with Israel is very strong. These countries also have relations with Iran, and their demographics do not allow them to join such an alliance. Qatar shares with Iran the largest joint gas field, and Doha will not risk its good economic relations with Tehran,” said Rantawi.

All this comes amid reports that talks between Europe and Iran on its nuclear program are expected to resume soon, which Rantawi says makes it highly unlikely that Washington will push the creation of a formal regional alliance.

“Is it reasonable for the United States to sponsor and pressure toward a Middle Eastern NATO targeting the country it is negotiating with now over its nuclear program in order to reach an agreement?” he asked.

Rantawi doesn’t think Biden’s visit will yield a breakthrough announcement such as normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

“Saudi Arabia, in my opinion, might take timid, limited, and modest normalization steps, and this is the most that could result from Biden’s visit to Jeddah: opening Saudi airspace to Israeli civil aviation, and perhaps some arrangements for the pilgrimage for the Muslim citizens of Israel,” he said.

Oren explained that for the talked-about Middle East alliance to succeed, all members must be on an equal footing.

“A NATO arrangement preordains a consensus-based decision-making process with each country having a veto over the others. This is not what Israel wants, this is not what the US wants. It’s just a fancy name for a very limited function which will come out of the Biden visit,” Oren said.

Give the Gift of Trusted News!

Dear friends,

The Media Line is always there to report to you the stories and issues of the Middle East – completely and in context: TML is the source you can trust.

Know The Media Line to Know The Middle East!

Please support our ad-free, nonprofit news agency. Our seasoned journalists reporting from the Middle East are working day and night during these challenging, yet defining times; and our student interns are honing their knowledge and skills, preparing to emerge as tomorrow’s journalists.

You rely on us and we’re relying on you! Make your online tax-deductible donation here and contact us regarding donations through appreciated stock, donor advised funds, qualifying IRA distributions and other charitable instruments.

Thank you for confidence in The Media Line.

Felice Friedson
Founder, President

Invest in the
Trusted Mideast
News source.
We are on the
front lines.

Personalize Your News
Upgrade your experience by choosing the categories that matter most to you.
Click on the icon to add the category to your Personalize news
Browse Categories and Topics
Wake up to the Trusted Mideast News source Mideast Daily News Email
By subscribing, you agree to The Media Line terms of use and privacy policy.
Wake up to the Trusted Mideast News source Mideast Daily News Email
By subscribing, you agree to The Media Line terms of use and privacy policy.

Title:

Content: RIYADH — Riyadh will witness the launching of two great festivals -'Outlet' Shopping Festival and ‘Sneak Me’ sneaker culture festival – on Saturday. This was announced by Turki Al-Sheikh, chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA).

The 2-week-long festivals will be held in Al-Rehab neighborhood of Riyadh from Oct. 1 to 14, and these will be part of the ‘Enjoy Saudi Arabia,’ one of the initiatives of GEA.

‘Outlet 2022’ will be the largest Saudi shopping festival that brings together over 1500 international brands on a sprawling open shopping area covering 145,000 square meters. The festival will open its doors to all visitors free of cost daily from 3 pm until 1 am.

The visitors will be able to enjoy exclusive discounts of up to 70 percent from the best brands in the world of fashion, home accessories, electronic products, cosmetics, and much more. The outlet is a full experience of shopping, entertainment, international and local restaurants, and children’s areas in the heart of the Kingdom.

The festival will see showcasing of more than two million pieces, manufactured by about 1500 international brands. The festival galleries are distinctive with its external designs featuring a Greek character.

The festival includes entertainment areas for children and a number of restaurants and cafes specialized in providing a variety of options for visitors from within and outside the Kingdom.

Turki Al-Sheikh also announced the launch of the sneakers festival and its international designs. The ‘Sneak Me’ festival is dedicated to exploring the world of sneakers, its designs, and international graphics, in an event that is the first of its kind in the Kingdom.

The festival aims to celebrate the newfound creativity and optimism of Saudi Arabia through art, fashion, and live music. The festival will feature the biggest sneaker event to ever take place in Saudi Arabia.

The festival will present some of the most celebrated global and regional brands retailing sneakers, apparel, and accessories, a state-of-the-art museum showcasing highly sought-after rare pairs, a basketball court featuring world-class stunt acts and live performances, sneaker care and customization, live graffiti, panel talks, street food market, and a self-care zone.

The festival provides visitors with a number of unique and distinctive designs, in addition to a museum being held for the first time in the Middle East, as well as an auction dedicated to displaying a group of sneakers, rare and exclusive collections, and limited editions, amid a package of musical events and variety of shows.

Sneak Me would showcase 200 rare pieces inside the museum, and multiple areas suitable for different age groups, in addition to a number of stores and brands, in the presence of international designers within a team specialized in implementing various handcrafted designs, and also includes a collection of rare shoes.

The festival includes a distinct area with a unique artistic character and another dedicated to musical performances alternated by regional DJs, and a number of hip-hop groups specialized in performing musical performances on stage.

The area includes a café with a distinctive view, in addition to a sports area that contains a basketball court, and it also hosts discussion sessions about sports and various cultures of sneakers.

The festival opens its doors to all visitors on a daily basis from 4 pm to 12 am, and entry tickets can be booked via the link https://enjoy.sa/ar/events/snake-me/, and VIP and VIP tickets can be booked through the Parky application and website.

© Copyright 2022 The Saudi Gazette. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).

How has Saudi Arabia diversified its economy under Vision 2030?

Title:

Content: New guidance has been issued by the UK Foreign Office for any British nationals going on the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. The annual mass gathering, which must be performed by adult Muslims at least once in their lifetime, will this year take place from June 14 to 19.

Dates were confirmed following the Dhul Hijjah moonsighting last week. This also determined the Saudi date of Eid ul Adha as June 16 and the Day of Arafah as June 15, during the pilgrimage. Those two dates will be a day later for those following UK moonsightings.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office says British nationals who live outside Saudi Arabia must apply to go on the pilgrimage through the official Nusuk Hajj Platform. Details of the process and further updates can also be found on the official Ministry of Hajj Twitter and the Nusuk Hajj platform pages.

READ MORE:

Saudi Arabia has already welcomed more than 1.3 million pilgrims for this year's Hajj but has had to ban hundreds of thousands of others from entering Mecca. The Saudi Press Agency says security forces have turned away 153,998 foreigners who had arrived on tourist visas rather than the required Hajj visas. Another 171,587 individuals who are based in Saudi Arabia but don't live in Mecca have also been removed from the holy city for not having proper Hajj permits.

Entering Mecca without a valid Hajj permit between May 23 and June 21 could result in a hefty fine, deportation and a ban from re-entering Saudi Arabia, the FCDO said. But you can apply for an e-visa or electronic visa waiver to perform Umrah, a similar pilgrimage that can be undertaken at any other time of year outside the Hajj season.

Entry to Hajj 2024 is now closed and people are urged to beware of offers from anyone claiming they can secure further places for travellers from the UK, as these won't be valid and could be a scam. UK-based organised crime groups are known for targeting people planning Hajj or Umrah trips.

To avoid scams, only book a Hajj place on the Nusuk Hajj platform, check the Saudi Ministry of Hajj information for the procedures you must follow, and make sure your travel agent or operator is ATOL-protected when booking Umrah. Research the travel company before you book, even if family or friends recommended it, and be wary of offers that seem too good to be true as criminals may advertise fraudulent deals through licensed travel companies.

