Panidor Bakery- Cafe | May 10, 2019
Meet Nihal Elwan: founder of Tayybeh
If you live in Vancouver and you’ve never heard of Tayybeh, you’re so missing out!
Earlier this spring, I was at a work event. For lunch, I was fully expecting a boxed meal with a mediocre sandwich and maybe an apple in it. But when lunchtime came around, I quickly realized that I was in for a real treat. We had a delicious Syrian meal – incredible dips, fresh salads, a perfectly-seasoned chicken dish, and ooooh, the sweets. I definitely had more than my fair share from the dessert tray. And when I heard a bit about Tayybeh’s story, I became curious to learn more.
“Tayybeh is a social enterprise that started a little over 2 years ago, with a mission of providing newly-arrived Syrian refugee women with employment, financial security, and social integration in their newfound homes here in BC.” This is Nihal Elwan, founder of Tayybeh. We met for coffee one Friday at a quiet, spacious coffee shop on Main Street.
It started as a one-time dinner
“About four years ago, I volunteered with an organization that was providing newly-arrived Syrian families with information sessions. Families that have just stepped off their planes. I speak Arabic, so I thought I could go help.”
It was when the Syrian crisis was at its height. There were waves of newcomers, and Nihal met moms, and their children there. “The children weren’t in school yet. None of them spoke English. And you could see how difficult everything was. Everything was different, and when you’re in that situation, it’s not necessarily a choice. Everything is sort of done for you, and you’re not in control. I felt that I wished I could do something to help.“
“A year or so later, I was chatting with my neighbour, about how Syrian cuisine is absolutely delicious. In the Middle East, Syria is known as the culinary capital of the region. So we thought, maybe it would be nice to have the Syrian ladies cook a dinner for some Canadians, introduce the food, and so on. It was meant to be a one-time thing. We applied for a $500 grant from the Vancouver Foundation. And we organized a dinner at Tamam, a Palestinian restaurant on Hastings. I called up a few ladies that I connected mostly via ISSBC. I was like, do you want to cook for some Canadians? And four of them said yes.”
Nihal created a Facebook page, not knowing what to expect. “The tickets disappeared very very quickly, and the dinner itself was amazing. The ladies had a great time cooking at the restaurant. Feedback on the food was fantastic.” This was October of 2016.
Two months later, Nihal and the ladies organized another dinner. This time they got a much bigger venue, doubling the number of invitees. People loved the food. They loved the idea, too. Slowly but surely as people started tasting the food, catering orders started trickling in. “And I said, okay, this could be a source of sustainable income for the ladies. They could be employed and become breadwinners for their families. So we registered Tayybeh in early 2017.”
Since then, the team that started with four ladies has now grown to twelve. Catering orders are going strong every day. Tayybeh has a food truck that operates throughout the summer months. They also started a line of packaged products.
Tayybeh‘s early days
“It came with a lot of effort and stress, and tears.” Nihal reflects back on the early days of Tayybeh.
“My background is not in food, and it’s not in business either.” Pre- Tayybeh, Nihal had worked in international development, specifically on gender and women’s issues in the Middle East. “When I moved here from Washington D.C. in 2014, I was working as a consultant in my field, and I was trying to do both [consulting and Tayybeh work] at the same time. But then Tayybeh grew so much that I felt that you either give it a full shot, or you don’t. You know, go big or go home. So I quit my job.”
Nihal had no idea how or where to start, but she had a real passion and felt a strong rush to launch Tayybeh, because she knew this would benefit the Syrian ladies, their children, and their families. “Everything is learning by doing. Even if we make some mistakes, even if something isn’t how it’s supposed to be, and even if we don’t know the business ropes, we learn.”
The Tayybeh family
“With every lunch we send, and with every event when you get amazing feedback, it gives us so much motivation. And also to see how the ladies themselves have changed, and blossomed over the past two years, I think that is what gets me most excited. To see the impact that this has on them, I think it is amazing,” says Nihal.
These ladies weren’t professional chefs back in Syria. “They were home chefs. Moms. But by virtue of being Syrian women, because Syrian cuisine is so incredible and so deeply ingrained in women and their families, all of them are amazing cooks.”
