Chic Baghdad restaurant keeps doors open despite war

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2007

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Sitting nonchalantly at a table after a heavy meal, diners smoke water pipes as the afternoon drifts by, a bubbling marble fountain helping to drown out the harsher realities of daily life in Baghdad.

Waiters dressed in worn-out white shirts and carrying scalding pots of tea move carefully among the mostly-empty tables, catering to the whims of the few customers who have turned up for lunch at the chic restaurant in the heart of the Iraqi capital.

Despite the war and the collapse of Baghdad's once-vibrant cafe culture, the Lattakia restaurant has managed to maintain the soft ambience mixed with Middle Eastern flair that has made it a success since the 1980s.

"You are the first foreigner we have seen here in a long time," said surprised...