After they were all bombed and it became apparent he had to leave, he made the dangerous journey to the UK, where at first he worked in a car wash and as a car salesman.

This week, restaurateur Imad Alarnab joins Markus Hippi to talk about his new cookbook, ‘Imad’s Syrian Kitchen: A Love Letter from Damascus to London’.Madeleine has lived half her life in South Africa and the other in London which has widened her experiences of multiple cultures, languages and cuisines.

He expresses this love and affection through his cooking – gifting London with his successful restaurant, and now with his cookbook, containing favourite recipes, and notes on Syrian culture and its relationship to its food. Soon after that he was running a pop-up restaurant in east London that was so popular tickets sold out in 24 hours, which led to him opening the doors of his Carnaby Street restaurant in 2021. Imad’s Syrian Kitchen is a bustling, riotous tour through 90 traditional and adapted Syrian dishes that can be made in the comfort of your own home. Also really great to read the personal stories from Imad himself - gives the book more charm and personality and shows us how inspiring Imad really is.Imad Alarnab says his new life began while he was stranded for 64 days in Calais as a Syrian refugee in 2015. Amidst the recipes are essays about his love of Damascus, his love for his wife and daughters, and a moving piece about his beloved mother who died shortly after he left Damascus.