CAIRO: Earlier this week, during my lunch hour, I called some of my friends to see who was available for a quick lunch out of the office. Every time I'd call someone they would say, "Sorry just ate at Casper & Gambini's ... It was so good, you have to try it. After scrolling through my phonebook I was able to find someone that hadn't already tried it, and I hurried out to check out the newly opened restaurant - it had only been open for a few hours. If you live in Helipolis or Nasr City, you have probably heard of it before, as it's been open at CityStars Star Centre for a few months now. But for those of you who, like me, are unaware of anything happening on that side of town, you'll be pleased to know this restaurant is now open at Nile City. The Lebanese restaurant/cafe, which opened in Beirut in 1996, has only recently branched out in the Middle East and is now in Kuwait, Amman and Cairo; Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar are scheduled to be the next locations. The décor of the venue is quite pompous, a little like a lounge/bar in a hotel with leather seats and wooden tables; let's call it a luxury café. The slogan, "A Taste of Tradition, makes you think the restaurant serves traditional home-cooked food; but it is not at all a disappointment, the "tradition escaped me, as the menu is made up of contemporary fusion dishes. The menu is divided into soups and salads, appetizers, sandwiches, main courses and desserts. They have a weekly specials page too (one for meat, chicken or fish and the other for pasta) that change every week. The staff of the restaurant is very friendly and quick. Although many items on the menu weren't available, as the restaurant had just opened, they always gave me other suggestions before I had a chance to get frustrated. I personally chose to start with a crab and avocado salad. The deep bowl is filled with a great portion of salad, loaded with fresh thinly sliced processed crab legs and a generous amount of avocados. By the time I was done with the delicious salad, I was almost too full to continue ... almost, that is. Since the main dish menu was not fully available, the grilled items and hamburgers weren't an option, so I settled for quesadillas. The platter comes with a little salad, guacamole and sour cream. The quesadillas are perfectly toasted in light pita bread with elasticized cheese. The only drawback was too many vegetables in each of the three pieces. Although I haven't tried the main dishes myself, rumor has it that the tenderloin beef is excellent, chicken under brick (meaning the meat is not dry and is not undercooked) is perfectly juicy and the salmon dish is mouth watering. Time for dessert. I ordered an apple pie with vanilla ice cream and caramel. The delicious pie was exquisite, but far too big after a whole meal. After complaining out loud that it was too big, someone from a neighboring table overheard me and educated me about the mini-indulgences desserts. Apparently, you can order a mini size of any of the desserts on the menu, which is a brilliant idea. As for the drinks (no alcohol served), a variety of juices, soft drinks and coffees are available. The total experience at Casper & Gambini's is impressive, although it is a little over priced for a café/restaurant, though if you classify it as a luxury café, it's about right. When I lived in New York I was inundated with visitors. In London it is all about your local pub, and in Cairo the seminal experience is the farewell party. No sooner have you met someone, then they leave. It is an itinerant place old Cairo. Transient aid workers paint the town red once or twice, then leave. Journalists are in and out, and oil men, teachers and the embassy crowd operate a revolving door. So it was again over the weekend when Australian diplomat Stuart Campbell made tracks for Canberra, Australia's leafy capital. Known for knowing exactly how many months, weeks and days he had left in Cairo, Campbell will miss the view from his office window, and the Egyptian staff. "The Middle East is a fascinating part of the world and I expect there will be many changes in the near future and I would love to come back in five years time to see them, Campbell said. "And of course I will never again have a view of the Nile River and the Pyramids. The Egyptian staff at the embassy is second to none and of course I will miss that famous Egyptian humor and my friends. These words were echoed by another mover and shaker who is off to greener pastures, (he hopes anyway). Casper & Gambini's executive chef, Andrew Eaton, who is headed for Dubai in a few weeks. "I am going to miss my boys, said Eaton who is a north London native and former Arsenal season ticket holder. "We started with two staff and now there are 200. "I am going to miss the cheap high standard of living in Cairo. I am going from living in an apartment which is like a palace, to a studio in Dubai. The two restaurants Eaton has overseen, one in the Nile City Tower and the other at CityStars, had taken food to another level in Cairo. "We have worked 16-hour days for the last 18 months and when I look back I am amazed at how we did it, Eaton said. "The Nile City Tower restaurant will have an alcohol licence in a few weeks and I am sure this will confirm Casper & Gambini's as one of Cairo's top eateries. Not only the food, but they have also taken home delivery to another level. Home delivery is a fact of life in Cairo and Casper & Gambini's ordering system, speed, packaging and food quality makes you not want to leave home. The Italian-fusion of Casper & Gambini was a welcome addition to Cairo and the management company, IRG, is opening Wagamama's during June at CityStars and later in the year at Nile City Towers. Possibly a more permanent arrival to the African continent is China. The 'communist' state is investing heavily in both resources and infrastructure in many countries. One such project which will be watched closely in Egypt is the Merowe Dam being built on the Nile's fourth cataract, 300 km downstream of Khartoum, Sudan. Having just recently finished the Three Gorges Dam, I guess the Chinese had a lot of engineers out of work. The $650 project will be completed in five years and I imagine it will create a lake proportional in size to Lake Nasser. The water wars. How far away are they, I wonder? It is a friendly war on Tuesday night when the legendary Barcelona Football Club comes to town to play Egypt's own legends, Al Ahly. The game is to be played in Heliopolis at the Military Academy Stadium and, like the arrangements for the African Cup, the gates close early, so be on time and call Casper & Gambini's for a sandwich for the long wait before kick-off. Not war, but commemorating the war dead on Wednesday is both Egypt's Sinai Day and Anzac Day, a pseudo-religious day for all New Zealanders and Australians. This year wreaths will be laid at the Commonwealth Cemetery in Heliopolis and the dawn service will begin at 5 am. All are welcome and for a detailed map on how to find the cemetery or for any other questions contact the New Zealand Embassy. And so it goes, Campbell and Eaton are now Cairo veterans, and I wonder if they will meet again to chew the fat around the global village campfire to discuss what has happened to Cairo in five years time and if the Nile is still flowing.
