Ibrahim Al-Nashashibi’s missions in life have been slowly revealed to him over many years.  Born in Jerusalem in 1950, he left for Yugoslavia at the age of 17 to study medicine. Soon he realized that was a mistake. “I thought maybe Dad was right, I’m a lawyer,” Al-Nashashibi says many years later in Fairouz, his friendly San Diego restaurant. He studied law in Beirut and Alexandria, earning his degree in 1972 and moving to Dubai to practice law.

Ibrahim Al-Nashashibi, owner of Fairouz Cafe & Gallery in San Diego

Later, he came to the U.S. to get a PhD in international law. Instead, he wound up opening Fairouz in the mid 1980s.

A few of the many vegetables on the Fairouz buffet

My mom and I have eaten here a couple of times in the last year. We’re both impressed with the length and variety of the buffet. It has all the vegan dishes we both like, and chicken soup and other meaty dishes she enjoys. There must be nearly two dozen cold and hot salad or vegetable dishes. Little signs let you know which are vegetarian or vegan, which I always appreciate. Between the menu and buffet, you can find all the Middle Eastern favorites, such as hummus, baba ganouj, lentil soup, chickpea dishes, vegetarian mousaka and cooling drinks like iced tea with rosewater or yogurt drink with mint. This is a perfect place to accommodate a group with different diets.

My first helping of salads

If you visit Fairouz Café, you’ll sit surrounded by Al-Nashashibi’s vibrant paintings. Yes, his gift of painting was revealed to him along the way, too.

I had to go back for a few more vegetables.

A couple of years after opening Fairouz, he started painting in the restaurant between lunch and dinner. “People came in and said, ‘I didn’t know you were an artist.’ I said, ‘Me, neither.’”

Through the process of painting, he realized he was suffering from depression. He believes that creative work needs a flame, and his has been fueled by depression and loss. When his wife of 21 years was in a coma, dying of cancer, Al-Nashashibi had a vision. “I was looking at her in coma,” he said, “when a muse came to me and said I had creative ideas, some in colors, some drawn in words.” He started writing his first novel. “I believe in science,” he said. “Science says everything in life has a positive and a negative.” He dearly misses his wife, whom he portrayed as the muse Elegance in a series of muse paintings.

Posing together in front of the buffet

My favorite Al- Nashashibi paintings are bright, fantastic renditions of old Jerusalem buildings. He uses ink and acrylic paint, with lots of metallic. Art lovers around the world collect his paintings.

Vegetarians and vegans visiting San Diego will find a lot to eat, plus art to appreciate, at Fairouz. Find it at 3166 Midway Drive.