When paying for your Hajj or Umrah visit, use a credit card, keep a record of any transactions, get everything confirmed in writing, and ask for written terms and conditions. If you have been a victim of Hajj fraud in the UK, contact your local police, the City of London Police Fraud Desk, or Action Fraud.

To attend the pilgrimage, you'll also need a valid certificate of vaccination against the ACWY strains of meningitis 10 days before arriving. For more information on health risks and vaccination requirements, read the TravelHealthPro Hajj and Umrah guide.

The FCDO asks people to check the rules on bringing medication into Saudi Arabia and make sure they have enough to last the entire trip and cover any possible delays in flying back. It warns that contagious diseases spread quickly during Hajj because of the huge numbers of people who take part. Flu, colds and respiratory problems are common.

In addition, you should prepare for extreme heat. Temperatures in summer can exceed 50C so drink plenty of water and don't stay out in the direct sun for too long.

The FCDO adds that the Hajj visa is for a set length of time and can't be extended. Check your visa expiry date to make sure you know when you must leave Saudi Arabia. If you overstay, you may incur large fines and/or be detained and deported or banned from returning to Saudi Arabia in the future. Stay with your tour guide and group throughout the pilgrimage to make sure you receive your Hajj package entitlement.

Pilgrims should keep their passports and travel documentation safe during Hajj. Take photocopies and keep one copy with you while leaving the other with friends or family. If you lose your passport during the Hajj, you will need to apply for an Emergency Travel Document (ETD) to return to the UK, which costs £100. See Apply for an Emergency Travel Document for more information.

The FCDO is also advising against all travel to within 10km of the Saudi Arabia border with Yemen, and all but essential travel to areas between 10km and 80km from the border with Yemen. Additionally, it advises against all but essential travel to Abha International Airport in Asir province.


This report addresses: MBS and Saudi Arabia's vision of 2030

(Royal Hashemite Court/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Jordan’s King Abdullah Calls for a ‘Middle East NATO’

The monarch previously called for a ‘Sunni crescent’ to oppose the ‘Shiite crescent’ being built by Iran

King Abdullah II of Jordan said he backs the establishment of a West Asia military alliance similar to NATO, and that it can be assembled of like-minded countries.

We're proud of the dozens of young students we've trained in our Press and Policy Student Program who will form the vanguard of the next generation of journalists to the benefit of countless millions of news readers.

The outlet is a full experience of shopping, entertainment, international and local restaurants, and children’s areas in the heart of the Kingdom.

1 to 14, and these will be part of the ‘Enjoy Saudi Arabia,’ one of the initiatives of GEA.

This also determined the Saudi date of Eid ul Adha as June 16 and the Day of Arafah as June 15, during the pilgrimage.

Details of the process and further updates can also be found on the official Ministry of Hajj Twitter and the Nusuk Hajj platform pages.

This report addresses: MBS and Saudi Arabia's vision of 2030

Title:

Content: The Media Line led over twenty years ago in pioneering the American independent news agency in the Middle East, arguably the first in the region. We have always stayed true to our mission: to provide you with contextual sourced and trustworthy news. In an age of fake news masquerading as journalism, The Media Line plays a crucial role in providing fact-based news that deserves your support.

We're proud of the dozens of young students we've trained in our Press and Policy Student Program who will form the vanguard of the next generation of journalists to the benefit of countless millions of news readers.

Look out for exciting new additions as we enter 2022.

We thank our loyal readers and wish you all the happiest of holidays.
The Media Line

Non-profit news needs public support.
Please support us with your generous contributions:
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (C), Jordanian King Abdullah II (L) and and King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (R) meet as part of tripartite summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on June 19, 2022. (Royal Hashemite Court/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Jordan’s King Abdullah Calls for a ‘Middle East NATO’

The monarch previously called for a ‘Sunni crescent’ to oppose the ‘Shiite crescent’ being built by Iran

King Abdullah II of Jordan said he backs the establishment of a West Asia military alliance similar to NATO, and that it can be assembled of like-minded countries.

The kingdom works actively with NATO and sees itself as its partner, having fought shoulder to shoulder with the alliance’s troops for decades.

“I’d like to see more countries in the area come into that mix,” he said. “I would be one of the first people that would endorse a Middle East NATO.”

But Oraib Rantawi, the founder and director-general of the Amman-based Al Quds Center for Political Studies, told The Media Line that the king’s statements are “confusing” and “came as a surprise to Jordanian public opinion.

“Jordanians are in a constant confrontation state of mind regarding Israel against the background of Israel’s policy in the occupied territories and escalation in Jerusalem, in particular the systematic Israeli targeting of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Hashemite custodianship of Al-Aqsa Mosque and repeated Israeli statements that are destroying the two-state solution,” Rantawi said.

He questioned the timing of the “talk of a Middle Eastern alliance,” wondering what has changed for Jordan that it wants to join such a group.

Abdullah, in an interview with CNBC on Friday, said the coalition must have a clear and defined role.

“The mission statement has to be very, very clear. Otherwise, it confuses everybody,” he said.

Rantawi said, “The king in the interview did not reveal any details. The conversation was vague. But just talking about a Middle Eastern NATO, you put things in the context of targeting Iran in an alliance with Israel.”

He added that other Arab governments had made their positions on such a pact clear.

“What is remarkable is that we do not see similar enthusiasm on the part of the Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates, or Arab states like Egypt, which previously announced that it would not be a member of an axis or alliance against a particular country,” said Rantawi.

Washington held a secret meeting of top military officials from Israel and Arab countries to “explore how they could coordinate against Iran’s growing missile and drone capabilities,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing officials from the US and the region.

The talks were held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, bringing Arab and Israeli military officials together for the first time, according to the report.

The Journal added, “The UAE is not aware of any formal discussions relating to any such regional military alliance.”

A new diplomatic and security alliance would be part of reshaping the Middle East as former enemies seek to establish a united front to contain a common foe, Iran, at a time when the perception in the region is that Washington is abandoning them as it shifts it attention to China, while both Beijing and Moscow work to fill the gap left by the US in the region.

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine beginning in February and the subsequent need for new sources of energy to fill the vacuum left by sanctions on Russian oil and gas, the Biden administration is looking eastward toward the Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia to increase their output.

But the Gulf states had been furious with the US over its diminished role in the region, and the fear that Washington may be willing to sign a nuclear deal with Iran that doesn’t take into account their concerns.

Biden is scheduled to visit the region next month, with stops in Israel, the West Bank, and a crucial two-day meeting in Jeddah with Saudi, Gulf, and other Arab leaders as he tries to repair tense ties with Riyadh and bridge the gap between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Some observers say the Middle East is on the cusp of major changes, arguing that with Iran being a common threat to many Arab states and Israel, this may lead to the creation of a new alliance that includes them against their enemy.

Abdullah was the first to openly talk about this alliance. He previously warned publicly against the formation of the so-called Shiite crescent composed of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, suggesting the response should be to form a Sunni crescent.

However, Rantawi said talk about a new alliance that Amman is behind or supports is concerning and confusing to many Jordanians.

Retired Iraqi Maj. Gen. Majid al-Qubaisi told The Media Line that Biden’s expected visit to the region will largely focus on this topic.

“Talks are taking place and it is expected that this alliance will include Gulf states, in addition to Israel, Iraq, Egypt, and Jordan. Its goal is to form a frontline to confront Iran’s interference and expansion in its neighboring regions in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon,” he said.