Nihal recalls meeting some of the ladies for the first time. “I remember one lady, she called to ask if she could work with us. I said meet me at this place, and she didn’t know what the Skytrain was or how to ride it.”
Nihal met most of the Tayybeh ladies within a couple of months into their arrival in Canada. Having shared many of these experiences together, Tayybeh team is quite close. “I know their husbands, I know their kids. I take my son to play with their kids. It’s that Middle Eastern family feel, really,” says Nihal with a big smile.
The Kitchen – where the magic happens
“Our kitchen is awesome. We work out of a commissary kitchen, which means it’s a huge kitchen and we rent a space. There are some other businesses there, too, which has been terrific. We learn so much from the other establishments there. And it’s great because our ladies have to interact with other people and practice English.”
The Tayybeh team didn’t all know each other before starting. They became friends and colleagues in that kitchen. This fast-paced space is always filled with conversations around food, family, and recipes, with Arabic music playing in the background.
“The ladies we work with are from different parts of Syria. And Syrian cuisine is extremely regional. We have a city like Aleppo, which is the crown jewel of Syrian cities in terms of food. Then there’s Damascus, and there’s Latakia, and our ladies come from all of these places. So there’s a constant back and forth. And there’s a lot of, add some more cumin, add some more of this and that. The repertoire is so wide, and there are so many dishes.”
Currently, the Tayybeh team is working on a book, which Nihal is really excited about. “Hopefully it’ll be out next year. It’s going to be a book about food and the lives of some of our chefs. You have the ladies, their families, where they’re from, in parallel with some of the dishes and recipes. It’s not just a cookbook. It’s also about the journey of the refugees here.”
Vancouverites try Syrian cuisine
Nihal has never been to Syria herself. “I’m originally from Egypt, and I’ve traveled in many places in the Middle East but never had the opportunity to visit Syria. So I’m getting exposure through what I’m doing right now.”
“Everybody [in the Middle East] knows Syrian cuisine is amazing. If you go to a restaurant and somebody says that the chef is Syrian, you will know that it’s going to be amazing. It’s flavourful, always fresh, always healthy.”
Thanks to Nihal and the Tayybeh team, Vancouverites are getting to experience Syrian cuisine. And Tayybeh’s online reviews suggest that we love it.
“The reviews are really a testament to how hard the ladies work. We try very hard to keep our standards stellar. Sometimes people hear this is an organization working with Syrian refugees, but we don’t want anybody to ever order from us out of pity. It has to be because the food is legitimately amazing. So we keep trying to make sure that the service, the food, the quality, and the packaging is amazing all the time.”
“I’ve lived in many cities around the world, but there’s something special about Vancouver. There’s a genuine sense of care about community and supporting small businesses and organizations, supporting other small communities. And I think had that not been the case, had the vibe in the city been different, maybe Tayybeh would not have done so well. There’s been this genuine feeling that since Day 1. There’s so much support, so much generosity here. I think it’s very special to Vancouver.”
Worry less and dive in
Since moving to Vancouver in 2014, Nihal volunteered, became a mom, and started Tayybeh. “I have an extremely supportive partner. Throughout the past two years, every time I had to be out in the evening or during the weekend, my husband really stepped up. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without him.”
“Burnouts, stress, yes. But it’s part of growing. And learning the process. Learning where your own limits are, when to start hiring again, when to take it easy. All of those things come with experience and with playing the game. I don’t think I could have learned them theoretically. You have to learn by doing.”
“If I were to talk to myself two years back, I would say, worry less. Worry less and don’t be afraid. Everything can be learned by doing. Just dive in. It’s okay to take a little bit of risk. And you know, if it works out, great. If it doesn’t work out, that’s life!”
I think I really needed to hear this. Maybe you needed to hear this today, too.
Nihal Elwan | https://tayybeh.com/
Check out Tayybeh’s food truck this summer on Tuesdays and Wednesdays 11-4 @ Robson Square, at a local farmer’s market, or at one of Vancouver’s street festivals. Details here.
“Tayybeh is an Arabic word that means kind in the feminine form, and in Levantine or the Syrian dialect, means delicious. So if a meal is amazing, it’s tayybeh. Hopefully it encompasses what we stand for – kind, generous, and delicious.” Nihal Elwan
