Interview with Special Magazine by Joyce Najm
Food critic, dentist, TV presenter and enthusiastic entrepreneur, Anthony Rahayel is the man behind the successful blog NoGarlicNoOnions. Passionate and determined but very down to earth, he continues to surprise us with new culinary discoveries. His mission: prove to the Lebanese that their country is a 'gastronomic goldmine' 'and he puts his whole heart in it. His new initiative is a surprise box called The Box. Distributed monthly, The Box contains a mix of traditional culinary products, selected by Anthony himself, that will make you travel around Lebanon through its producers and craftsmen. We interviewed the gourmet behind No Garlic No Onions to tell us more about these treasure boxes.
Tell us more about your new concept: The Box.
Inspired by our TV show Meshwar, which goes to the discovery of Lebanese villages from a nice culinary point of view in 12 minutes, I woke up one day and told myself that we must give our viewers the opportunity to taste those unusual products we discover, and that’s how the idea of the Box came out. The Box is a surprise box, where we find a rich selection of products (12 to 15) or culinary gadgets, tested and approved. It also contains the name of the products with their description, price and phone number of the person who produced them. In addition to discovering the Lebanese wealth of their country and bring Lebanese together through food, The Box showcases small local producers and artisans.
How does it work? What is the subscription procedure?
With a few clicks you can subscribe to: www.thebox.boutique, or a simple phone call. The box costs $ 75 but its market value is minimum $ 120. On the site, you can see the month you want to subscribe to, because since the offer is exclusive (100 to 150 boxes), we do not necessarily commend the box next month. The box is then distributed to all subscribers simultaneously on the first Wednesday of each month between 9am and noon, just to keep the surprise effect.
Check out the full interview in Special Magazine July issue.