But establishing this alliance, which is strongly supported by Israel, will not be easy, the general continued.

“This alliance has many obstacles, and the two most important countries to focus on are Iraq and Oman. Oman is a neutral country and it has relations with everyone, and it has no animosity with anyone as it has good relations with Iran and the United States of America,” Qubaisi said.

Although Oman does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, then-Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited the country in 2018.

The Iraqi parliament passed a law last month that makes it a crime to normalize relations with Israel, and violations can be punishable by death or life imprisonment.

“Iraq is well-known for its [difficult] political situation, and it is known that Iran has a great influence in Iraq, and it is one of the pivot countries for Iran. This means that entering such an alliance would face political and security challenges in Iraq,” said Qubaisi.

Such an alliance would “not be homogeneous in the long run,” he said.

There are also countries that have good economic relations with Iran, such as Qatar and the UAE.

“Until now, this issue is still ambiguous, but we are looking forward to Biden’s visit to the region next month until things become clearer,” Qubaisi said.

Israeli defense analyst Amir Oren told The Media Line there’s another roadblock that could prevent the military pact’s creation and hamper cooperative efforts in the region.

“This is not going to happen as long as Israel holds occupied territories and doesn’t have recognized permanent borders on its eastern and northern boundaries,” Oren said.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said his country is building a US-sponsored regional air defense network, the Middle East Air Defense Alliance, which will include some Arab countries.

“That means collaboration in intelligence and information sharing, radar early warning. Perhaps the acquisition of some weapon systems,” said Oren.

Gantz did not name the Arab countries that might join the air defense alliance.

Many observers say its creation will face major resistance.

“Kuwait and Oman are not about to enter into an axis against Iran alongside Israel, and the Kuwaiti position on normalization with Israel is very strong. These countries also have relations with Iran, and their demographics do not allow them to join such an alliance. Qatar shares with Iran the largest joint gas field, and Doha will not risk its good economic relations with Tehran,” said Rantawi.

All this comes amid reports that talks between Europe and Iran on its nuclear program are expected to resume soon, which Rantawi says makes it highly unlikely that Washington will push the creation of a formal regional alliance.

“Is it reasonable for the United States to sponsor and pressure toward a Middle Eastern NATO targeting the country it is negotiating with now over its nuclear program in order to reach an agreement?” he asked.

Rantawi doesn’t think Biden’s visit will yield a breakthrough announcement such as normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

“Saudi Arabia, in my opinion, might take timid, limited, and modest normalization steps, and this is the most that could result from Biden’s visit to Jeddah: opening Saudi airspace to Israeli civil aviation, and perhaps some arrangements for the pilgrimage for the Muslim citizens of Israel,” he said.

Oren explained that for the talked-about Middle East alliance to succeed, all members must be on an equal footing.

“A NATO arrangement preordains a consensus-based decision-making process with each country having a veto over the others. This is not what Israel wants, this is not what the US wants. It’s just a fancy name for a very limited function which will come out of the Biden visit,” Oren said.

Give the Gift of Trusted News!

Dear friends,

The Media Line is always there to report to you the stories and issues of the Middle East – completely and in context: TML is the source you can trust.

Know The Media Line to Know The Middle East!

Please support our ad-free, nonprofit news agency. Our seasoned journalists reporting from the Middle East are working day and night during these challenging, yet defining times; and our student interns are honing their knowledge and skills, preparing to emerge as tomorrow’s journalists.

You rely on us and we’re relying on you! Make your online tax-deductible donation here and contact us regarding donations through appreciated stock, donor advised funds, qualifying IRA distributions and other charitable instruments.

Thank you for confidence in The Media Line.

Felice Friedson
Founder, President

Invest in the
Trusted Mideast
News source.
We are on the
front lines.

Personalize Your News
Upgrade your experience by choosing the categories that matter most to you.
Click on the icon to add the category to your Personalize news
Browse Categories and Topics
Wake up to the Trusted Mideast News source Mideast Daily News Email
By subscribing, you agree to The Media Line terms of use and privacy policy.
Wake up to the Trusted Mideast News source Mideast Daily News Email
By subscribing, you agree to The Media Line terms of use and privacy policy.

Title:

Content: RIYADH — Riyadh will witness the launching of two great festivals -'Outlet' Shopping Festival and ‘Sneak Me’ sneaker culture festival – on Saturday. This was announced by Turki Al-Sheikh, chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA).

The 2-week-long festivals will be held in Al-Rehab neighborhood of Riyadh from Oct. 1 to 14, and these will be part of the ‘Enjoy Saudi Arabia,’ one of the initiatives of GEA.

‘Outlet 2022’ will be the largest Saudi shopping festival that brings together over 1500 international brands on a sprawling open shopping area covering 145,000 square meters. The festival will open its doors to all visitors free of cost daily from 3 pm until 1 am.

The visitors will be able to enjoy exclusive discounts of up to 70 percent from the best brands in the world of fashion, home accessories, electronic products, cosmetics, and much more. The outlet is a full experience of shopping, entertainment, international and local restaurants, and children’s areas in the heart of the Kingdom.

The festival will see showcasing of more than two million pieces, manufactured by about 1500 international brands. The festival galleries are distinctive with its external designs featuring a Greek character.

The festival includes entertainment areas for children and a number of restaurants and cafes specialized in providing a variety of options for visitors from within and outside the Kingdom.

Turki Al-Sheikh also announced the launch of the sneakers festival and its international designs. The ‘Sneak Me’ festival is dedicated to exploring the world of sneakers, its designs, and international graphics, in an event that is the first of its kind in the Kingdom.

The festival aims to celebrate the newfound creativity and optimism of Saudi Arabia through art, fashion, and live music. The festival will feature the biggest sneaker event to ever take place in Saudi Arabia.

The festival will present some of the most celebrated global and regional brands retailing sneakers, apparel, and accessories, a state-of-the-art museum showcasing highly sought-after rare pairs, a basketball court featuring world-class stunt acts and live performances, sneaker care and customization, live graffiti, panel talks, street food market, and a self-care zone.

The festival provides visitors with a number of unique and distinctive designs, in addition to a museum being held for the first time in the Middle East, as well as an auction dedicated to displaying a group of sneakers, rare and exclusive collections, and limited editions, amid a package of musical events and variety of shows.

Sneak Me would showcase 200 rare pieces inside the museum, and multiple areas suitable for different age groups, in addition to a number of stores and brands, in the presence of international designers within a team specialized in implementing various handcrafted designs, and also includes a collection of rare shoes.

The festival includes a distinct area with a unique artistic character and another dedicated to musical performances alternated by regional DJs, and a number of hip-hop groups specialized in performing musical performances on stage.

The area includes a café with a distinctive view, in addition to a sports area that contains a basketball court, and it also hosts discussion sessions about sports and various cultures of sneakers.

The festival opens its doors to all visitors on a daily basis from 4 pm to 12 am, and entry tickets can be booked via the link https://enjoy.sa/ar/events/snake-me/, and VIP and VIP tickets can be booked through the Parky application and website.

© Copyright 2022 The Saudi Gazette. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).

How has Saudi Arabia diversified its economy under Vision 2030?

How has Saudi Arabia diversified its economy under Vision 2030?

Title:

Content: New guidance has been issued by the UK Foreign Office for any British nationals going on the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. The annual mass gathering, which must be performed by adult Muslims at least once in their lifetime, will this year take place from June 14 to 19.

