‘I Felt Like I Lost My City’

Famous Syrian restaurateur who fled Damascus four years ago is about to open up his first London location

Valentina Valentini
Heated
Published in
6 min readJun 18, 2019

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Imad Alarnab at Pop Up Falafel Bar. All photos: Valentina Valentini

Imad Alarnab holds his hands to his chest, crossed at his heart, when he recalls his life in Damascus. “I felt like I lost my city,” he says as we sit on a bench outside a posh coffee shop off Carnaby Street in central London. Across the…

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Valentina Valentini
Heated
Writer for

Freelance writer. Serious tea drinker. Opinionator (all my own). Variety, Vanity Fair, Vulture and many other publications that don’t all begin with V