海角大神

On a听Thursday听morning in S茫o Paulo, Ghazal Baranbo prepares for the lunch rush at her family鈥檚 restaurant. She carries out neatly organized trays of hummus, tabbouleh, falafel, and hindi kabab and arranges them in a buffet-style line. Her husband, Talal Altinawi, is speaking with their lawyer about the business.

At听noon听sharp, they鈥檙e slammed. The couple frenetically rearranges the dining room to accommodate the quick turnaround of lunch-break patrons while they take turns passing their 2-year-old daughter back and forth. They switch between using Arabic with each other听and Portuguese with the costumers.

It looks like a well-choreographed dance, but four years ago Ms. Baranbo and Mr. Altinawi, refugees from Syria, could have never imagined they would own a successful Syrian restaurant in S茫o Paulo, South America鈥檚 largest city. They used to live comfortably in a suburb of Damascus, where Altinawi was a mechanical engineer and Baranbo stayed at home with their two children. But as the civil war in Syria progressed and the Assad regime cracked down on civilians, it became too dangerous to stay.

Today, the couple is听playing a part in the growing landscape of Syrian refugee-run restaurants popping up across S茫o Paulo. Newly-arriving immigrants, who rarely have experience working in the restaurant industry, are turning to home-cooked Syrian food to make a living. It鈥檚 a phenomenon seen in this city for decades, with other waves of immigrants like Japanese, Lebanese, Cameroonians, and Armenians making a culinary foot-hold before them. The country鈥檚 open-door policy for refugees plays a big role in making this possible. And for Altinawi and Baranbo, it鈥檚 laid the groundwork for a city that鈥檚 already familiar with Middle Eastern food.

A wave of Middle Eastern immigrants in the 19^th听century helped make Syrian delicacies like听esfiha听(savory pastries) and听quibe听(spiced bulgur-wheat meatballs) staples in Brazil, and it鈥檚 estimated that听7 to 10 million Brazilians have Lebanese ancestry, or almost 5 percent of the population. Newly arrived Syrian refugees are capitalizing on Brazil鈥檚 appetite for their native听cuisine, bringing back authenticity and flavor and introducing more unfamiliar dishes, ranging from shawarma to baklava.

鈥淚mmigrants influence our cuisine in S茫o Paulo, but sometimes it can get kind of 鈥楤razilian-ized,鈥� 鈥� says Carolina Gushiken, a lunchtime-diner at Talal Culin谩ria S铆ria. She works nearby and says she鈥檚 grateful that more recent immigrants like Altinawi and Baranbo are helping bring back some authenticity to Middle Eastern food.

An unexpected path

Most refugees or immigrants here never planned to open a restaurant.

Dr. Saeed Mourad, an orthopedic surgeon from Damascus, came to Brazil two years ago. Converting his degrees and qualifications to practice medicine in Brazil was nearly impossible, so his family turned to the food industry. At听their restaurant, they sell baklava, kanafeh pasteries, and sesame-covered barazek cookies,听alongside Syrian-style coffee with cardamom.

鈥淚 decided opening a Syrian restaurant would be a good idea because it鈥檚 a quick way to get income. And Brazilian people听really听like Middle Eastern food,鈥� Dr. Mourad says.

Many other recently arrived Syrians have followed suit. There鈥檚听Muna Sabores e Mem贸rias Arabes, opened by a Syrian woman who sells sweets and other traditional foods that she makes in her home, and Eyad Abuharb, who鈥檚 had great success selling fast food-style shawarma sandwiches at his restaurant,听New Shawarma, near S茫o Paulo鈥檚 downtown. Adam Hamwia, who opened听Adoomy听in the city鈥檚 trendy Vila Madalena neighborhood, specializes in fried chicken and gyro-style wraps.

For Altinawi and Baranbo, the food solution was not an obvious one. Back in Damascus, Altinawi was arrested in what was described to him as a name mix-up (they had the wrong Talal Altinawi), and spent more than 3 months in prison. Soon after getting out, his family loaded up their car and听drove the 75 miles to neighboring Lebanon.

鈥淲e spent 10 months going from embassy to embassy in Beirut. Brazil was the only place that opened their doors to us,鈥� Baranbo听says.听

鈥淲hen I looked down at my Brazilian visa, I thought to myself, 鈥榃hat is听Brazil? I don鈥檛 know anything about this place,鈥� 鈥� she says.

They arrived in S茫o Paulo at the end of 2013 鈥撎齜ut it was a rough start. Altinawi began working as an engineer but, after 10 months working there, his employer went under amid Brazil鈥檚 relentless recession. Baranbo sold baby clothes on the streets.

They threw a joint birthday party for their son and daughter and served homemade Syrian food. An NGO worker who helps refugees in Brazil encouraged them to start selling street food as a side gig.

鈥淚鈥檓 an engineer, not a chef,鈥� was Altinawi鈥檚 response, which he still stands by, despite the restaurant鈥檚 success.

They started at a street market and eventually landed a catering job at a mosque for the entire month of Ramadan. Their friend from the NGO set up a Facebook page for them and an account on a crowdfunding site, with the goal of raising 60,000 Reais ($20,000) to open a restaurant. About 1,000 locals generously donated.听

Then it was time to take on Brazil鈥檚 infamous bureaucracy.

鈥淭here are so many documents and so many government entities,鈥� Altinawi says. 鈥淵ou need a lot of time and a lot of money for this process.鈥�

But after five months dealing with the red tape, they opened听Talal Culin谩ria S铆ria听in April 2016.听

Diverse food history

Brazil is a popular, if lesser-known, destination for refugees.听That鈥檚 mostly due to its refugee policies, which are more lenient than the vetting processes in most countries in Europe and North America. There are more than 2,300 Syrian refugees here today,听and nearly 10,000 refugees from all over the world. Most immigrants find themselves in S茫o Paulo, the country鈥檚 largest city and economic hub.

Brazil has a rich tradition of receiving immigrants,听from Arab immigrants coming from the then-Ottoman Empire, often fleeing religious persecution, to Japanese and European immigrants who came to work as laborers on coffee plantations in the early 1900s,听or later fled from war. S茫o Paulo is home to the largest Japanese population outside of Japan.

This is reflected in S茫o Paulo鈥檚 world-renowned food scene 鈥撎齱hich trumps other Brazilian cities in its variety.听

鈥淲ithout a doubt the Syrian refugees in Brazil are benefitting from the long history of Middle Eastern immigrants who鈥檝e come to S茫o Paulo and built up the tradition of Middle Eastern food here,鈥� says Tamyris Roxo, a local S茫o Paulo听food blogger听who studied gastronomy, history, and culture. Their country鈥檚 food provides 鈥渁 strong link for them in Brazil.鈥�

Middle Eastern food is so ubiquitous here that there鈥檚 even a fast-food restaurant called 鈥淗abib鈥檚,鈥�听which sells esfihas, BBQ kaftas, and baba ghanoush, alongside cheeseburgers and pizza. Its logo is a winking man with a big grin wearing a fez.

鈥淚n other parts of Brazil you can鈥檛 find such diversity, and the people aren鈥檛 used to 鈥榚xotic foods鈥� because they don鈥檛 have the same history as S茫o Paulo, which has always received so many immigrants,鈥� says Ms. Roxo, the food blogger.听

鈥淪茫o Paulo鈥檚 food scene has transformed over the years, and now it鈥檚 totally eclectic. I think that in a few years we鈥檒l be like New York City, full of influences from all over the world.鈥