Dates were confirmed following the Dhul Hijjah moonsighting last week. This also determined the Saudi date of Eid ul Adha as June 16 and the Day of Arafah as June 15, during the pilgrimage. Those two dates will be a day later for those following UK moonsightings.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office says British nationals who live outside Saudi Arabia must apply to go on the pilgrimage through the official Nusuk Hajj Platform. Details of the process and further updates can also be found on the official Ministry of Hajj Twitter and the Nusuk Hajj platform pages.

READ MORE:

Saudi Arabia has already welcomed more than 1.3 million pilgrims for this year's Hajj but has had to ban hundreds of thousands of others from entering Mecca. The Saudi Press Agency says security forces have turned away 153,998 foreigners who had arrived on tourist visas rather than the required Hajj visas. Another 171,587 individuals who are based in Saudi Arabia but don't live in Mecca have also been removed from the holy city for not having proper Hajj permits.

Entering Mecca without a valid Hajj permit between May 23 and June 21 could result in a hefty fine, deportation and a ban from re-entering Saudi Arabia, the FCDO said. But you can apply for an e-visa or electronic visa waiver to perform Umrah, a similar pilgrimage that can be undertaken at any other time of year outside the Hajj season.

Entry to Hajj 2024 is now closed and people are urged to beware of offers from anyone claiming they can secure further places for travellers from the UK, as these won't be valid and could be a scam. UK-based organised crime groups are known for targeting people planning Hajj or Umrah trips.

To avoid scams, only book a Hajj place on the Nusuk Hajj platform, check the Saudi Ministry of Hajj information for the procedures you must follow, and make sure your travel agent or operator is ATOL-protected when booking Umrah. Research the travel company before you book, even if family or friends recommended it, and be wary of offers that seem too good to be true as criminals may advertise fraudulent deals through licensed travel companies.

When paying for your Hajj or Umrah visit, use a credit card, keep a record of any transactions, get everything confirmed in writing, and ask for written terms and conditions. If you have been a victim of Hajj fraud in the UK, contact your local police, the City of London Police Fraud Desk, or Action Fraud.

To attend the pilgrimage, you'll also need a valid certificate of vaccination against the ACWY strains of meningitis 10 days before arriving. For more information on health risks and vaccination requirements, read the TravelHealthPro Hajj and Umrah guide.

The FCDO asks people to check the rules on bringing medication into Saudi Arabia and make sure they have enough to last the entire trip and cover any possible delays in flying back. It warns that contagious diseases spread quickly during Hajj because of the huge numbers of people who take part. Flu, colds and respiratory problems are common.

In addition, you should prepare for extreme heat. Temperatures in summer can exceed 50C so drink plenty of water and don't stay out in the direct sun for too long.

The FCDO adds that the Hajj visa is for a set length of time and can't be extended. Check your visa expiry date to make sure you know when you must leave Saudi Arabia. If you overstay, you may incur large fines and/or be detained and deported or banned from returning to Saudi Arabia in the future. Stay with your tour guide and group throughout the pilgrimage to make sure you receive your Hajj package entitlement.

Pilgrims should keep their passports and travel documentation safe during Hajj. Take photocopies and keep one copy with you while leaving the other with friends or family. If you lose your passport during the Hajj, you will need to apply for an Emergency Travel Document (ETD) to return to the UK, which costs £100. See Apply for an Emergency Travel Document for more information.

The FCDO is also advising against all travel to within 10km of the Saudi Arabia border with Yemen, and all but essential travel to areas between 10km and 80km from the border with Yemen. Additionally, it advises against all but essential travel to Abha International Airport in Asir province.


This report addresses: Slow Food Movement

I write reviews for the simple reasons of making sure the consumer knows what to expect when walking into an establishment, and also to make the owners or managers know how their restaurant is being run and if there is any way they can improve it.

I myself have run many restaurants as a manager and a GM and know the first thing you do not do with any less than stellar reviews is to attack the people who are giving their honest opinion of their experience.

“It was the same as back home, but we tried our best to make it feel like home.”

As the pair remember and reminisce about their love for all things South Africa, a recent study conducted by local retail giant Game revealed the top South African food items, snacks and beverages.

“We have a South African coffee shop in Jacksonville, Florida called Round Bird Coffee, and I stopped by to enjoy a sausage roll and a milk tart latte and also picked up some biltong,” she told The Saturday Star this week.

In the center goes the star of the show, doro wat, the mahogany chicken stew that this paper’s late restaurant critic Jonathan Gold described as “complex as a Oaxacan mole, rich as butter, whose flavor seems to cut right to the Ethiopian soul.” Agonafer’s particular version of doro wat, he wrote in 2004, was “as sticky and dense as any French chef’s demiglace, so formidably solid that the chicken … becomes just another ingredient in the sauce.”

Sitting in the quiet of Agonafer’s empty dining room earlier this week with an array of her many stews before me, I tear a piece of injera that has been folded like a napkin on a side plate and go straight for the doro wat.

Jonathan started the award in 2017 “with the idea,” as he wrote in announcing the first award for Wolfgang Puck, “of honoring culinary excellence and expanding the notion of what Southern California cooking might be.”

Advertisement

Yet even beyond her food, Agonafer embodies the spirit of resilience and adaptability that ch

This report addresses: Slow Food Movement

Title:

Content: Lombard, IL

This establishment's friends have been harassing me over this review

Chicago Food King

EDIT: Review Update!!

I want to add before you read this review of Babcock Restaurant in Lombard. That after posting this review I have been harassed by the friends of either the employees of Babcock Restaurant or acquaintances of the owners.

I have been receiving a steady stream of attacks from tame to downright obnoxious on my Instagram account.

I write reviews for the simple reasons of making sure the consumer knows what to expect when walking into an establishment, and also to make the owners or managers know how their restaurant is being run and if there is any way they can improve it.

I myself have run many restaurants as a manager and a GM and know the first thing you do not do with any less than stellar reviews is to attack the people who are giving their honest opinion of their experience.

I also looked at many Yelp reviews of this restaurant and any negative feedback is met by the owner viciously attacking the reviewers which is very immature.

I also want to add that all the people who are attacking my Instagram over this review were easily found commenting as friends of the employees and owners on Babcock's Facebook page.

The funny thing is my review of this establishment was not even bad. I just stated the food was average.

I will not be harassed and if need be I will take legal action. so let's STOP! and Let's all grow up.

-

-

-

The restaurant that I recently visited was on my short list of places that I definitely needed to check out.

I had heard nothing but good reviews of this place and Yelp has them at 4 1/2 stars with close to 450 reviews.

The name of the restaurant is Babcock‘s Grove House in Lombard.

I was in the downtown Lombard area during the week. The weather was warm in the mid-80s, but it was still humid.

The restaurant has a unique setup visually from the outside. The restaurant is on the corner with concrete steps leading out to a sidewalk-style patio. There are a few tables actually on the concrete steps also.

I walked in with my wife and the door was propped open, attempting to let airflow from the outside cool the inside of the restaurant.

This did not really cool off the restaurant. In fact, the inside was humid and very warm with not a lot of airflow.

The restaurant looks to be like an old-school turn-of-the-century ice cream parlor. The owners turned it into a small eatery fitting in a couple of tables inside.

The restaurant had a steady flow of customers, many eating outdoors. The restaurant also only had two workers working both the cash register and bringing food out to customers, both indoors and outdoors.

