My name is Anthony Rahayel.
To say that I’m passionate about food and about Lebanon would be an understatement. I’m a blogger, a YouTuber, a TV presenter, an advocate of great food and a lover of my country. Lebanon is a remarkable, wonderful place and her people are among the most welcoming and resilient I’ve ever met. Since 2012 I’ve had only one goal – To uncover the real face of Lebanon, not the one that makes headlines on international televiasion shows, but the authentic Lebanon. It is that Lebanon I seek to broadcast far and wide. A Lebanon full of life, passion and vitality, full of people who are producing the most wonderful dishes, meals, desserts and much, much more.
I said “2012”. So what happened?
I embarked on my adventure, one that is ongoing, one that I love. In 2012, I launched NoGarlicNoOnions (NGNO). NGNO needs its own introduction, and you can find it here. But, in short, NGNO is a tribute to my love of food, my passion for the people who create it and my limitless optimism and belief in Lebanon and her people. A blog, a portal, a hub, NGNO was the beginning of everything I do and from it grew a YouTube channel, various social media platforms, a TV show, food fairs and gatherings, and much, much more. From NGNO grew a community of food lovers, local Food Heroes – people who clearly love great food and produce some of the finest dishes in the land - and people who love this country. Everything we do as a community seeks to elevate Lebanon, to show her in her best light.
It took time for NGNO to grow, but in 2012 I knew that I had made the right choice. Today, the site contains over 7,000 food and travel reviews and is well supported by our involved community. Most of the reviews are in Lebanon (that’s what I know best), but I also cover my international travels. I strongly believe that each meal is a culinary journey, and a tale that needs to be told.
Over time, NGNO has become my professional platform. It’s a place where people come for clear, honest and unbiased reviews of the best (and the worst) places I’ve visited. It’s a place from which people can share their ideas and impressions. When I review somewhere, my audience comes with me, I report my feelings and experiences as authentically as I can and I try to help people discover new dishes, new flavors and new locations as I travel through the country unearthing hidden gems. NGNO is a labor of love and through it I hope that I succeed in showing my abiding love for Lebanon and her people.
Lebanon was too big for NGNO and so I started sharing my experiences online and on TV on a show called Mechwar. Every episode I discover a Food Hero, someone dedicated to creating fantastic dishes, and we tell everyone we can about them. It’s proven a great success. Driven by the success of NGNO and Mechwar, we created our ‘Foodie’s Trail’, a guide and roadmap for people to visit the places we have reported on during the show. The professionally-guided tours are hugely popular and we’ve found that they’re also a great way for the NGNO community to get know one another and enjoy a great day out exploring our beautiful country and enjoying fantastic food.
Not everyone can travel the country, so to ensure that everyone in our community can be part of the NGNO experience, our team created THE BOX. Stuck at home with no transport? Busy, busy, busy? Other commitments keeping you tied down? No problem, THE BOX is a handpicked selection of treats delivered to your door on a monthly basis. From foodie items to gadgets, books and more, THE BOX is a great way to treat yourself and discover all sorts of things you might never have found on your own. Go on, share the love, share some great little gifts!
Our aim is simple. We love Lebanon, we love food and we love the skilled, talented people who are ever pushing at our culinary boundaries. We aim to showcase Lebanon’s natural beauty, the warmth of her people and her fantastic cuisines while doing so on platforms that are inclusive, open to all and welcoming. We want to bring people together in their love of this country and of great food.
NoGarlicNoOnions
In 2012, NoGarlicNoOnions (NGNO) started off as a blog, but it has become so much more than that. It’s now a hub, the starting point for all that we as a community of Lebanese food lovers have created. With over 7,000 articles and reviews, 82,000 Facebook followers, 116,000 Instagram followers and 1,800 YouTube videos, NGNO is much more than a food review website, it’s a place where people come to discover, to learn and to be part of a vibrant community.
NGNO lives and dies by its unbiased, honest and trustworthy reviews. Whatever you read on these pages, it is nothing if not honest. These are my opinions and I offer them to you in the spirit of openness and honesty.
NGNO was set up with a very simple mission in mind: to highlight the best cooks, creators, chefs and restaurateurs in Lebanon – my Food Heroes -, to showcase our country and to bring people together over their mutual love of great food and, of course, Lebanon.
How do we do that? By connecting people to their country and to others; so, we tell tales of Lebanon, stories of her people and sagas about her food. Every discovery we make, every initiative we take, everything we do, it all aims to bring people together. I want everyone to eat good food, to discover local superstars and to smile as they enjoy a good meal.
That’s what NGNO is. The blog, the YouTube channel, and the social media platforms are just that, tools I use to bring people together.
NGNO isn’t a site, an Instagram feed, or even a Facebook page. NGNO is a community.
Blog
7,000 articles posted to date
10 articles published every week
1,500 unique visitors per day
70,000 page views per month
YouTube Channel
1,800 videos published to date
9,000,000 minutes watched every month
2,000,000 views per month
Subscribers increasing by approximately 5,000 per month
Facebook Page
82,000 likes
Followers increasing by approximately 1,000 per month
70,000 reach per month
116,000 followers
90,000 accounts reached weekly
7,000,000 impressions per week
800 followers increase weekly
Google Maps
98,000 photos
546,000 locations tagged
360,000,000 photo views
MTV (Mechwar show)
On air 4 times a week
A wide reach in Lebanon and the world
