Come be part of something special on Saturday 7th December 2024! Join Thingy Cafe, Bidchen Kitchen, and Hackney Herbal for an unforgettable evening filled with art, food, music, and culture from Palestine and Lebanon.
Doors open at 3:00 pm (that’s 3:00 pm “sharp” —or, you know, Arab time, just not too Arab), inviting you to explore a moving art exhibition featuring Palestinian and Lebanese artists – many of whom are living and creating in Gaza and Beirut. Their work offers powerful insights into resilience, pain and beauty. Prints and original works will be available for purchase, with proceeds going directly to these artists.
Then, from 5:00 pm (or 5:15, if we’re being realistic!), we will share with you our family style four-course feast of authentic Palestinian and Lebanese dishes lovingly prepared by Bidchen Kitchen, paired with a special tea blend created by Hackney Herbal for healing body and soul. Each dish comes with a story, connecting you to the deep cultural and political roots of the food on your plate.
Our set menu includes both meat and vegan options (note: this event is not gluten-free or nut-free), and drinks will be available for purchase. Follow @bidchenkitchen on Instagram for teasers of the menu—this is one feast you won't want to miss!
Tickets are available in three tiers—£40/£60/£80 per person—on a pay as you can basis where the higher the tier, the larger your donation. Every ticket directly supports Thamra's essential work on the ground in North Gaza. Please note that tickets are non-refundable, as all proceeds go directly to support the charity. If you can’t make it, let us know—we’d love to hear from you.
Spaces are limited, so don’t wait to secure your spot for a night filled with art, food, and love. Let’s raise a glass (or as we say in Arabic, Sahha!)—to health, to community, and to hope.
See you on December 7th.
Accessibility: Wheelchair-accessible entrance, Wheelchair-accessible seating, Wheelchair-accessible toilet.
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More about the organisers below:
Thingy Cafe is a queer run community cafe in the heart of Hackney Wick. Founded on the premise of a creative and social space, we serve delicious and affordable food seven days a week (with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options) and great coffee for all your breakfast, brunch, lunch, and remote working needs. We also rent the space out for private events and collectives, as well as catering. Situated on Trowbridge Gardens, we have the green oasis of a garden run by Hackney Herbal, share space with Arbeit Studios, and have fitness studio Strong & Bendy gym next door. The goal is to make the space a dynamic hub with diverse event programming and community ties and we’re always open to collaboration.
Bidchen Kitchen is a cooking collective that weaves the rich political and cultural context of foods from the Levant, dishes and kitchen practices into our family-style food gatherings and culinary collaborations with different projects along the way. Bidchen Kitchen - phonetically you know what we’re getting at… What you probably ddin’t know is that in the Palestinian Peasant Farmer ‘Fala7i’ accent, the letter K is pronounced as CH. And Bidchen means ‘you want/do you want’ in its feminine conjugation cause, you know, majority rules in our kitchen (not the patriarchy). Behind the project are Mayya & Shahrazad, two community chefs who met in Jerusalem over 10 years ago now and whose paths recently crossed again in London. Mayya is a community chef and organiser of Palestinian heritage and Shahrazad is a Palestinian born and raised in Haifa. We’re bound by our love of delicious Palestinian home cooking and a deep-seated cultural practice of feeding people. We’re basically the two feeder-aunties you always wanted // never knew you needed in your lives.