I was asked by the one worker at the counter if I had been here during lunchtime before. I told him that this was my first time here. He then told me that during lunchtime that I order at the counter and they will bring my food out to whatever table that I chose to sit at.

I decided to eat indoors even though it was muggy and very hot. The outside tables seemed to be very unstable sitting on the concrete steps. I did not want to have any type of incident with them falling with my food.

I looked over the menu and it seemed to be pretty much American fare, such as chicken sandwiches, hamburgers, soups, and salads.

I looked at Yelp to see what everyone was raving about and the most commented on was their buffalo chicken sandwich on a potato bun.

My wife ended up going with their chicken sandwich. There was the option to have a substitution of honey butter, but I was told they were all out of honey butter.

I also put an order for their cheese curds as an appetizer.

I ordered cokes for our drinks and went back to our table.

Looking around the restaurant the two workers seemed pretty overwhelmed and at the same time looked confused and delirious. They did not seem to really rush to go faster to take care of customers.

I, of course, assumed this was because they were tired, as I would be also running in and out of the restaurant to serve people outdoors.

The appetizer came out and was dropped on our table with nothing more said. I noticed we had no silverware until I realized there was a table in front of the restaurant with a big bucket of silverware that we had to grab for ourselves cafeteria style.

I again want to reiterate that this was never told to us that we need to grab our own silverware. It kind of was just playing it by ear at this point.

I tried the cheese curds. They came with an unusual dipping sauce that was honey mustard. I thought they had an okay flavor, but were a little salty.

I also was able to enjoy a nice show while I was sitting there with my wife. A couple was sitting at the bar area and the guy was belittling and screaming at his girlfriend with every other word being an obscenity.

All of this being heard throughout the whole restaurant because the restaurant is not that large.

The workers and the customers paid no mind to this man at the bar. I had just hoped that he would leave soon because it made the situation very uncomfortable to sit there and listen to this.

I was happy to see that eventually once our food arrived the abusive man with his girlfriend ended up leaving.

I want to make one point here that their motto is everything here is made from scratch and that there are no freezers used on the premises, except for ice cream. I could not imagine that this food was cooked fresh to order with how fast it came out. It was literally under 10 minutes. I am not aware of any chicken that can be fried and cooked to temperature in under 10 minutes.

I tried my buffalo chicken sandwich on the potato bun with coleslaw. The flavor was not good. The buffalo sauce was extremely tangy and not in a savory good way. The chicken was very stringy and did not taste super fresh.

The fries that came with the order did taste good and I could tell that they were hand cut.

My wife’s chicken sandwich was very bland. My wife asked for the spicy aioli sauce on the side. Luckily, she decided to do that because it had an extremely overpowering flavor that would’ve ruined the sandwich.

The sandwich on its own was dry and only had pickles as a condiment.

I do not know why this restaurant gets such a high rating. I assume maybe the dinner menu might be better than the lunch menu.

I also would assume possibly that they have more of a wait staff during the dinner rush because two people is definitely not enough to properly run a restaurant.

I cannot say that I will be returning to Babcock‘s Grove House.

I give Babcock's Grove house a rating of 5 out of 10. I do not see it being worth a second visit.

© Frank S ChicagoFoodKing, 2022. All Rights Reserved.

Published by

Food Blogger, Food Photographer, Restaurant Reviewer. Follow Me on Instagram under ChicagoFoodKing. Also, Check out and follow my BRAND NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL Link in bio

Wood Dale, IL
5721 followers

More from Chicago Food King

Title:

Content: Johannesburg to Jacksonville – Embracing the South African heritage thousands of kilometres away

By Karishma Dipa 22m ago

Share this article:

From Johannesburg to Jacksonville, Natasha Prince-Swatek has not forgotten her South African roots this Heritage Day.

The 32-year-old who relocated with her husband to Florida in the US might be over 13 000 kilometres from home, but she commemorated the South African public holiday fittingly.

“We have a South African coffee shop in Jacksonville, Florida called Round Bird Coffee, and I stopped by to enjoy a sausage roll and a milk tart latte and also picked up some biltong,” she told The Saturday Star this week.

Fellow South African Preshanti Moodley, who recently moved to New York City, also spent Heritage Day with her fellow countrymen in the Big Apple, enjoying a local tradition.

“A few of my friends from SA and I celebrated by having a braai,” she said.

“It was the same as back home, but we tried our best to make it feel like home.”

As the pair remember and reminisce about their love for all things South Africa, a recent study conducted by local retail giant Game revealed the top South African food items, snacks and beverages.

Those that ranked in the top five were Biltong, Koo Baked Beans, Ultra Mel Custard, Amarula Cream Liqueur and Nik Naks.

Rounding off the top 10 was Castle Lager Beer, Lay’s Potato Chips, Peppermint Crisp, Fritos and Flings.

The taste buds of the South African women abroad also long for these and other local flavours.

For Prince-Swatek, she longs to enjoy Simba’s Mexican Chilli flavour chips, Cream Soda and Chicken Licken, while Moodley misses the taste of spicy Biltong, Cadbury Astros, peppermint tart and Amarula.

While she also craves the taste of the South African Indian cuisines she grew up eating, she also can’t wait to sink her teeth into other local favourites.

“I also miss restaurants like Nando’s, Ocean Basket and Spur.”

While the Game study also found that enjoying a meal together was one of their favourite South African pastimes, Moodley agreed.

“I feel like South Africa has a stronger family orientated lifestyle compared to the US, and that no other country in the world can make food like SA,” the Johannesburg-born youngster insisted.

“Our food is seasoned well and rich in flavour.”

Meanwhile, Prince-Swatek also reminisces about celebrating Heritage Day, the proudly South African way.

“My favourite Heritage Day memory is definitely enjoying a braai or potjie with friends and family and a few cold Savannahs.”

Her love for South Africa and its flavours have even been extended to her American husband Parker, despite their cultural differences.

“My husband loves South African food, mostly because of how much flavour it has, and his favourites are Gatsbys and Boerewors rolls.

“Sometimes he is also confused by the name we give our food compared to here in the USA, for example in the US a pie is usually a sweet dish (what we would consider a tart in South Africa), so the first time I said we were going to get pies for lunch he was under the impression we were going to eat something completely different.”

Moodley has also shared her love for all things South Africans with her US friends and was thrilled when she found a local store in New York.

“When I spent a year in San Francisco, California, there was nothing close to home including snacks and foods, but when I came to spend my next year in New York, I met so many South Africans living abroad, and they told me about this wonderful place called New York Biltong.

“I take all my friends there, and everyone loves it, even Americans! It gave me so much joy to find that beautiful store that sells many South African snacks and food.”

Prince-Swatek and Moodley might be thousands of kilometres away from their country of birth, but this Heritage Day, they remembered its sentiment and significance, even while on completely different continents.

“When you are living in a foreign country, your place of birth literally becomes your identity, and in South Africa, we are such a mixture of cultures and races, and we grow up with diversity being the norm and with diversity being celebrated,” Prince-Swatek believes.

“Being South African, to me, means acknowledging, appreciating and accepting that while we all may look and think differently, that we are all human beings and that we can all get along.”

Moodley agreed and added: “South Africa has so much culture and diversity, and celebrating a country with so much wonderful history, makes me proud to be South African.”

The Saturday Star

Share this article:

What are the supporters of slow food movement advocating?

