ilili: A Story of Passion for Food and Philanthropy

In a time when food has been heavily popularized by television and media, I’ve come to associate chefs with a celebrity level of mystery and intrigue. I feel distant to them, watching them on TV making magic from nothing. But after eating at ilili and meeting Chef Philippe Massoud, I felt a real connection with his food and the story he is trying to tell.

ilili and its food are a perfect reflection of Chef Massoud’s life and philosophy. Having grown up in a war torn Lebanon, he was sent to America in his teens for safety. As a Lebanese American, he wanted to bring together the best of traditional Lebanese cuisine and the simplicity and honesty of American food. Thus ilili was born. For those of us unfamiliar with Mediterranean food, ilili is a curious combination of culture and adventure without leaving the comfort zone of New York. For example, Chef Massoud used tacos as an analogy while explaining how to eat the kibbeh nayeh beirutieh, a steak tartar with accompaniments like onion, pepper and mint. It’s the same hands on experience you would have at a tex-mex restaurant but with Lebanese flavors instead.

So even though the language is unfamiliar, I was able to find a connection through eating. That is one common theme that I understood in the 2 hours I was at ilili. The word ilili, as Chef Massoud explains, comes from colloquial Arabic that means tell me. Essentially, while at ilili, Chef Massoud is telling us his story. The two biggest influences on this life are his family and his childhood experiences. Coming from 3 generations of being in the hospitality business, Chef Massoud was accustomed to the idea of human service. It requires a certain amount of compassion and empathy. His parents’ hotel became the headquarters of the Red Cross during the war. His grandfather donated his house to a church, which eventually became a school. This idea of giving back was ingrained in Chef Massoud from an early age, which eventually solidified his philosophy of “a healthy society equals a healthy business. For Chef Massoud, “philanthropy is at the genetic level.”

As a child, Chef Massoud was very affected by the constant violence during the civil war of Lebanon. Despite being the minority as a Christian living in a heavily Muslim-populated part of Beirut, he tried to bring people together in a time of conflict. I always tried to create dialogue [and] try to convince people to love life, he explains. ilili is his renewed way of bringing people of different cultures together – with eating as the central catalyst.

Chef Massoud’s passion for philanthropy manifests in many ways. After the devastating earthquake in Haiti, he immediately rallied 80 restaurants across the country and organized Dine Out for Haiti to raise funds for relief efforts. Chef Massoud is also a huge supporter of the fight against childhood hunger and Share Our Strength – through Taste of the Nation as well as the Michelle Obama‘s Chefs Move to Schools program. In June, he joined other chefs at the White House as part of the First Lady’s Let’s Move campaign, where chefs adopt a school and be a key factor in bringing nutrition and education to children, parents, teachers, and staff members.

On top of it all, Chef Massoud is one of the most humble chefs I’ve had the pleasure to meet. He really embodies the essence of Appetite for Good. He has ingrained his humanity and empathy into his food and uses it as a means for peace. I don’t think you’ll find many restaurants like ilili where you can truly feel good about food!

Check out our full mini-interview with Chef Massoud below and our extensive food review in the next post!

Interview with Chef Philippe Massoud

Why is philanthropy so important to you?
It’s simple. If you are a humanist, by default, you are engaged. You have a large amount of staff and you have to understand their needs. We are in the business of servicing humans. The human component is involved. I was originally in the hotel business because of my family, so I kind of forked down that road. Our hotel became the headquarters of the International Red Cross during the war of Lebanon. It really marked me as a young child. I always wanted to be involved. From a business perspective, when your environment is healthy, your business is healthy. If we invested money early, things would not be as bad. Restaurants are very community driven. You have to step up to the plate. We give out an enormous amount of food for events. A healthy society equals a healthy business. It’s a no brainer. For example, half of the health ailments in America are due to what we ingest. It’s moronically simple mathematical equation. And it impacts all of us. If we started early trying to improve nutrition with children, our healthcare costs will go down. But it takes a long time and we need to make the time. Philanthropy is at the genetic level for me. My grandfather started by donating his house to a church, which eventually became a school.

How do you combine philanthropy with your food philosophy?
We mix food into philanthropy. When the recession happened, we immediately became protective of NYS. We are huge supporters of Long Island wines. And it’s just makes sense environmentally to serve local wine, because it decreases our carbon footprint. We work with local farms in upstate NY. Hopefully it all trickles down.

You’ve worked with Chef Tadashi Ono of Matsuri in the past. How was that experience?
Tadashi is a very good friend. He’s like a brother from another culture. Matsuri is really a hidden treasure – and I mean it. It is the best of Japanese cuisine. It blows everybody else out of the water. Tadashi is the quintessential gentleman. The amberjack dish is an inspiration from Tadashi. We also played with an octopus dish which we put on the menu for a long time, until the recession, by when we had to take it off. If I had 48 hours in a day, I’m sure we would spend 4 hours playing around. He had more influence on my cooking than the other way around. What I like most about Japanese cuisine is that it’s very precise. It’s simple. It allows the ingredients to speak for themselves. And it aligns with my personal philosophy. A dish should have no more than 4 ingredients, really.

In another interview, you talked about wanting to go into conflict resolution if you couldn’t be a chef. Why conflict resolution?
I was born in the civil war. I saw what people did to each other at a very young age. People who were manipulated into horrific acts. And I realized that people are not born that way. It’s their environment, upbringing, etc that made them that way. At a young age, my family and I were Christians living on the Muslim side. I always tried to create dialogues with my friends. Try to put myself in their shoes. Try to convince people to love life and not make war. I do it all the time. Life is too short to be angry. It’s easy to bring people around food. Food is a neutralizer. Everything starts from a meal. I have a pretty serious passion for peace. It’s unacceptable to me that we are so inhumane as a few thousand years ago.

Related Posts

No related posts.