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Hiba Abboud, graduated with a BA in Hospitality Management and Tourism from Notre Dame University in Lebanon. Currently the F&B Manager of Blowfish Hotel, and restaurant manager of Woks their Asian Cuisine outlet. The vision is simple, bringing you “the world in one place”. Woks is a journey through Asia located in Victoria Island at the Blowfish hotel. A fusion concept, which brings together the wonders of Thai spices with the Indian tandoor and Chinese wok cooking techniques. A wok is a round-bottomed cooking pot introduced during the Han Dynasty in China and is common in South East Asia. This cooking technique has been used for over 2,000 years. The Dining experience at woks doesn’t end with the food, it is also complimented by a full-service bar offering an extensive selection of wines, specialty cocktails and sophisticated service. Hiba aspires to own a chain of high-end restaurants in Africa. She has been part of the opening teams in Lebanon, Turkey and Nigeria, more recently opening Jake’s membership club in Abuja in 2018. Fascinated by the kitchen itself and the art of turning simple ingredients into marvelous creations, she has participated in a cooking competition HORECA Lebanon, to mention a few. Her summer goal is to climb the peak of Kilimanjaro. Yoga is also an integral part of her life as she believes that life is all about balance.
Do follow her on Instagram for a laugh every now and then @abboudhiba
Below are the excerpts from the interview with the BusinessDay Weekender
Given your experience with hospitality and the art of cooking has artistry always been a passion of yours from childhood or it was developed over the years?
The passion was developed during childhood, watching my mom in the kitchen as I stood beside her on a stool, often helping out in licking the remaining cake batter in the bowl. To date, my mother is the best chef I know. Over the years with traveling and experiencing different cuisines, definitely my palate became more complex and sophisticated. Lebanon, a small country in the Mediterranean, having such an extensive cuisine with hundreds of mezze both hot and cold, helped me grow my passion. Studying domestic tourism we used to go on tours to villages all over Lebanon to learn our heritage and terroir to understand the ingredients grown by local farmers. This taught me sustainability and the importance of farming to the economy.
What does COVID-19 mean for the hospitality industry in Nigeria?
The hospitality industry all over the world has been seriously hit by covid. Restaurants depend on having maximum seating capacity and a high turnover. With COVID restrictions seating capacity has been cut in half to 50 percent to be able to have a 2m distance between tables as to social distancing guidelines. Therefore, relying solely on the high turnover. Restaurants with no outdoor seating have been at a big disadvantage since guests are opting for outdoor spaces and terraces, where they feel safer. For instance, the Blowfish Hotel Pool Side has become the number one go-to for guests because of it’s huge outdoor seating space. During the lockdown, takeaway and delivery sales peaked as it was a no contact rule. We are still adapting to Covid and expect the vaccine to ease the challenges we’ve all been facing
You mention that you recently opened Jake’s membership club in Abuja which is about 3 years old now, what was the inspiration and how has the experience been so far – the good and the bad?
The inspiration was the people of Abuja themselves, where we felt a need for a luxurious location fitting to their quality of lives. A fantastic experience to be able to host the elite of Nigeria and share with them food coming out of a world-class kitchen. Best homemade sorbet and ravioli I’ve ever had.
What’s your favorite cooking recipe and how did you first create it?
I really enjoy the food I eat as long as it is good and with the people I love. There is nothing more enjoyable than being at a table with family or loved ones and sharing a meal. It matter not if the food was sliced bread with olives and zaatar ( as long as the olive oil is extra virgin olive oil sourced from the North of Lebanon and Zaatar made by my mom) or a 19-course Omakase dinner with Uni from Canada, Blue Fin from Spain and using a 20 year aged Rice Vinegar from Japan. The trick to perfecting every recipe no matter how simple is to source the best ingredients even if that recipe is mashed potatoes. It won’t hurt to get that hand made butter. This is the challenge we face in Nigeria, the challenge of importing. My favorite local ingredients in Nigeria are avocado, mint, basil, and red onions. It is only fitting that my favorite cooking recipe here is Eggs Benedict. An eggcellent breakfast will put you in a good mood and power you through the day, especially through rush hour.
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You say you’ve been part of opening teams in Lebanon, Turkey, and Nigeria. Why these 3 countries? Is there something common to them that sparked an interest?
I worked in Lebanon for P.F Chang’s, a chain of American Chinese restaurants with over 300 outlets all over the world. And being a certified trainer of their brand, part of my job was to open outlets if we were lucky enough to get picked. I was fortunate to experience it a couple of times and the company took us to Istanbul, Turkey where we opened P.F Chang’s Bulvar 216. As well as with them again in Zaitunay Bay Lebanon. I grew up in Nigeria and always felt nostalgic, I missed Lagos and its authentic people. So it was only fitting to come back after I graduated, like many of my close friends. Something about the water here.
You talked about how you’re such a people’s person. Like how many people on average do you come in contact/interact with both physically and virtually?
Being active on social media platforms and with the nature of my job, the numbers are in hundreds daily.
You mentioned that the pandemic disrupted your adventure plans especially the goal of reaching the top of Kilimanjaro. How would you say the pandemic has affected other aspects of your life – particularly the hospitality, cooking, and other art aspects?
I remember at the beginning of the pandemic when we rushed to the closest supermarket to stock up on our needs, in my case 9 to 7 supermarket that has everything I would need, fresh produce and a die for selection of cheeses and charcuterie air freighted weekly from Europe. I stocked up ingredients such as basmati rice, yellow lentils, peanuts, shiitake mushrooms, and chickpeas to name a few, for all my favorite dishes. Already thinking of going back to my kitchen to perfect my recipes. I tried out pink hummus which is beetroot hummus and many more twists. We as a country rely on the importation of many products, the pandemic taught me how to substitute items and shift towards local ingredients.
I enjoy sunset yoga sessions and with social distancing, gatherings weren’t allowed, therefore our yogi took the classes online on zoom. This didn’t particularly work for me doing the sessions alone in my room without the full experience I longed for. The advantage of going on zoom was the classes grew in numbers since people from all over the world in different time zones participated and flowed with us.