Title:

Content: Advertisement
Share

Our 2022 Gold Award winner is Meals by Genet

How chef Genet Agonafer helped make Ethiopian cuisine one of the central pieces in the mosaic of Los Angeles culinary culture

Injera, cool to the touch, silkier than a tortilla and exploding with hundreds of fermentation bubbles on its spongier side, seems designed by a higher power to absorb the lush, spicy stews created by Genet Agonafer at her Little Ethiopia bistro, Meals by Genet. It is the plate, the fork and the spoon of Ethiopian cuisine.

Agonafer drapes a large swath of injera over a serving tray on a recent afternoon at her Fairfax Avenue restaurant and spoons more than a dozen stews, sautes and salads around the perimeter — a color wheel of red and green lentils, yellow and orange split peas, collard greens, carrots, beets, sauteed beef tibs and tofu tibs, and a good amount of crisp, green Ethiopian salad.

In the center goes the star of the show, doro wat, the mahogany chicken stew that this paper’s late restaurant critic Jonathan Gold described as “complex as a Oaxacan mole, rich as butter, whose flavor seems to cut right to the Ethiopian soul.” Agonafer’s particular version of doro wat, he wrote in 2004, was “as sticky and dense as any French chef’s demiglace, so formidably solid that the chicken … becomes just another ingredient in the sauce.”

Sitting in the quiet of Agonafer’s empty dining room earlier this week with an array of her many stews before me, I tear a piece of injera that has been folded like a napkin on a side plate and go straight for the doro wat. Memories of happy meals eaten in this room with Jonathan during the course of our marriage come flooding back. Meals by Genet was always a place to gather friends around a shared feast, trading gossip and laughs and intense debates over politics or movies between bites of Agonafer’s cooking, served in the always-bustling bistro that for years drew hungry eaters to Los Angeles’ Little Ethiopia.

The quality and ambition of the food at Meals by Genet, which helped make the berbere-centered flavors of Ethiopian cooking one of the important pieces of the mosaic that defines Los Angeles cuisine, led me to choose Agonafer as this year’s Gold Award honoree. Jonathan started the award in 2017 “with the idea,” as he wrote in announcing the first award for Wolfgang Puck, “of honoring culinary excellence and expanding the notion of what Southern California cooking might be.”

Advertisement

Yet even beyond her food, Agonafer embodies the spirit of resilience and adaptability that chefs and restaurateurs have had to master in the years since Jonathan’s death in July 2018. With the onset of the pandemic and the closures that followed in March 2020, Agonafer, like countless others, was forced to turn to takeout. The communal, hands-across-the-table nature of Meals by Genet made it impossible to continue.

But when in-person dining returned, Agonafer reevaluated her life and decided to make a change at the restaurant she has run since 2001. She’d keep the takeout operation for dinner only Thursdays through Sundays, and accept catering work. With the exception of the occasional private dinner at the restaurant, you can no longer share a feast with friends inside the Meals by Genet dining room.

Critic Bill Addison explains why Justin Pichetrungsi’s Anajak Thai became one of the most-opening meals to have in Los Angeles.

Unlike so many in the industry who examined the cost of the long hours and stress required of restaurant work and left their jobs or closed their businesses, Agonafer didn’t want to shut down her entire operation. Yet she knew she couldn’t continue as before. Many don’t realize that Meals by Genet means meals made by Genet, alone in the kitchen. Although she has a prep cook, Oscar Canales, who has been with her for four years, there would be no Meals by Genet without Genet.

That’s a lot of stress to absorb.

Consider the process she describes for making the doro wat. “It takes days to prepare,” she says. “The onion takes a day and a half on its own.”

To the cooked onions, she adds the spices and then must tend the pot for “practically two days, the whole day till I close.” The following day, she comes in, stirs the pot, then reduces everything into smaller portions. “And then!” she says with an exasperated sigh, “once the chicken goes in, the butter goes in, and it only takes four hours. But the process is forever and I have not compromised that. Really, that’s why I always say, ‘Man created the recipe for Ethiopian food,’” she says, “because no woman would cook all these days for one dish.”

By forgoing in-person dining and reducing hours, Agonafer is taking in a lot less money. But the change has reenergized her. Her customers have adapted as well, grateful that they can still get her cooking through takeout and re-create the shared feast experience in their own homes.

“Everything is just peaceful and easygoing,” she says. “There is still that stress when the rush happens or when we have events here, but things are going so incredibly well.”

Most of all, she is still dedicated to sharing the best of Ethiopian cuisine with Los Angeles. Meals by Genet may not have been the first Ethiopian restaurant to inhabit the crowded stretch of South Fairfax Avenue officially designated by the Los Angeles City Council in 2002 as Little Ethiopia — that credit often goes to Rosalind’s — but Agonafer’s is the most celebrated.

“I think we have six or seven restaurants on the block. They all have tradition and style. From the get-go, I wanted mine to be just like a little bistro,” says Agonafer, who is not a trained chef but learned to cook by watching at home. “My focus was really on the food, making it as authentic as it could be. My doro wat, my lentils, all the high-maintenance food was going to be as it was in Ethiopia.

“This is my 23rd year,” she says, “and I’m still doing the same.”

Gold Award celebration dinners

Two nights of in-restaurant dining at 2022 Gold Award winner Meals by Genet. A rare chance to eat inside the restaurant, which is currently used only for private events and takeout. Family-style set meal includes beer, wine and dessert.

Date: Sept. 9 and 10
Time: 7 p.m.
Tickets: $140 per person
Info and ticket link: LAFoodBowl.com/gold-award

Advertisement

What are the supporters of slow food movement advocating?


This report addresses: Slow Food Movement

I write reviews for the simple reasons of making sure the consumer knows what to expect when walking into an establishment, and also to make the owners or managers know how their restaurant is being run and if there is any way they can improve it.

I myself have run many restaurants as a manager and a GM and know the first thing you do not do with any less than stellar reviews is to attack the people who are giving their honest opinion of their experience.

“It was the same as back home, but we tried our best to make it feel like home.”

As the pair remember and reminisce about their love for all things South Africa, a recent study conducted by local retail giant Game revealed the top South African food items, snacks and beverages.

“We have a South African coffee shop in Jacksonville, Florida called Round Bird Coffee, and I stopped by to enjoy a sausage roll and a milk tart latte and also picked up some biltong,” she told The Saturday Star this week.

In the center goes the star of the show, doro wat, the mahogany chicken stew that this paper’s late restaurant critic Jonathan Gold described as “complex as a Oaxacan mole, rich as butter, whose flavor seems to cut right to the Ethiopian soul.” Agonafer’s particular version of doro wat, he wrote in 2004, was “as sticky and dense as any French chef’s demiglace, so formidably solid that the chicken … becomes just another ingredient in the sauce.”

Sitting in the quiet of Agonafer’s empty dining room earlier this week with an array of her many stews before me, I tear a piece of injera that has been folded like a napkin on a side plate and go straight for the doro wat.

Jonathan started the award in 2017 “with the idea,” as he wrote in announcing the first award for Wolfgang Puck, “of honoring culinary excellence and expanding the notion of what Southern California cooking might be.”

Advertisement

Yet even beyond her food, Agonafer embodies the spirit of resilience and adaptability that chefs and restaurateurs have had to master in the years since Jonathan’s death in July 2018.

This report addresses: Slow Food Movement

Title:

Content: Lombard, IL

This establishment's friends have been harassing me over this review

Chicago Food King

EDIT: Review Update!!

