“All the time focus on the positive things. Not the negative things. Then the karma, it will come, it will reflect to you.”
Meet Chef Osama Harwash and Chef Houssam Harwash. Two brothers who came to Canada as Syrian refugees and rented a food stall to begin crafting traditional recipes learned from four generations of Syrian chefs. Listen as they share lessons learned from their sheep-farming great-grandfather at the fall of the Ottoman Empire and then tell us how mint and cardamom help make the perfect lemonade for sweltering Torontonians.
I was riding past a tight row of graffiti-covered food stalls on an absolutely scorching day in downtown Toronto when I spotted these two gregarious brothers wedged into a tiny four-foot by four-foot booth smiling, wishing “happy days to their brothers and sisters” while making them chicken shawarmas, beef kofta plates, and grape leaves for a non-stop line of faithful fans. A 4.9 rating with over 500 reviews on Google since they opened doesn’t lie.
But what makes them tick?
“The most important thing in Toronto is community,” Osama says “We love Toronto. And we want to support our community So we make more food to make more people happy.”
Maybe it's as simple as that! Let’s take a break from the news flow, the omnipresent digital tide, to come down to the sidewalk to hang out with me, Osama, and Houssam as we discuss growing up with six brothers in Damascus, 800-year-old houses, the perfect drink for a good sleep, lessons from ancient Arabic philosophy, the joys of taking time to slowly craft perfect meals with love, and, yes, of course, their 3 most formative books.
It was a treat hanging out with Chefs Houssam and Osama Harwash at their wonderful Chef Harwash food stall at 707 Dundas St W (at Bathurst and Dundas) in downtown Toronto.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 125 now…
Chapter 125: Two Syrian Chefs share sheep and shawarma shopkeeping shenanigans
CONNECT WITH Osama and Houssam
Their 3 Books
Their first book (19:42)
Their second book (24:31)
Their third book (30:15)
