Beit Siti
A homely cafe serving riffs on Palestinian dishes.
Middle Eastern$
Rahaf Al Khatib channels Palestinian recipes from her mother and grandmother at Beit Siti (“grandmother’s home”) in Coburg. Following on from her Falastini food truck, this cafe and cultural centre exudes home-style warmth with family photos and Al Khatib’s own house plants.
Fresh baked goods with Palestinian twists include musakhan focaccia with confit onion, almonds, sumac and cauliflower; a Danish filled with strawberry, pomegranate and dill jam, and house-made labneh; and a zaatar croissant with pickled chilli and baladiyeh, a firm “village cheese”. There are also grab-and-go sandwiches such as chicken mortadella with smoked pepper spread, spinach and labneh.
Al Khatib plans for the breakfast menu to showcase different regional specialties of Palestine including mub’atra, a dish of scrambled eggs with potato, parsley and green chilli. Constance coffee is brewed with cardamom or served espresso-style.
In sharing her culture, Al Khatib goes beyond the menu, selling Palestinian-made clothing and embroidery and also holding workshops on pickling and labneh-making.
Want to visit this venue? Save it in the Good Food app.
More:
Kosa Monteith is a freelance writer based in Melbourne.