I want to add before you read this review of Babcock Restaurant in Lombard. That after posting this review I have been harassed by the friends of either the employees of Babcock Restaurant or acquaintances of the owners.

I have been receiving a steady stream of attacks from tame to downright obnoxious on my Instagram account.

I write reviews for the simple reasons of making sure the consumer knows what to expect when walking into an establishment, and also to make the owners or managers know how their restaurant is being run and if there is any way they can improve it.

I myself have run many restaurants as a manager and a GM and know the first thing you do not do with any less than stellar reviews is to attack the people who are giving their honest opinion of their experience.

I also looked at many Yelp reviews of this restaurant and any negative feedback is met by the owner viciously attacking the reviewers which is very immature.

I also want to add that all the people who are attacking my Instagram over this review were easily found commenting as friends of the employees and owners on Babcock's Facebook page.

The funny thing is my review of this establishment was not even bad. I just stated the food was average.

I will not be harassed and if need be I will take legal action. so let's STOP! and Let's all grow up.

-

-

-

The restaurant that I recently visited was on my short list of places that I definitely needed to check out.

I had heard nothing but good reviews of this place and Yelp has them at 4 1/2 stars with close to 450 reviews.

The name of the restaurant is Babcock‘s Grove House in Lombard.

I was in the downtown Lombard area during the week. The weather was warm in the mid-80s, but it was still humid.

The restaurant has a unique setup visually from the outside. The restaurant is on the corner with concrete steps leading out to a sidewalk-style patio. There are a few tables actually on the concrete steps also.

I walked in with my wife and the door was propped open, attempting to let airflow from the outside cool the inside of the restaurant.

This did not really cool off the restaurant. In fact, the inside was humid and very warm with not a lot of airflow.

The restaurant looks to be like an old-school turn-of-the-century ice cream parlor. The owners turned it into a small eatery fitting in a couple of tables inside.

The restaurant had a steady flow of customers, many eating outdoors. The restaurant also only had two workers working both the cash register and bringing food out to customers, both indoors and outdoors.

I was asked by the one worker at the counter if I had been here during lunchtime before. I told him that this was my first time here. He then told me that during lunchtime that I order at the counter and they will bring my food out to whatever table that I chose to sit at.

I decided to eat indoors even though it was muggy and very hot. The outside tables seemed to be very unstable sitting on the concrete steps. I did not want to have any type of incident with them falling with my food.

I looked over the menu and it seemed to be pretty much American fare, such as chicken sandwiches, hamburgers, soups, and salads.

I looked at Yelp to see what everyone was raving about and the most commented on was their buffalo chicken sandwich on a potato bun.

My wife ended up going with their chicken sandwich. There was the option to have a substitution of honey butter, but I was told they were all out of honey butter.

I also put an order for their cheese curds as an appetizer.

I ordered cokes for our drinks and went back to our table.

Looking around the restaurant the two workers seemed pretty overwhelmed and at the same time looked confused and delirious. They did not seem to really rush to go faster to take care of customers.

I, of course, assumed this was because they were tired, as I would be also running in and out of the restaurant to serve people outdoors.

The appetizer came out and was dropped on our table with nothing more said. I noticed we had no silverware until I realized there was a table in front of the restaurant with a big bucket of silverware that we had to grab for ourselves cafeteria style.

I again want to reiterate that this was never told to us that we need to grab our own silverware. It kind of was just playing it by ear at this point.

I tried the cheese curds. They came with an unusual dipping sauce that was honey mustard. I thought they had an okay flavor, but were a little salty.

I also was able to enjoy a nice show while I was sitting there with my wife. A couple was sitting at the bar area and the guy was belittling and screaming at his girlfriend with every other word being an obscenity.

All of this being heard throughout the whole restaurant because the restaurant is not that large.

The workers and the customers paid no mind to this man at the bar. I had just hoped that he would leave soon because it made the situation very uncomfortable to sit there and listen to this.

I was happy to see that eventually once our food arrived the abusive man with his girlfriend ended up leaving.

I want to make one point here that their motto is everything here is made from scratch and that there are no freezers used on the premises, except for ice cream. I could not imagine that this food was cooked fresh to order with how fast it came out. It was literally under 10 minutes. I am not aware of any chicken that can be fried and cooked to temperature in under 10 minutes.

I tried my buffalo chicken sandwich on the potato bun with coleslaw. The flavor was not good. The buffalo sauce was extremely tangy and not in a savory good way. The chicken was very stringy and did not taste super fresh.

The fries that came with the order did taste good and I could tell that they were hand cut.

My wife’s chicken sandwich was very bland. My wife asked for the spicy aioli sauce on the side. Luckily, she decided to do that because it had an extremely overpowering flavor that would’ve ruined the sandwich.

The sandwich on its own was dry and only had pickles as a condiment.

I do not know why this restaurant gets such a high rating. I assume maybe the dinner menu might be better than the lunch menu.

I also would assume possibly that they have more of a wait staff during the dinner rush because two people is definitely not enough to properly run a restaurant.

I cannot say that I will be returning to Babcock‘s Grove House.

I give Babcock's Grove house a rating of 5 out of 10. I do not see it being worth a second visit.

© Frank S ChicagoFoodKing, 2022. All Rights Reserved.

Published by

Food Blogger, Food Photographer, Restaurant Reviewer. Follow Me on Instagram under ChicagoFoodKing. Also, Check out and follow my BRAND NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL Link in bio

Wood Dale, IL
5721 followers

More from Chicago Food King

Title:

Content: Johannesburg to Jacksonville – Embracing the South African heritage thousands of kilometres away

By Karishma Dipa 22m ago

Share this article:

From Johannesburg to Jacksonville, Natasha Prince-Swatek has not forgotten her South African roots this Heritage Day.

The 32-year-old who relocated with her husband to Florida in the US might be over 13 000 kilometres from home, but she commemorated the South African public holiday fittingly.

“We have a South African coffee shop in Jacksonville, Florida called Round Bird Coffee, and I stopped by to enjoy a sausage roll and a milk tart latte and also picked up some biltong,” she told The Saturday Star this week.

Fellow South African Preshanti Moodley, who recently moved to New York City, also spent Heritage Day with her fellow countrymen in the Big Apple, enjoying a local tradition.

“A few of my friends from SA and I celebrated by having a braai,” she said.

“It was the same as back home, but we tried our best to make it feel like home.”

As the pair remember and reminisce about their love for all things South Africa, a recent study conducted by local retail giant Game revealed the top South African food items, snacks and beverages.

Those that ranked in the top five were Biltong, Koo Baked Beans, Ultra Mel Custard, Amarula Cream Liqueur and Nik Naks.

Rounding off the top 10 was Castle Lager Beer, Lay’s Potato Chips, Peppermint Crisp, Fritos and Flings.

The taste buds of the South African women abroad also long for these and other local flavours.

For Prince-Swatek, she longs to enjoy Simba’s Mexican Chilli flavour chips, Cream Soda and Chicken Licken, while Moodley misses the taste of spicy Biltong, Cadbury Astros, peppermint tart and Amarula.

While she also craves the taste of the South African Indian cuisines she grew up eating, she also can’t wait to sink her teeth into other local favourites.

“I also miss restaurants like Nando’s, Ocean Basket and Spur.”

While the Game study also found that enjoying a meal together was one of their favourite South African pastimes, Moodley agreed.

“I feel like South Africa has a stronger family orientated lifestyle compared to the US, and that no other country in the world can make food like SA,” the Johannesburg-born youngster insisted.

“Our food is seasoned well and rich in flavour.”

Meanwhile, Prince-Swatek also reminisces about celebrating Heritage Day, the proudly South African way.

“My favourite Heritage Day memory is definitely enjoying a braai or potjie with friends and family and a few cold Savannahs.”

Her love for South Africa and its flavours have even been extended to her American husband Parker, despite their cultural differences.

“My husband loves South African food, mostly because of how much flavour it has, and his favourites are Gatsbys and Boerewors rolls.

“Sometimes he is also confused by the name we give our food compared to here in the USA, for example in the US a pie is usually a sweet dish (what we would consider a tart in South Africa), so the first time I said we were going to get pies for lunch he was under the impression we were going to eat something completely different.”

Moodley has also shared her love for all things South Africans with her US friends and was thrilled when she found a local store in New York.

“When I spent a year in San Francisco, California, there was nothing close to home including snacks and foods, but when I came to spend my next year in New York, I met so many South Africans living abroad, and they told me about this wonderful place called New York Biltong.

“I take all my friends there, and everyone loves it, even Americans! It gave me so much joy to find that beautiful store that sells many South African snacks and food.”

Prince-Swatek and Moodley might be thousands of kilometres away from their country of birth, but this Heritage Day, they remembered its sentiment and significance, even while on completely different continents.

“When you are living in a foreign country, your place of birth literally becomes your identity, and in South Africa, we are such a mixture of cultures and races, and we grow up with diversity being the norm and with diversity being celebrated,” Prince-Swatek believes.

“Being South African, to me, means acknowledging, appreciating and accepting that while we all may look and think differently, that we are all human beings and that we can all get along.”

Moodley agreed and added: “South Africa has so much culture and diversity, and celebrating a country with so much wonderful history, makes me proud to be South African.”

The Saturday Star

Share this article:

What are the supporters of slow food movement advocating?

Title:

Content: Advertisement
Share

Our 2022 Gold Award winner is Meals by Genet

How chef Genet Agonafer helped make Ethiopian cuisine one of the central pieces in the mosaic of Los Angeles culinary culture

Injera, cool to the touch, silkier than a tortilla and exploding with hundreds of fermentation bubbles on its spongier side, seems designed by a higher power to absorb the lush, spicy stews created by Genet Agonafer at her Little Ethiopia bistro, Meals by Genet. It is the plate, the fork and the spoon of Ethiopian cuisine.

Agonafer drapes a large swath of injera over a serving tray on a recent afternoon at her Fairfax Avenue restaurant and spoons more than a dozen stews, sautes and salads around the perimeter — a color wheel of red and green lentils, yellow and orange split peas, collard greens, carrots, beets, sauteed beef tibs and tofu tibs, and a good amount of crisp, green Ethiopian salad.

In the center goes the star of the show, doro wat, the mahogany chicken stew that this paper’s late restaurant critic Jonathan Gold described as “complex as a Oaxacan mole, rich as butter, whose flavor seems to cut right to the Ethiopian soul.” Agonafer’s particular version of doro wat, he wrote in 2004, was “as sticky and dense as any French chef’s demiglace, so formidably solid that the chicken … becomes just another ingredient in the sauce.”

Sitting in the quiet of Agonafer’s empty dining room earlier this week with an array of her many stews before me, I tear a piece of injera that has been folded like a napkin on a side plate and go straight for the doro wat. Memories of happy meals eaten in this room with Jonathan during the course of our marriage come flooding back. Meals by Genet was always a place to gather friends around a shared feast, trading gossip and laughs and intense debates over politics or movies between bites of Agonafer’s cooking, served in the always-bustling bistro that for years drew hungry eaters to Los Angeles’ Little Ethiopia.

The quality and ambition of the food at Meals by Genet, which helped make the berbere-centered flavors of Ethiopian cooking one of the important pieces of the mosaic that defines Los Angeles cuisine, led me to choose Agonafer as this year’s Gold Award honoree. Jonathan started the award in 2017 “with the idea,” as he wrote in announcing the first award for Wolfgang Puck, “of honoring culinary excellence and expanding the notion of what Southern California cooking might be.”

Advertisement

Yet even beyond her food, Agonafer embodies the spirit of resilience and adaptability that chefs and restaurateurs have had to master in the years since Jonathan’s death in July 2018. With the onset of the pandemic and the closures that followed in March 2020, Agonafer, like countless others, was forced to turn to takeout. The communal, hands-across-the-table nature of Meals by Genet made it impossible to continue.

But when in-person dining returned, Agonafer reevaluated her life and decided to make a change at the restaurant she has run since 2001. She’d keep the takeout operation for dinner only Thursdays through Sundays, and accept catering work. With the exception of the occasional private dinner at the restaurant, you can no longer share a feast with friends inside the Meals by Genet dining room.

Critic Bill Addison explains why Justin Pichetrungsi’s Anajak Thai became one of the most-opening meals to have in Los Angeles.

Unlike so many in the industry who examined the cost of the long hours and stress required of restaurant work and left their jobs or closed their businesses, Agonafer didn’t want to shut down her entire operation. Yet she knew she couldn’t continue as before. Many don’t realize that Meals by Genet means meals made by Genet, alone in the kitchen. Although she has a prep cook, Oscar Canales, who has been with her for four years, there would be no Meals by Genet without Genet.

That’s a lot of stress to absorb.

Consider the process she describes for making the doro wat. “It takes days to prepare,” she says. “The onion takes a day and a half on its own.”

To the cooked onions, she adds the spices and then must tend the pot for “practically two days, the whole day till I close.” The following day, she comes in, stirs the pot, then reduces everything into smaller portions. “And then!” she says with an exasperated sigh, “once the chicken goes in, the butter goes in, and it only takes four hours. But the process is forever and I have not compromised that. Really, that’s why I always say, ‘Man created the recipe for Ethiopian food,’” she says, “because no woman would cook all these days for one dish.”

By forgoing in-person dining and reducing hours, Agonafer is taking in a lot less money. But the change has reenergized her. Her customers have adapted as well, grateful that they can still get her cooking through takeout and re-create the shared feast experience in their own homes.

“Everything is just peaceful and easygoing,” she says. “There is still that stress when the rush happens or when we have events here, but things are going so incredibly well.”

Most of all, she is still dedicated to sharing the best of Ethiopian cuisine with Los Angeles. Meals by Genet may not have been the first Ethiopian restaurant to inhabit the crowded stretch of South Fairfax Avenue officially designated by the Los Angeles City Council in 2002 as Little Ethiopia — that credit often goes to Rosalind’s — but Agonafer’s is the most celebrated.

“I think we have six or seven restaurants on the block. They all have tradition and style. From the get-go, I wanted mine to be just like a little bistro,” says Agonafer, who is not a trained chef but learned to cook by watching at home. “My focus was really on the food, making it as authentic as it could be. My doro wat, my lentils, all the high-maintenance food was going to be as it was in Ethiopia.

“This is my 23rd year,” she says, “and I’m still doing the same.”

Gold Award celebration dinners

Two nights of in-restaurant dining at 2022 Gold Award winner Meals by Genet. A rare chance to eat inside the restaurant, which is currently used only for private events and takeout. Family-style set meal includes beer, wine and dessert.

Date: Sept. 9 and 10
Time: 7 p.m.
Tickets: $140 per person
Info and ticket link: LAFoodBowl.com/gold-award

Advertisement

What are the supporters of slow food movement advocating?